How cool is this! Popularized in England, these wavy walls actually use less bricks than a straight wall because they can be made just one brick thin, while a straight wall—without buttresses—would easily topple over.
According to Wikipedia, these wavy walls are also known as: crinkle crankle walls, crinkum crankum walls, serpentine walls, or ribbon walls. The alternate convex and concave curves in the wall provide stability and help it to resist lateral forces. [source]
The county of Suffolk seems to be home to countless examples of these crinkle crankle walls. On freston.net you can find 100 wavy walls that have been documented and photographed. In the United States, the best known serpentine wall can be found at the University of Virginia where Thomas Jefferson incorporated the wavy walls into the architecture. Although some authorities claim that Jefferson invented this design, he was merely adapting a well-established English style of construction. [source]
As for the mathematics behind these serpentine walls and why the waves make them more resistant to horizontal forces like wind vs straight walls, check out this post by John D. Cook.
Below you will find additional examples of these intriguing wavy walls that lawnmowers surely detest!
Three classics: Ain’t no sunshine, Use Me, and Lean on Me
Legendary soul singer Bill Withers died yesterday (April 3rd) at the age of 81 due to heart complications. The American singer-songwriter is best known for his hits: Ain’t No Sunshine, Lean on Me, Use Me, Lovely Day, and Just the Two of Us.
Withers, the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia on July 4, 1938. He was born with a stutter and later said he had a hard time fitting in. Raised in nearby Beckley, he was 13 years old when his father died. Withers enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17, and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing and writing songs.
Withers worked as a professional musician for just 15 years, from 1970 to 1985, after which he moved on to other occupations. Withers won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for six more. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. [source]
In memory of Mr. Withers, he are 3 beautiful live performances from 1972-73. Rest in peace Sir.
As humans have spread across the globe, infectious diseases have followed us every step of the way
Throughout history, as humans have spread across the globe, infectious diseases have followed us every step of the way. Even with advances in medicine and technology, infectious diseases continue to evolve and threaten our existence.
Visual Capitalist created the visual timeline below of some of history’s most deadly pandemics. On their site, you can find additional information along with sources they used to create the infographic.
Business Financing UK recently published this interesting map that shows the oldest company in (almost) every country that is still in business today.
The oldest company on the list, Kongō Gumi in Japan, has been operating since 578 AD! You can see the full resolution map here, as well as close-up maps of regions around the globe below.
To create these maps, we started by reviewing various sources on the internet to locate the oldest company in each country. Once we had a list of business for each country we began researching each individual company to discover if they are still operational. If we were unsure about a company or could not discern if it was still open, we did not include it in the maps. We included both independent and state-run businesses in this list. This includes national mints, which produced coins for merchants and international customers as well as the state.
Those countries where it wasn’t possible to identify the oldest business have been greyed-out on the map. Additionally, some countries have changed names or didn‘t exist at the time the oldest company opened. In all cases we have used the current country names.
We created broad industry categorisations that grouped similar businesses together. Every step has been taken to ensure that the information contained within our research is as accurate as possible. However, it is possible that there are businesses still operating that predate the ones listed here.
For the full research behind these maps, please click here.
Located in the walls of St Peter’s Abbey in Salzburg, St. Peter Stifts Kulinarium opened in 803 and remains the oldest restaurant in Europe that you can still eat in. The inn is rumoured to have served Christopher Columbus, Johann Georg Faust, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A short leap forward in time and over the border to neighbouring Germany, you’ll find Staffelter Hof Winery, a winery established in 862.
Slovakia’s Kremnica Mint commenced trading in 1328, when the land was under the rule of the Kingdom of Hungary. France’s longest-running business is also a mint: Monnaie de Paris, established in 864. Monnaie de Paris has moved with the times, producing Francs and then Euros – and even producing German currency during the Nazi occupation. [source]
North America is home to businesses dating back to the 16th century. The oldest company still in business is La Casa de Moneda de México, a mint established in 1534 in Mexico. Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza founded the national mint of Mexico by decree from the Spanish Crown, and it became the first mint in the Americas. The mint’s coins circulated widely and became the basis of many modern currencies, including the United States dollar, the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan.
Edward Hill raised a farm on Shirley Plantation beginning in 1638, and his descendants still occupy and manage the land and business today. The plantation itself dates back to 1613, making it the oldest in Virginia. The ranch still operates as a plantation but is also open to the public, and features the only Queen Anne-style architectural details to still exist in North America. [source]
The Casa de Moneda de Colombia (Spanish for Colombian mint) is a Colombian currency museum based in the city of Bogotá. It was founded in 1621 and remains South America’s oldest company to still be in business. In 1694, The Casa da Moneda do Brasil, was founded to provide Brazil with its own coinage – until then, most of the coins in circulation had been brought in by foreigners.
Hurtling forward into the 19th century, 1811 to be exact, and we have FAMAE – Fábricas y Maestranzas del Ejército (“Factories and Workshops of the Army”). FAMAE is a Chilean state-owned firearms manufacturer, making weapons for use by the Chilean armed forces and the local police. Argentina’s longest-surviving business opened 11 years later. The Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires, or Banco Provincia, is a publicly-owned bank, the second-largest in the nation. [source]
Asia is home to the oldest still-functioning business in the world: a construction company named Kongo Gumi. In 578 Buddhism was on the rise in Japan; but the Japanese had no experience in building temples. The royal family invited a renowned Korean temple builder, Shigemitsu Kongo, to construct the country’s first government temple. Shigemitsu stayed to maintain the building and passed his unprecedented knowledge of the art down the line, so that 14 centuries later temple-building still accounted for 80% of the Kongo Gumi’s US$60m business. With mounting debts, the company was absorbed into a bigger construction conglomerate in 2006 – but continues to pair traditional temple building techniques with the latest technology.
Ma Yu Ching’s Bucket Chicken House opened in Kaifeng, China, in 1153AD – and today it is thought to be the oldest ‘restaurant’ in the world – although today it is primarily a takeaway joint. Over the course of nine centuries, the business has survived war, political turmoil, and even the might of KFC – whose 5,000 Chinese chicken joints make it China’s leading fast-food outlet (according to the Colonel, that is.) [source]
A huge continent needs a solid postal service, so it’s no surprise that half of the top 10 oldest businesses in Africa are postal companies. Oldest of them all is Mauritius Post, opening all the way back in 1772, when Mauritius was still under French rule. The new service started small with eight messengers and rural post offices were established in 1790. Fast forward to 1814 and Namibia also gets its own postal service. NamPost are still managing the post over 200 years later.
Food production and exports is also big business in Africa. Premier FMCG is a South African food manufacturer and their story begins all the way back in 1820, with the formation of a humble bakery. They now own many well-known South African food brands, including Blue Ribbon and Lil-lets. [source]
Australia’s oldest business has a colourful history, starting when Isaac Nichols, a former convict, was appointed Postmaster for New South Wales. He used his own home to sort mail and he opened the first Post Office soon after. Australia’s disparate post services were eventually merged to become Australia Post, now also known as AusPost.
On 29 July 1861, just over 50 years after Nichols’ opened his post office, an act to incorporate the proprietors of ‘The Bank of New Zealand’ was passed by Parliament. This allowed the new corporation to start carrying out the usual activities of a bank, and also to issue its own bank notes. The bank is still in business and is one of New Zealand’s big four banks. [source]
Uğur Gallenkuş is using digital art to start a conversation
Uğur Gallenkuş is a digital artist from Istanbul, Turkey that has amassed a huge following on Instagram for his jarring photo collages of people that live completely different lives.
Much of his subject matter focuses on war zones, refugees, and poverty. In his work he is trying to start a conversation between two seemingly opposite scenes.
To see more striking collages from Gallenkus, check out his work at the links below.
In this colorized photo by Jecini, we see the Schienenzeppelin in Berlin in June of 1931. A train on the way to Hamburg passes the newly arrived ‘rail zeppelin’ at Spandau main station.
The Schienenzeppelin or rail zeppelin was an experimental railcar which resembled a Zeppelin airship in appearance. It was designed and developed by the German aircraft engineer Franz Kruckenberg in 1929.
Propulsion was by means of a pusher propeller located at the rear: it accelerated the railcar to 230.2 km/h (143 mph) setting the land speed record for a petrol powered rail vehicle. Only a single example was ever built, which due to safety concerns remained out of service and was finally dismantled in 1939. [source]
The Oklahoma-based Kiowa/Choctaw artist created this while an artist-in-residence at HixDesign. The work was unveiled on December 15th, 2019, on the anniversary of the famous Hunkpapa Lakota leader’s death in 1890.
To see more from Judd check him out on Instagram and Etsy.
Kane Tanaka has extended her record as the world’s oldest person by celebrating her 117th birthday at a nursing home in Fukuoka in southern Japan. Tanaka marked her birthday with a party on Sunday along with staff and friends at the nursing home.
Tanaka, whose birthday was on Jan. 2, took a bite from a slice of her big birthday cake. “Tasty,” she said with a smile. “I want some more.”
Tanaka was last year confirmed as the oldest living person, aged 116 years 66 days old as of March 9, according to Guinness World Records.
The oldest known person ever to have lived was Jeanne Louise Calment (France) who reached the age of 122 years and 164 days.
She leads a coalition of 5 parties, all led by females, with 4 under the age of 35
34-year-old Sanna Marin of Finland became the world’s youngest Prime Minster this week. The former transportation minister was elected as prime minister by members of her left-wing Social Democratic Party after the resignation of Prime Minister Antii Rinne.
Marin will lead a coalition government made up of five parties, all of them led by women. Four of those women are under 35: Katri Kulmuni, 32, of the Centre Party; Maria Ohisalo, 34, of the Green Party; Li Andersson, 32, of the Left Alliance; and Anna-Maja Henriksson, 55, of the Swedish People’s Party.
The age of the new leaders may actually be more significant than their gender, at least in Finland, since the country has long had strong female representation in government. Finland elected its first female president (the country’s head of state, separate from the prime minister), Tarja Halonen, in 2000. The first female prime minister, Anneli Jäätteenmäki, followed in 2003. Earlier this year, women won a record 93 seats in Finland’s 200-seat parliament, reaching 47 percent of that body. The previous record, 85 seats, had been set in 2011.
Meanwhile, young people have been making gains in the Finnish parliament in recent years, with 48 percent of seats after the 2019 election held by people under 45. Eight members were under 30. Around the world, Marin will be the youngest sitting prime minister — other young leaders include Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk of Ukraine, 35, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, who is 39. [source]
“I have not actually ever thought about my age or my gender, I think of the reasons I got into politics and those things for which we have won the trust of the electorate,” Marin said.
Marin has risen very quickly through the political ranks since she became head of Tampere City Council at the age of 27, and she is currently into her second term as a member of parliament. She already has some experience in the top job as she led the party during the previous incumbent Antti Rinne’s sick leave last winter. [source]
Finland was the first country in Europe to grant women the vote in 1906. Former Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb (2014-2015), a conservative, also drew attention to the all-female leadership on Twitter this week.
My party is not in government, but I rejoice that the leaders of the five parties in government are female. Shows that #Finland is a modern and progressive country. The majority of my government was also female. One day gender will not matter in government. Meanwhile pioneers. 👍 pic.twitter.com/dW8OMEOiqb
Tennis legend and Swiss icon, Roger Federer, has become the first living person to ever be celebrated on Swiss coins. The country’s federal mint, Swissmint, will release a 20 Swiss francs silver commemorative coin in January and plans to add a Federer SFr50 gold coin in May.
Demand for the commemorative coin has been colossal, and people signing up to pre-order the first batch crashed the site this week. “We had 2.5 million clicks. It was too much for the shop to handle,” said Swissmint CEO Marius Haldimann.
Of the 35,000 20-franc silver coins offered in the pre-sale window, 15,000 have been snapped up. The remaining 20,000 coins from the initial run are expected to sell quickly when the website returns to full functionality. An additional 40,000 will be released in May, when a 50-franc gold coin will also be released.
Designed by Italian engraver Remo Mascherini, the coin features an image of the 20-time Grand Slam winner based on what appears to be a wire photo from Federer’s winning turn against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2018 Australian Open. [source]
![A Visual Timeline of Pandemics Throughout History [Infographic]](https://twistedsifter.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/visual-timeline-of-pandemics-throughout-history-3.jpg?w=800)
