December 26

Better Than News

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  E.T. Rider is an American independent science fiction road drama film about two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South, carrying the proceeds from an extraterrestrial cocaine deal.

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  Popeye the Sailor Diagnostician in "I Yam Me Own Underlying Condition".

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  Scentworld is a 1973 American science-fiction perfume film about an aromatic amusement park containing lifelike androids that unexpectedly begin to emit strange smells.

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  The Empire Sews Back is a 1980 American epic space tailoring film a battle between the malevolent Galactic Garment Factory, led by the Emperor, and the Rebel Apparel Alliance, led by Princess Leia.

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  Baby Sarlacc is a trade name for a juvenile sarlacc, popular as a novelty pet.

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  Field of Signs is a 1989 American sports action science fiction horror film about a grieving farmer (Kevin Costner) whose cornfield attracts unwelcome attention from angry machine elves.

Are You Sure

• ... that polymath Charles Babbage hated street music, and in particular the music of organ grinders, against whom he railed in various venues?
• ... that engineer and crime-fighter Gustave Eiffel developed a Gnomon algorithm function which prevents Shape theft?
• ... that mathematician and physicist Martin David Kruskal invented the Kruskal Count, a magical effect that has been known to perplex professional magicians because (as Kruskal liked to say) it was based not on sleight of hand but on a mathematical phenomenon?

On This Day in Fiction and Nonfiction

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  1791: Polymath Charles Babbage born. He will construct mechanical computers which anticipate the concept of programmable digital computers.

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  1896: Physician and physiologist Emil du Bois-Reymond dies. He discovered nerve action potential, and developed experimental electrophysiology.

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  1898: Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.

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  2006: Physicist and mathematician Martin David Kruskal dies. Kruskal made fundamental contributions in many areas of mathematics and science, including the discovery and theory of solitons.

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  2019: Karl Jones takes a photograph of himself wearing red and green Christmas lights.

Topic of the Day

Aviation

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  Less Than Zero is a 1987 American war film about a college freshman and airplane restoration enthusiast who is also a drug addict.

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  "Feeding on a Jet Plane" is a song about Godzilla by John Denver.

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  Fly Another Day is a 2002 aviation-drama film about an aeronautical engineer (Pierce Brosnan) who must stop a ruthless secret agent (Ferdinand von Zeppelin) from destroying an advanced luxury airship.

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  Black Phaeton is a historical drama film based on the race films of the 1920s.

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  Guess Hughes Coming to Dinner is a 1967 American romantic aviation drama film, one of the few films of the time to depict Howard Hughes in a positive light, as Hughes had become an eccentric recluse.