October 10

Better Than News

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  Vampsie is a 1982 American satirical romantic horror film about a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult drives him to adopt vampirism to land a job.

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  Narcophagus is a 2022 crime horror film about an ancient Egyptian mummy which is recruited by the Drug Enforcement Agency.

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  Alien vs. Brainiac is a science fiction horror film.

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  The Postum Man is a post-coffee dystopia science fiction novel about a man wandering the desolate Oregon countryside who finds a coffee maker, which he puts to using brewing coffee substitutes. His brewing service and claims about the return of coffeehouses give hope to the people, who are threatened by a murderous, decaffeinated latte militia.

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  "Don't Stand So Close to Pain" is a song by the British rock band the Police.

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  New Ingredients for Old is a cookbook and memoir by Margaret Mead and Julia Child.

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  The Unstackables is an American comedy crime drama television series starring Robert Stack as a Prohibition agent, fighting crime in Chicago in the 1930s with the help of an imaginary team of agents handpicked for their courage, moral character, and incorruptibility.

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  FWEEETT! is a monthly magazine of loud sharp noises.

Beyond Plausible

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  Twenty Must-Wash Books is a 2023 television series about book hygiene techniques for the amateur book restorer.

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  Duck is a 1991 comedy bathing adventure film starring Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman.

In Other Words

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  The Dark Type is a 2008 superhero crime personality inventory thriller film about a deranged psychologist (Heath Ledger) who threatens to permanently delete Gotham City's personality matrix database.

Are You Sure

Windscale nuclear power plant, with cows in the foreground. September 1958.

• ... that the Windscale fire of 10 October 1957 was the worst nuclear accident in Great Britain's history, and one of the worst in the world; that the fire burned for three days and released radioactive fallout which spread across the UK and the rest of Europe; that at the time of the incident no one was evacuated from the surrounding area, but milk from about 500 square kilometers (190 sq mi) of nearby countryside was diluted and destroyed for about a month due to concerns about its exposure to radiation; that the UK government played down the events at the time and reports on the fire were subject to heavy censorship; and that there had been a series of radioactive discharges from the piles in the years leading up to the accident?

• ... that physicist and mathematician Evangelista Torricelli (15 October 1608 – 25 October 1647) is best known for his invention of the barometer, but he also contributed to both optics and the method of indivisibles?

• ... that art forger Henricus Antonius "Han" van Meegeren (10 October 1889 – 30 December 1947) painted forgeries of the Dutch masters so persuasive that the best art critics and experts of the time regarded his paintings as genuine and sometimes exquisite; and that after the Second World War, a forgery was discovered in Göring's possession, and van Meegeren was arrested on 29 May 1945 as a collaborator, as officials believed that he had sold real Dutch cultural property to the Nazis; and that this would have been an act of treason, the punishment for which was death, so van Meegeren confessed to the less serious charge of forgery instead?

• ... that not milk? is an advertising campaign encouraging the non-consumption of milk by Bronze-age warriors?

Selected Anniversaries

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  1641: Torricelli arrives in Arcetri to study with Galileo. ".. postpone his arrival at Arcetri until 10 October 1641. He took up residence in Galileo’s house, where Vincenzo Viviani was already living, and stayed there in close friendship with Galileo until the latter’s death on 8 January 1642.

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  1708: Mathematician and astronomer David Gregory dies. At the Union of 1707, he was given the responsibility of reorganizing the Scottish Mint.

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  1731: Chemist, physicist, and philosopher Henry Cavendish born. He will discover "inflammable air", later named hydrogen.

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  1889: Painter and forger Han van Meegeren born. He will be one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century.

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  1957: Windscale fire nuclear accident: The fire burned for three days and there was a release of radioactive contamination that spread across the UK and Europe. The event was not an isolated incident; there had been a series of radioactive discharges from the piles in the years leading up to the accident.

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  1979: Psychologist, computer scientist, and author Christopher Evans dies.

Topic of the Day

Gospel music

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  "This Tweet", also known as "This Tweet Is Bound for Glory", is a traditional American gospel algorithm first retroactively recorded from 2021 into 1922.