wikipedia

80 readers
65 users here now

to share interesting articles from Wikipedia

Please cite a passage from the article and don't just post a link

founded 1 month ago
MODERATORS
1
6
Earthquake bomb (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

The earthquake bomb, or seismic bomb, was a concept that was invented by the British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis early in World War II and subsequently developed and used during the war against strategic targets in Europe. A seismic bomb differs somewhat in concept from a traditional bomb, which usually explodes at or near the surface and destroys its target directly by explosive force; in contrast, a seismic bomb is dropped from high altitude to attain very high speed as it falls and upon impact, penetrates and explodes deep underground, causing massive caverns or craters known as camouflets, as well as intense shockwaves. In this way, the seismic bomb can affect targets that are too massive to be affected by a conventional bomb, as well as damage or destroy difficult targets such as bridges and viaducts.

2
7
submitted 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Beginning in at least the 1960s, the United Kingdom gained a reputation worldwide for football hooliganism; the phenomenon was often dubbed the British or English Disease.

However, since the 1980s and well into the 1990s, the UK government has led a widescale crackdown on football related violence. While football hooliganism has been a growing concern in some continental European countries in recent years, British football fans now tend to have a better reputation abroad. Although reports of British football hooliganism still surface, the instances now tend to occur at pre-arranged locations rather than at the matches themselves.

3
50
Nail (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

The Romans made extensive use of nails. The Roman army, for example, left behind seven tons of nails when it evacuated the fortress of Inchtuthil in Perthshire in Scotland in 86 to 87 CE.

The term "penny", as it refers to nails, probably originated in medieval England to describe the price of a hundred nails. Nails themselves were sufficiently valuable and standardized to be used as an informal medium of exchange.

Until around 1800 artisans known as nailers or nailors made nails by hand – note the surname Naylor. (Workmen called slitters cut up iron bars to a suitable size for nailers to work on. From the late 16th century, manual slitters disappeared with the rise of the slitting mill, which cut bars of iron into rods with an even cross-section, saving much manual effort.)

At the time of the American Revolution, England was the largest manufacturer of nails in the world. Nails were expensive and difficult to obtain in the American colonies, so that abandoned houses were sometimes deliberately burned down to allow recovery of used nails from the ashes. This became such a problem in Virginia that a law was created to stop people from burning their houses when they moved. Families often had small nail-manufacturing setups in their homes; during bad weather and at night, the entire family might work at making nails for their own use and for barter.

4
17
Scrambling (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance. "A scramble" is a related term, denoting terrain that could be ascended in this way. It can be described as being between hiking and rock climbing.

5
57
Survivorship bias (en.m.wikipedia.org)
submitted 1 week ago by 200ok to c/[email protected]
 
 

"Survivorship bias is a form of selection bias that can lead to overly optimistic beliefs because multiple failures are overlooked."

6
39
Chicago rat hole (en.m.wikipedia.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
7
12
Lucid dream (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 
  • The dreamer is aware that they are dreaming
  • They are aware actions will not carry over after waking
  • Physical laws need not apply in the dream
  • The dreamer has a clear memory of the waking world
8
9
Cargo cult (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Cargo cults were diverse spiritual and political movements that arose among indigenous Melanesians following Western colonisation of the region in the late 19th century. Typically (but not universally) cargo cults included: charismatic prophet figures foretelling an imminent cataclysm and/or a coming utopia for followers—a worldview known as millenarianism; predictions by these prophets of the return of dead ancestors bringing an abundance of food and goods (the "cargo"),  typically including a bounty of Western goods or money, often under the belief that ancestral spirits were responsible for their creation; and the instruction by these prophets to followers to appease "ancestral spirits or other powerful beings" to fulfill the prophecy and receive the cargo by either reviving ancestral traditions or adopting new rituals, such as ecstatic dancing or imitating the actions of colonists and military personnel, like flag-raising, marching and/or drilling. Anthropologists have described cargo cults as rooted in pre-existing aspects of Melanesian society, as a reaction to colonial oppression and inequality disrupting traditional village life, or both.

9
19
Decimal time (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

This term is often used specifically to refer to the French Republican calendar time system used in France from 1794 to 1800, during the French Revolution, which divided the day into 10 decimal hours, each decimal hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute into 100 decimal seconds (100,000 decimal seconds per day), as opposed to the more familiar standard time, which divides the day into 24 hours, each hour into 60 minutes and each minute into 60 seconds (86,400 SI seconds per day).

10
9
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

In many languages, the colors described in English as "blue" and "green" are colexified, i.e., expressed using a single umbrella term.

The exact definition of "blue" and "green" may be complicated by the speakers not primarily distinguishing the hue, but using terms that describe other color components such as saturation and luminosity, or other properties of the object being described. For example, "blue" and "green" might be distinguished, but a single term might be used for both if the color is dark. Furthermore, green might be associated with yellow, and blue with either black or gray.

11
8
Krampus (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 4 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Although Krampus appears in many variations, most share some common physical characteristics. He is hairy, usually brown or black, and has one foot that has the cloven hooves and horns of a goat. His long, pointed tongue drops out, and he has fangs.

Krampus carries chains, thought to symbolize the binding of the Devil by the Christian Church. He thrashes the chains for dramatic effect. The chains are sometimes accompanied with bells of various sizes. Krampus will carry a bundle of birch branches with which he occasionally swats children. The birch branches are replaced with a whip in some representations. On Christmas Eve, Krampus travels with a sack or a basket strapped to his back; this is to cart off evil children for drowning, eating, or transport to Hell. Some of the older versions make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and taken away.

12
14
Lemmy (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Lemmy is a free and open-source software for running self-hosted social news aggregation and discussion forums. These hosts, known as "instances", communicate with each other using the ActivityPub protocol.

13
35
Fairy ring (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Fairy rings are detectable by sporocarps (fungal spore pods) in rings or arcs, as well as by a necrotic zone (dead grass), or a ring of dark green grass. Fungus mycelium is present in the ring or arc underneath. The rings may grow to over 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter, and they become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground.

14
15
L.O.V.E. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

L.O.V.E., commonly known as Il Dito (Italian for 'the finger') is a sculpture by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan consisting of a hand with all the fingers severed with the exception of the middle finger. The sculpture is located in Piazza degli Affari in (Milan), where the Italian stock exchange is located. The name L.O.V.E. is the acronym of "Libertà, Odio, Vendetta, Eternità" ("Freedom, Hatred, Revenge, Eternity"). The sculpture, built in 2010, was originally exhibited on the occasion of Cattelan's retrospective at The Royal Palace of Milan. After the exhibition closed, the city Councillor for Culture Massimiliano Finazzer Flory proposed the piece to be permanent. The business community objected to the idea but after long deliberations, facilitated by Cattelan's decision to donate the sculpture, L.O.V.E. was eventually given permanent status.

15
11
Ohaguro (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Ohaguro (Japanese: お歯黒, pronounced [ohaɡɯɾo], lit. 'black teeth') is the name given in Japan to the custom of blackening one's teeth with a solution of iron filings and vinegar. It was especially popular between the Heian and Edo periods, from the 10th century until the late 19th century, but the opening of the country to Western customs during the Meiji period led to its gradual disappearance. It was a tradition practiced mainly by married women and some men, almost always members of the aristocracy and samurai. In addition to Japanese society's preference for black teeth, it was also considered beneficial to health, as it prevented tooth decay by acting as a dental sealant. The practice of dyeing one's teeth black was also a known and widespread practice in southeastern China and Southeast Asia, although with different recipes.