Today in 1947, Wat Misaka became the first non-white player to be drafted into what is now the NBA. Here's some of his story. Plus: this weekend the Twin Cities host the Hmong International Freedom Festival. 

Japanese American Former Basketball Star Inspired On And Off The Court (NPR)

Hmong International Freedom Festival (Visit Saint Paul)

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Today in 1938, the birthday of Billy Mills, a Marine veteran, activist AND a runner who won an Olympic gold medal in what’s been called the biggest upset in the history of the Games. Plus: in the 1950s, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a doghouse? 

‘There goes Billy Mills!’ (Indian Country Today)

A Doghouse Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Is Now on Display (Smithsonian)

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A study from Ohio State University finds bats can remember a ringtone if they associate the sound with food - for years, in some cases. Plus: a French company is recycling old face masks and turning them into school supplies. 

A rare discovery of long-term memory in wild frog-eating bats (Ohio State University)

Plaxtil Recycles Used Face Masks Into School Supplies (Cool Hunting)

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Today in 2006, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens famously told his colleagues that the Internet was not a dumptruck, it was a series of tubes, figuratively speaking. But here’s a story about some literal tubes that New York City once used to deliver mail. Plus: today in 2021, a woman who had asked the New York Yankees to be a batgirl 60 years earlier (and been rejected) finally got to live out her dream. 

THE PNEUMATIC TUBE MAIL SYSTEM IN NEW YORK CITY (Untapped New York)

In 1961, the Yankees told her she couldn’t be a batgirl. Sixty years later, it happened. (Washington Post)

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Today in 1880, the birthday of Helen Keller, the activist, author, speaker, and, on one occasion, a pilot. Never mind what randos on social media have claimed, here's the real story. Plus: Wimbledon is getting underway, and players who want to swear beware: the umpires have studied curses in multiple languages. 

Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane? (Snopes)

Do Wimbledon Umpires Learn Curse Words in Multiple Languages? (Snopes)

Today's links come from Snopes, but everything else is made possible by our Patreon backers

This week in 1951, Life Magazine had a feature story about a guy with an unusual hobby: he rehearsed his own funeral. Plus: this weekend in Littleton, Colorado, it’s the Unicorn Festival!

Jim Gernhart, the living corpse (Weird Universe)

Unicorn Festival 

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For National Typewriter Day, some of the stories that helped bring this device to life, including a guy in Italy who was trying to help a blind countess write letters. Plus: a giant typewriter in San Francisco about a century ago? It happened. 

Typewriters Were Originally Created To Help The Blind (Dictionary.com)

a curious story of the 14 ton Underwood Master Typewriter… (Red Letter Day zine)

Every letter we type is made possible by our Patreon backers

A family in rural Kentucky with a rare blood disorder had blue complexions for decades - until a doctor found a way to treat it. Plus: June is Great Outdoors Month, and in Norway, there’s a great spot outdoors that might exhilarate you - or might make you turn green. 

The True Story of the Blue People of Kentucky (How Stuff Works)

Kjeragbolten (Futility Closet)

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Summer is here in the Northern Hemisphere, and a lot of people are looking to keep themselves and some of their foods and drinks cool. That's what the storage building known as the yakhchāl did thousands of years ago. Plus: a guy in Munfordville, Kentucky built his own Stonehenge.

Yakhchāls, Āb Anbārs, & Wind Catchers — Passive Cooling & Refrigeration Technologies Of Greater Iran (Persia) (Cleantechnica)

Kentucky’s Stonehenge is one man’s rocky wonderland (FOX Lexington)

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Today in 1863, West Virginia became a state - though back in the 18th Century, there were several efforts to meld this land with parts of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Maryland and create an entirely different entity called Vandalia or Westsylvania. Plus: if visiting Stonehenge for the solstice is too much of a trek, why not head to western Nebraska and see Carhenge? 

Westsylvania: The Fourteenth Colony (Battleground)

‘Blood, sweat, and beers’: Nebraska’s Carhenge may be less mysterious than its English counterpart, but it’s just as bizarre (Roadtrippers)

If our Patreon backers formed their own state, it would be a pretty amazing state