Today's the birthday of Agatha Christie, the novelist and playwright who gave us some of the most popular mysteries of all time. But when she wasn't sending Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot out to crack cases, she was often found surfing. Plus: it's the birthday of playwright Jerry Sterner, best known for “Other People’s Money," and for being buried under a headstone that was perfect for someone in his line of work.

How Agatha Christie Helped Popularize Surfing -- Yes, Surfing (Crimereads)

Investigating Hate (Harpers)

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Apollo 8 brought the first human astronauts to lunar orbit in late 1968, but a few months beforehand, the Soviet Zond 5 mission sent two tortoises (and a few other living things) for a trip around the moon. Here's what happened. Plus: today in 1890, Mexican singing and songwriting great Maria Grever was born. Whether or not you know her songs, you know a phrase that comes from one.

The Time Two Russian Space Tortoises Beat Apollo to the Moon (HowStuffWorks)

Maria Grever (Encyclopedia.com)

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These days, with everything moving further and further online, it's not a surprise that many of us can see our doctors through remote appointments. But a century ago, a radio enthusiast called Hugo Gernsback predicted a way that doctors could examine patients remotely, using radio waves. Plus: a giant blob of old pizza dough has become an odd kind of celebrity in New Orleans. 

Telemedicine Predicted in 1925 (Smithsonian)

North shore pizza dough blob grows to enormous proportions, overtakes dumpster post-Ida (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

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If you’ve ever been around a baby you probably heard some cooing, gurgling and babbling, as the babies try to make the sounds adults make. Some new research finds if you spend time with baby bats, you might hear them doing essentially the same thing. Plus: the YouTube channel Steadycraftin finds a pretty cool way to reuse some of those old orange plastic prescription bottles. 

Baby Bats Babble Just Like Human Infants (Treehugger)

Turning Plastic Pill Bottles Into Orange Robot Figurines (Laughing Squid)

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Social distancing is a thing in the octopus world. According to new research out of the University of Sydney, some females will tell males to back off by throwing stuff at them. Plus: it was this week in 2019 that a drunk feral pig in western Australia picked a fight with a cow, which is probably one of the weirdest sentences of the week. 

Female Octopuses Throw Things at Irritating Males, And Look, We Totally Get It (Science Alert)

Drunk and boarish: swigging pig hogs 18 beers at campsite (The Guardian)

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Boston's Skinny House went up for sale recently. It's a four-story house with rooms only 10 feet wide, and was reportedly built just to block another house's view of the harbor. "Spite houses" have been regularly built for these kinds of reasons, it turns out. Plus: today in in 1504 Michelangelo completed David. We've got a fun fact about this iconic sculpture for you. 

Five Spite Houses in New England (Boston Magazine)

10 Fun Facts About Michelangelo's David (The Florence Insider)

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Yuan Longping, born today in 1930, was known as the Father of Hybrid Rice, and his work saved countless people from famine and starvation. Here's more of his story. Plus: a school in New Zealand has an unusual crossing guard: a chicken in a safety vest named Henry! 

Yuan Longping, whose hybrid rice helped feed the world, dies at 90 (Washington Post)

This New Zealand School Is Using a Chicken as a Traffic Officer (Mental Floss)

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Sputnik IV, to be specific, had some trouble getting back to Earth as planned. Today in 1962, pieces of the Soviet spacecraft ended up crashing into a street in Manitowoc, Wisconsin - so the town started holding a SputnikFest to celebrate their place in space history. Plus: today in 1870, Louisa Swaim made herstory by casting a ballot in Laramie, Wyoming.

'Sputnikfest': How Wisconsin Celebrates Historic Fall of Soviet Satellite (Space.com)

About Sputnik (Rahr-West Art Museum)  

Celebrating a Trailblazer: 150th Anniversary of the First Women's Vote (Travel Wyoming)

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Today in 2019, a woman in Sweden rose to an unthinkable occasion: she rescued all six of her children, including three under 5 years old, while their house burned down. Plus: did you know hummingbirds can see some ultraviolet colors that humans can't? 

Emma, ​​30: I saved my six children from the flames (Expressen.se)

Hummingbirds Can See Colors We Can’t Even Imagine (Wired)

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Nike and biotech company NewLight have started developing a shoe made from a polymer derived from carbon, bringing some greenness to an often carbon-intensive industry. Plus: Victoria Rose Richards embroiders overhead views of moors and other parts of the UK's countryside.

Nike Is Designing Biodegradable Sneakers Out of Carbon (Interesting Engineering)

Landscapes (Futility Closet)

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