On any given day McDonald's serves huge numbers of people, either in restaurants or via drive-thru windows. But once, in the 1990s, the company also tried to operate restaurant cars on a long-distance German train line. Plus: since April 15 is traditionally tax day, so did you know that ancient Rome once taxed bachelors? 

The McTrain: The Rise and Fall of McDonald's Ambitious Plan to Conquer the Railroads (The Drive)

8 of History's Strangest Taxes (Mental Floss)

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One of the more than 700 survivors of the sinking of RMS Titanic was Violet Jessop, a stewardess who helped passengers get into lifeboats and wait for rescue. Amazingly, Jessop had been in one shipwreck before that, and would go on to be in another. Plus: today marks 100 years since the death of the man who patented the Ouija board. His tombstone pays special tribute to his contribution. 

The story of Violet Constance Jessop (UK National Archives)

A Woman to Know: Violet Jessop (A Woman To Know)

One Of The Most Unique Tombstones In The World Is Right Here In Maryland (Only In Maryland)

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It's National Scrabble Day, marking the birth of the person who started it all. Here's some of how Alfred Mosher Butts and, later, James Brunot turned the game originally called Lexiko got its start. Plus: on this day in 1818, the U.S. begins adding stars (but no longer adding stripes) for each new state. 

A Short History of Scrabble (and Some Fun Scrabble Facts) (New England Historical Society)

Only the Beginning (New Yorker)

Grand Old Flag (Library of Congress)

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Today is the birthday of Evelyn Berezin, whose inventions include the first computer-based word processor, the first computerized airline reservations system, and so much more that so many of us use regularly today. Plus: artist Nadia Gonegaï has made the Portrait Urn, a pretty special way to remember someone special. 

The woman who invented the word processor and online flight booking system has died (Quartz)

Evelyn Berezin, Computer Scientist Behind Groundbreaking Word Processor, Dies At 93 (NPR)

Portrait Urn (Book of Joe)

Two design students have come up with an idea to turn the stretchy, plasticky parts of chewing gum into new wheels for skateboards, so the gum isn't wasted. It's the kind of idea that just might stick. Plus: today in 1965, the Houston Astrodome opened. They had a plan to grow grass indoors, but they also had a Plan B. 

These Students Designed A Way Of Repurposing Chewing Gum To Make Skateboard Wheels! (Yanko Design)

9 things you didn't know about the once-majestic Astrodome (USA Today)

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Next month the website Yahoo Answers is shutting down, after 16 glorious years of... everything that went on over there. We look back at the most famous moments on a site that became, as the New York Times put it this week, a “haven for the confused.” Plus: a company is making a pair of sneakers that was produced in part from grapes.

Yahoo Answers, a Haven for the Confused, Is Shutting Down (New York Times)

New Whiskey, Chef-Approved Spices and Sneakers Made From Grapes (UrbanDaddy)

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On this day in 1948, Idaho Fish and Game moved beavers to a new habitat in a very unusual way: they had the beavers parachute into the wilderness! We'll explain how they did it. Plus: a new map of New York City's most notable trees helps people find some unique green space even in the big city. 

Parachuting Beavers Into Idaho's Wilderness? Yes, It Really Happened (Boise State Public Radio)

New Map Unearths New York’s Oldest and Rarest Trees (Hyperallergic)

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Chuck Lamb found a unique way into TV shows and movies: he became "Dead Body Guy," playing a range of characters who had already passed on. And, of course, he took an unusual path to get there. Plus: it's the birthday of Billy Dee Williams, so here's a few lesser-known facts about the actor who brought Lando Calrissian to life. 

Why 'Dead Body Guy' is calling it quits on his acting career (As It Happens)

A Name in the Credits? Over His Dead Body (New York Times)

8 Suave Facts About Billy Dee Williams (Mental Floss)

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A device in Denmark, WasteShark, has been roaming through water to scoop up floating debris. Now it's going to have a flying companion drone to help spot waste and maybe even clean up oil spills. Plus: photographer Nancy Floyd has been taking self-portraits and other images, structured the same way, day after day since 1982, to show the passage of time. Talk about playing the long game. 

These drones look for trash in waterways—and then send sailing drones to clean it up (Fast Company)

An Intimate Series About Aging and Time Compiles Portraits of Photographer Nancy Floyd Every Day Since 1982 (Colossal)

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Today in 1827, Joseph Dixon began manufacturing pencils at his factory in Salem, Massachusetts, so it's a good day to go back through the centuries and centuries that helped make the pencil what it is now. Plus: there's a vintage and specialty pencil shop in Wisconsin called the Pencillarium!

The Write Stuff: How The Humble Pencil Conquered The World (Popular Mechanics)

A Visual History of the Pencil (Museum of Everyday Life)

9 Weird Ways Pencils Changed the World (Reader's Digest)

You Won’t Find Another Store Like The Pencillarium In Wisconsin (Only in Wisconsin)

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