Today in 1997, the commissioners of Kleberg County, Texas voted to do away with the word “hello,” and replace it with a more positive alternative. Plus: today in 1931, an unforgettable night for some of the country's leading architects. 

Say Goodbye to ‘Hello’ and Hello to ‘Heaven-o’ (Los Angeles Times)

Famous Architects Dress as Their Famous New York City Buildings (1931) (Open Culture)

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This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about fascinating peaks. In this episode from June 2021, a look at the Niesen Stairway Run, a run up a world record staircase built into a mountain nicknamed the Swiss Pyramid. Plus: decades before Zoom and Skype meetings, Sony sold a Face to Face video phone.

Niesen flight of stairs (Niesen)

Video phone (Techmoan on YouTube)

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This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about fascinating peaks. In this episode from June 2023, a dog in New Hampshire takes up a popular Granite State challenge, climbing all 48 of the state’s 4,000 foot high mountains. Plus: a handy invention will send your phone a notification if your pants zipper is down.

Pug deemed ‘too hyper’ channels energy into mountain climbing — and breaks barriers (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Man Invents App That Tells Him When His Fly Is Down (Neatorama)

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This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about fascinating peaks. In this episode from August 2021, a strange story from 1947, when two climbers woke up at the summit of Oregon's Mount Hood and found a quart of milk and the morning newspaper, dropped off by a friend. Plus: a study out of the University of Greenwich finds that bees may be more productive when they ingest naturally-occurring caffeine.

A quirky little mystery from 1947 on the summit of Mount Hood is finally solved (The Oregonian)

Bumble bees show an induced preference for flowers when primed with caffeinated nectar and a target floral odor (Current Biology)

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This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about fascinating peaks. In this episode from November 2019, Mount Chimborazo, in central Ecuador. It’s not nearly as tall as Mount Everest, but it's actually higher than the tallest mountain on Earth. Plus: why the community of New Baltimore, New York showed up in map searches with a spooky purple tinge to it.

Mount Chimborazo is Actually the Highest Point on Earth (CN Traveler)

The 20 Scariest Google Street View Images (Mashable)

Ain’t no mountain high enough for our backers on Patreon

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about fascinating peaks. In this episode from September 2022, the story of a 10 month old cat that somehow showed up at the top of a mountain that’s over 14,000 feet high. Plus: the time in 1968 a group then known as the New Yardbirds played their first-ever show in Denmark.

The cat that climbed the Matterhorn (Weird Universe)

Commemorating the debut of Led Zeppelin in 1968

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The new year tradition of Mitaarfik in Greenland features a bunch of people in masks hanging out in your house without saying a word. Plus: Today in 2022, Preet Chandi became the first woman of color to successfully make a solo expedition to the South Pole.

Mitaartut – The silent masked performances (Visit Greenland)

Preet Chandi is the first woman of color to complete a solo expedition in Antarctica (NPR)

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About this time in 1910, a member of Congress thought the next big food trend would be hippo meat. Plus: Williams Lake, British Columbia designates every January 2 as Wrestling Day, but it's not related to a sport.

Lake Bacon: The Story of The Man Who Wanted Us to Eat Mississippi Hippos (The Daily Beast)

A city in B.C. has an actual civic holiday called Wrestling Day (Vancouver Is Awesome)

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Today marks the start of another Earth orbit around the sun, but there’s also something called the galactic year, and that one just keeps going and going and going. Plus: today in 1959, Johnny Cash played a concert for inmates at San Quentin Prison, including one who would make his own mark on country music history.

How long is a galactic year? (Live Science)

On This Day: Johnny Cash Performed for an Imprisoned Merle Haggard at San Quentin (American Songwriter)

We’re ringing in the new year (as well as marking National Ring a Bell Day) with the story of a bell that’s been ringing year in and year out for almost two centuries. Plus: a new year’s tradition on US Navy ships is to write up the first deck watch of a new year in verse.

This Battery Has Lasted 175 Years and No One Knows How (VICE)

Midwatch In Verse (Weird Universe)

Backers, check the Patreon site for a second, supporter-exclusive episode today!