It's National Cheese Day! Today we're telling the story of American cheese, which got its start from a guy who emigrated to Chicago from Ontario. Plus: a region of northern Sweden known as "the Kingdom of Cheese" drives the point home with two 23 foot tall cheese slicers.

What Is American Cheese, Anyway? (Serious Eats)

A Brief History of "American Cheese," from Colonial Cheddar to Kraft Singles (Mental Floss)

World's Largest Cheese Slicer (Atlas Obscura)

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Alexander Graham Bell is best known for the telephone, but he thought his light-based calling system, the photophone was way more important... so much so that he even tried to name his daughter Photophone Bell. Plus: for World Bicycle Day, the story of a Japanese company that let customers order a special set of socks that would be knitted by a bicycle-powered knitting machine.

Photophone: How Alexander Graham Bell Transmitted Sound by Sunlight (Amusing Planet)

Japanese Factory Lets You Knit Your Own Socks by Riding a Bicycle (Oddity Central)

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There’s some linguistic research that suggests that American hockey players sometimes start to sound more like Canadians as their hockey careers continue. Plus: The uses seven bridges to connect a bunch of islands in Norway together. You essentially get to drive right along the ocean. 

How do you pronounce “hockey”? US players say it with “fake Canadian” accent. (Ars Technica)

The Atlantic Road (Explore Scandanavia)

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Today in 1953, some 10,000 people took part in Woodruff, Wisconsin's Memorial Day "Penny Parade." They were raising to build a hospital, urged on by the leader of the effort, Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb. Plus: a teen who went fishing catches a guy's wallet that had fallen into the water three decades earlier.

Penny Facts (Dr. Kate Museum)

Dr. Kate Museum in Woodruff, Wisconsin continues to honor the legacy of Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb (WUWM)

‘A blast from the past’: Lost wallet returns to Comox man after 33 years (Comox Valley Record)

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Today in 1943, Norman Rockwell's painting "Rosie the Riveter" was on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. But that's not the image that we think of today as Rosie, and just as there were multiple depictions of the character, there were multiple real-life inspirations for those depictions. Plus: congrats to Max the cat, who just got an honorary degree from a college in Vermont.

Everyone Was Wrong About the Real 'Rosie the Riveter’ for Decades. Here’s How the Mystery Was Solved (TIME)

Vermont university gives cat an honorary 'doctor of litter-ature' degree (WBNS via YouTube) 

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Today in 1901, a court decision protected the right to say pretty much whatever we like while reviewing a podcast, or a song, or a performance. And it all started with some of the strangest performances of all time, put on by the Cherry Sisters. Plus: the start of summer travel season brings to mind a guy in Italy named Eduardo, who collects Do Not Disturb signs from different hotels.

Fair Comment (American Heritage)

Cherry Bomb: The Story of the Awful Cherry Sisters (WFMU) 

This guy collects Do Not Disturb signs from Hotels around the World (Messy Nessy Chic)

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For today’s holiday we wanted to replay an episode from 2019 about the history behind Memorial Day. Officially, the community that started Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York - but Waterloo is definitely not the only place with a Memorial Day origin story.

How Waterloo, NY, became the birthplace of Memorial Day (New York Upstate)

Birthplace of Memorial Day? That Depends Where You’re From (New York Times)

Memorial Day History (VA.gov)

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about our neighbors in the solar system. In this episode from March 2023, long before the internet’s favorite planet got its very pun-filled name, an astronomer wanted to give it a much more chill one. Plus: modern day scientists have plenty of theories on how Uranus ended up on its side. 

⁠Uranus: the first planet discovered with a telescope⁠ (Science Museum London)

⁠There's a New Hypothesis For How Uranus Ended Up Tipped on Its Side⁠ (Science Alert)

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This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about our neighbors in the solar system. In this episode from May 2019, a look at Venera 5, an overlooked but important visit to a fairly nasty place, the planet Venus. Plus: McMinnville, Oregon kicks off its annual UFO Festival, complete with fun run called the Alien Abduction Dash. 

⁠Venera 5⁠ (NASA) 

⁠Yes, We've Seen the Surface of Venus⁠ (Popular Science) 

⁠McMinnville OR UFO Festival⁠ 

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This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about our neighbors in the solar system. In this episode from June 2019, a look at how the Curiosity Rover takes selfies on Mars without having its robot arm in the foreground of every shot. Plus: the University of St. Andrews teaches grey seals to sing the "Star Wars" theme. For research.

⁠Why Don’t We See the Curiosity Rover’s Arm When it Takes a Selfie?⁠ (Universe Today)

⁠Curiosity Rover Report (June 13, 2013): Curiosity's Cameras⁠ (NASA on YouTube) 

⁠Grey seals copy human speech and music⁠ (University of St. Andrews)

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