Today in 1887 (or, by some accounts, 1888), the birthday of a composer who’s really only now getting the acclaim she deserves: Florence Price. Plus: did you know that it was a violation of iTunes terms of service to use it to build weapons?

As Her Music Is Reconsidered, a Composer Turns 135. Again. (New York Times)

8 Ridiculous EULA Clauses You May Have Already Agreed To (MakeUseOf)

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A study from Japan's Tohoku University says that if current trends continue, everyone in the country will eventually end up with the same surname - though it might take a while to get there. Plus: some residents of Luna Pier, Michigan were apparently so concerned about eclipse tourists that the mayor says they asked him to stop the eclipse. 

Everyone in Japan will be called Sato by 2531 unless marriage law changed, says professor (The Guardian)

Solar Eclipse 2024: The only Michigan town that is in the path of totality (BridgeMI.com) 

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This month in 1941, a dog in the UK became a hero in a very strange way, stopping a bomb by answering the call of nature. Plus: starting today in Darien, Georgia, it’s the Blessing of the Fleet. 

Urinating WWII Great Dane's medal sold (BBC)

Dog cocked leg to extinguish Nazi bomb (Telegraph)

The Blessing of the Fleet 

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It's International Carrot Day. If you want to see a really unique carrot, try Melbourne, Australia, where a guy named Nathan walks around town with a very large papier mache carrot. Plus: this weekend in Sebring, Florida, it's the Sebring Soda Festival.

‘There he goes with the carrot’: how walking the streets with a giant papier-mache vegetable made Nathan a Melbourne legend (The Guardian)

Sebring Soda Festival 

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Today in 1919, one of the strangest moments in the history of professional baseball, when major leaguer Ping Bodie took on an ostrich in an eating contest and won. Plus: a ketchup giant is installing dispensers on the sidewalks outside some of Chicago’s best-loved (and often ketchup-free) hot dog places. 

A Yankee, an ostrich and 22 plates of pasta (MLB.com)

Ping Bodie (Society for American Baseball Research)

Heinz Is Putting Up Ketchup Dispensers To Tempt Chicagoans With Forbidden Condiment (Block Club Chicago)

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Today in 1978, the premiere of the iconic TV show “Dallas.” It was originally just supposed to be a miniseries, but it just kept winning over audience after audience - even some audiences that were behind the Iron Curtain. Plus: all month long in and around Mount Vernon, Washington, it's the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

How 'Dallas' Won the Cold War (Washington Post)

J. R. Ewing Shot Down Communism in Estonia (New York Times)

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 

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It was probably more elaborate than your standard April Fools Day joke: today in 1906, the Chicago Tribune put together a two page "report," complete with pictures, about swarms of dinosaurs wrecking the city. Plus: it’s Easter Monday, and in the village of Hallaton, Leicestershire, England, it's the day for a competition known as Bottle Kicking.

April 1, 1906: Chicago invaded by hordes of prehistoric monsters dealing death and destruction (Chicago Tribune)

Bottle Kicking in Hallaton (Amusing Planet)

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This week we’re replaying some of our finest episodes about some of the finest works ever created. In this episode from November 2019, we take a trip through the website Weird Universe's Gallery of Art Hung Upside Down. Plus: a 9 year old who can't stop doodling, even in class, is now a professional artist. He's paid to doodle. 

⁠The Gallery of Art Hung Upside-Down⁠ (Weird Universe)

⁠9-Year-Old Kid Who Kept Getting In Trouble For Doodling In Class Gets A Job Decorating A Restaurant With His Drawings⁠ (Bored Panda) 

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This week we’re replaying some of our finest episodes about some of the finest works ever created. In this episode from October 2021, the story of sculptor Edmonia Lewis. She was born in the 1840s to a Black father and a Chippewa mother, and became the first Native American and Black woman to become an acclaimed sculptor. Plus: the exhibit known as Little Canada features miniature versions of some of this big country’s most famous cities, landmarks and attractions.

⁠Edmonia Lewis⁠ (Smithsonian American Art Museum) 

⁠Little Canada⁠

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This week we’re replaying some of our finest episodes about some of the finest works ever created. In this episode from September 2020, why even researchers run into challenges in verifying whether a Rembrandt is really his work or just a simulation. Plus: an interactive online map of continental drift can show you where a town or city used to be hundreds of millions of years ago. 

⁠The Rembrandt Research Project: Past, Present, Future ⁠

⁠A Supposedly Fake Rembrandt Might Just Be Real⁠ (Vanity Fair)

⁠Map Lets You See How Your Hometown has Moved Across 750 Million Years of Continental Drift⁠ (Good News Network)