Today was the birthday in 1890 of Groucho Marx, perhaps the best known of the comic geniuses known as the Marx Brothers. And yet, if it hadn’t been for a runaway mule, they might never have ended up doing comedy. Plus: today in 2006, musician Katie Melua and her band set a world record for deepest underwater concert by playing over 300 meters below sea level, for workers in an oil rig in the North Sea.

Marx Brothers' road to stardom began in Nacogdoches (Houston Chronicle)

Melua's deep sea gig sets record

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It's National Coffee Day, and while most coffee fans prefer to brew and drink the stuff, there are other options. For example, have you ever tried coffee jelly? Plus: Binasco, Italy is home to MUMAC, which in Italian is an acronym for the Museum of Coffee Making Machines.

Boston's Forgotten Coffee Jelly Lives On in Japanese Desserts (VICE) 

Coffee Machine Museum (Bookofjoe)

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Around this time in 2011, an event that was definitely not a “blink and you’ll miss it” affair: a staring contest that took over 40 minutes. Plus: a research team in Japan has developed an artificial intelligence system "capable of interpreting various emotional states in chickens."

Victory for 'Eyesore' in 40-minute staring competition (ABC Australia) 

Scientists Say New AI Can Translate What Chickens Are Saying (Futurism)

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Around this time of year, the Tiwi Islands in northern Australia can start counting on pretty much the same thunderstorm showing up at the same time every day. It's so reliable, they even named it. Plus: this weekend in Newport, Indiana, it's the annual Antique Auto Hill Climb.

Hector arrives promptly at 3pm. But Hector isn’t a person (CNN) 

Newport Antique Auto Hill Climb

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Today in 1774 was the birthday of Johnny Appleseed. In some ways, the real life John Chapman was like the person depicted in books and movies. But he was also a savvy, albeit eccentric, entrepreneur whose apples were less for eating than they were for drinking. Plus: a billboard to promote the Beatles album Abbey Road (released today in 1969) loses a head!

The Real Johnny Appleseed Brought Apples—and Booze—to the American Frontier (Smithsonian) 

Billboard USA: when rock took over advertising's roadside monoliths (The Guardian)

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Today in 1897, the birthday of William Faulkner, the Nobel Prize winning author of novels like The Sound and the Fury, and, for a few years, one of the most unproductive postmasters the US mail has ever seen. Plus: on this day in 2020, a German rapper calling himself Hans Solo released the first full-length hip hop album entirely in Klingon. 

William Faulkner Was Really Bad at Being a Postman (Lit Hub) 

Hans Solo NUQNEH (Upcoming Vinyl)

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It’s National Dear Diary Day. And nobody kept a diary quite like Robert Shields, who for decades chronicled just about every little thing that happened in his life. Plus: starting today in Warrens, Wisconsin, it's the Warrens Cranberry Festival.

Robert Shields, Wordy Diarist, Dies at 89 (The New York Times)  

Warrens Cranberry Festival

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Today in 1850, the birthday of Sam Brinkley, who was a groundbreaker in the field of having a really really long beard. Plus: starting tomorrow in Fairmount, Indiana, it’s the start of the annual Remembering James Dean Festival.

A beard taller than Danny DeVito: how this NC man’s facial hair became world famous (Charlotte Observer) 

Sam Brinkley and His Beard (NCpedia)

Remembering James Dean Festival

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Today in 2006, the Pentagon announced it would tear down a fascinating piece of Cold War history: a hot dog stand that the Soviets had once thought was actually a top military target. Plus: starting tomorrow in Benson, North Carolina, it’s Benson Mule Days.

The Cold War’s Most Important Hot Dog Stand (Now I Know)

Benson Mule Days

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Today in 1968, the Soviet Union was launching the Zond 5 mission, orbiting the moon. But on cosmanaut, knowing the US would be listening, decided to pretend he’d landed on the moon's surface. Plus: a woman in California got a call from an animal shelter saying they had her cat - except that her cat had gone missing nine years earlier.

The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team by Colin Burgess and Rex Hall (via Google Books)

Lost cat found in Idaho 9 years after wandering away from California home (Washington Post)

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