Wait, WHO was America's first president?!

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.

I'M WARNING YOU!

This is funny!

So someone named lieutenantriza wrote this:

My favorite thing I’ve learned in college is that way back in ancient China there was this poet/philosopher guy who wrote this whole pretentious poem about how enlightened he was, and how “the eight winds cannot move me.”

He was really proud of it so he sent it to his friend who lived across the lake. And then his friend just writes “FART” (in Chinese) on it, and sends it back. And the poet was SO MAD he travels across the lake to chew his friend out and when he gets there his friend says, “Wow. The eight winds cannot move you, but one fart sends you across the lake.”

And then Asterion wrote:

I Googled this because I desperately wanted this to be real, and guess what…it is. The poet’s name was Su Dongpo, and his original poem went like this: 

 稽首天中天， 

毫光照大千， 

八風吹不動， 

端坐紫金蓮  

(Humbly bowed my head below all skies/Minutest lights shine through my deepest bounds/Immovable by strong winds from eight sides/Upon purplish gold lotus I seated straightly by the low mound)

Then his friend wrote “放屁” (fart) on it, and you know the rest.

But seriously...

This poster about fascism is from the U.S. Holocaust Museum. How many checks could we put next to it in the U.S. today?

EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF FASCISM:1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism2. Disdain for Human Rights3. Identification of Enemies as a Unifying Cause4. Supremacy of the Military5. Rampant Sexism6. Controlled Mass Media7. Obsession with National Security8. Religion and Government Intertwined9. Corporate Power Protected10. Labor Power Suppressed11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption14. Fraudulent Elections

Ancient history is amazing!

“What’d you do when you were my age, Grandpa?”

“Well, there wasn’t any Internet or electronic gizmos, so we mostly just watched men digging. Holes, ditches, it didn’t matter to us. Those were the glory days!” 

Photo from Portland, 1962. 

Hey, want to read something cool?

Check out this article about "EXTREME BAGPIPING SITUATIONS." It details bagpiping in war, Antarctica, and even outer space! (Photo via.)

Kids toys in 1964 were terrifying!

I’m really angry right now!

It's infuriating that history says Pedro Lascuráin was President of Mexico for "between 15 to 56 minutes."

I NEED AN EXACT NUMBER

(Also? Vote for Pedro!)

Let's go on an adventure to Thaddeus Kosciuszko’s Park!

Being a park ranger for the smallest park in the National Park System sounds like a pretty good job. And the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial in Philadelphia is only .02 acres in size. That means you just have to take a few steps to get from one side of it to the other.

So it's easy to spot vagrants trying to camp illegally at the memorial, which is basically a small messy room where Thaddeus Kosciuszko lived for seven months.

“But who’s Thaddeus Kosciuszko?” you ask.

Surely you jest! Thomas Jefferson called Kosciuszko “the purest son of liberty I have ever known.” He was the most famous Polish hero of the American Revolutionary War, serving as the head engineer for the Continental Army.

Upon later returning to Poland, Kosciuszko went on to lead the Polish army to several brilliant victories against an invading Russian force. Although he never lost a battle, Kosciuszko lost the war when the Polish king surrendered in 1792.

So he’s sort of like the Polish George Washington . . . if Washington had lost.

In 1797, Kosciuszko traveled to Philadelphia to try to get some back pay that was owed him. And our modern National Memorial is where he stayed for seven months before moving back to Europe.

Hang on a second. Excuse me sir, there’s NO CAMPING here!

Fun Fact: Out of the 367 sites run by the National Park Service, the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial is the 364th most popular!