Saturday is the 166th birthday of Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son and the only Lincoln child to survive into adulthood. While he didn’t make quite the mark on history that his father did, Robert Lincoln had a pretty interesting life himself. Let’s take a look at five things you might not know about him:

1. He Was on Ulysses S. Grant’s Personal Staff

Part of Abraham Lincoln’s mystique lies in his humble roots as a self-made man who found education where he could. His eldest son didn’t have to go through quite as many trials and tribulations to do some learning, though. Robert left Springfield, Illinois, to attend boarding school at New Hampshire’s elite Phillips Exeter Academy when he was a young man, and he later graduated from Harvard during his father’s presidency.

After completing his undergrad degree, Robert stuck around Cambridge to go to Harvard Law School, but that arrangement didn’t last very long. After studying law for just a few months, Lincoln received a commission as a captain in the army. Lincoln’s assignment put him on Ulysses S. Grant’s personal staff, so he didn’t see much fighting. He did get a nice view of history, though; Lincoln was present as part of Grant’s junior staff at Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.

After the war ended, Lincoln moved to Chicago with his mother and brother and wrapped up his legal studies.

2. The Booth Family Did Him a Favor

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Apollo Robbins is good at stealing stuff. For years, this renown pickpocket entertained Vegas audiences by stealing their hearts– generally by stealing their wristwatches and money clips. But everything changed for Apollo after he picked the pocket of one of Jimmy Carter’s secret service agents during one of his shows. I sat with Robbins to talk about the art of pickpocketing, life after Vegas, and why he lets gypsies steal stuff from him.

How’d you get into pickpocketing business?
My half brothers were involved with crime. But I was too young to participate. I also had certain disabilities that prevented me [from joining in]: like braces on my legs. When I became a teen, I ran into a friend at a magic shop who took me under his wing. I started reading up on magical theory and immediately blended that with what my brothers had shown me.

Your style of pickpocketing is based in magic?
I applied my magic in ways that were invasive, where it happened on people. There are two kinds of magic. If you think of it like martial arts, there’s sparring where you are doing it with a partner and the other is kata where you’re doing an exposition for the audience. Many times, illusions or magic sets are designed as an exposition for the audience to watch, but the the style I do with the pickpocketing is directly interactive. So I used that idea to build my pickpocket act in Vegas.

You mentioned a story about Jimmy Carter’s secret service man. How did stealing from an president’s bodyguard turn into your big break?
My show was part-variety, part-magic, so I brought people on stage. Then I’d steal all their stuff and give it back to them. But 7 or 8 years ago, I pick-pocketed one of Jimmy Carter’s secret service agents. After that, I got approached [to consult] police departments and security individuals. I got to visit prisons and I started learning the thinking and skill set of real thieves.
So, there’s a difference in how thieves and magicians pick pockets? (more…)

By combining a series of still-camera shots into a video, photographer Charlie McCarthy has made something amazing. The shots are long-exposures showing bugs buzzing around a street light, making abstract doodles in the air — revealing the flight path of the insects as they circle and dance around the light. The video is short (43 seconds), and just beautiful.

flight patterns from Charlie McCarthy on Vimeo.

It’s always the Quick 10, isn’t it? Well, it’s Friday, and I think I’m developing an immunity to caffeine, because I’m not moving very quick today. To complement my mood, we’re going to look at slow things for the Q10… or the “S10,” as the case may be.

1. The Slowest Kentucky Derby winner record since the course was changed to its current 1.25-mile length in 1896: Stone Street. He finished the race in 2:15 in 1908, 16 seconds slower than the fastest horse to win the race – Secretariat, of course. He probably would have been much faster, but the track conditions were terrible and muddy that day.
2. The Slowest Sports Day of the Year: the day after the MLB All-Star game in July. There are no baseball games, no basketball, no football, no hockey, not even golf or tennis.

3. Slowest Car in the World: According to a May report from Motor Trend, it’s the Smart ForTwo, which takes 14.70 seconds to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour.

4. Slowest Concert in the World: Written by composer John Cage, the organ piece started on September 5, 2001, and will end 639 years later. The next sound change is scheduled for July 5, 2012. (more…)

Okay, so you can probably figure out the origins of band names like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, or The Dave Matthews Band. But what about some groups whose name origins might be a little more obscure? See if you can pick the real name origin from the two phonies we’ve made up.

Take the Band Names Origins Quiz now.

1. As I made very clear yesterday, July 30th is my birthday. A quick scan of a few “This Date in History” sites reveals a few notable events: Arnold Schwarzenegger was born, Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, and, at least according to Wikipedia, Baghdad was founded. What’s the most impressive thing to happen on your birthday?

2. What’s your second-favorite quote from your favorite movie?

3. I once took a vacation day to clean up the residue from a fire extinguisher that my wife had to use on our flaming oven. It was a mess and really did take most of the day to clean, but I’m sure my boss thought the whole ordeal was made up. What’s the strangest real reason you had to miss work? (And if you want to share your best fake excuse, that’d be even better.)

4. Full disclosure: This one might help us with an article we’re working on for next week. Mangesh is reading a book called Picking Cotton about a woman who misidentified the man who raped her, put him in jail for 11 years until DNA proved him innocent, and now they’re really good friends. Can you think of any other unexpected or bizarre friendships or partnerships in history?

[See all the previous Friday Happy Hour transcripts.]

By Gregory Peduto

From beans plucked from cat poop to coffee flavored with monkey spit, java aficionados ingest some nutty stuff in the name of finding the ultimate buzz. These caffeine-imbibing daredevils are constantly on the lookout for the most exotic varieties of beans that combine the best taste, smoothest flavor, and the wackiest backstory. Here are just a few of the most exciting blends they love to brew over.

1. Good to the Last Dropping

The Indonesian drink known as Kopi Luwak or civet coffee might be the rarest cup of joe on the planet, and for good reason. Made from the feces of a coffee bean munching cat, this Southeast Asian brew has one of the most unique flavor on earth. But why drink the stuff? According to a study conducted by Massimo Marcone of Guelph University, enzymes in the cat’s digestive tract alter the bean’s proteins. And since proteins control bitterness, the civet coffee has no acidic taste. The bigger question is: How safe is it to use coffee beans plucked from cat poop?

Quite safe, apparently. Farmers wash the droppings before roasting them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. But the process does make Kopi Luwak the most expensive coffee on the planet. Prices range from $50 a cup to $600 a pound. For anyone gutsy enough to try it, the beans can be purchased from Animal Coffee. Of course, the brew isn’t without its critics. Some folks think the musky flavor imparted by the cat’s anal glands make the drink taste like, well, crap.

2. Vanilla Flavored Monkey Spit

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It’s an all-new 5-day trivia hunt,
with an all-new set of puzzles, prizes, and collaborators!

First, the prizes: In addition to the usual $100 and $50 gift certificates to our store for the first place winner and the random winner, we’ll be giving away a brand-spanking new Mino HD Flip cam, courtesy of Pure Digital Technologies. This is a simple-to-use, ultra-cool, full HD cam that fits in your pocket and doesn’t need a charger (‘flips’ into your USB port to transfer files AND charge). We’ve used it over on our Facebook page (are you a Fan yet?) to drop clues and hints for past Hunts, and it’s amazing. So, if you’re one of the first 20 people/teams to submit all the correct answers, you’ll be entered into a drawing. We’ll pluck one name from the twenty, randomly, and the winner gets the cam. So even the first place winner has a chance at winning the cam.

If you missed Day 1, you can check that out here. Day 2 can be found this-a-way, and Day 3, right here. Today, we’ve got another fun challenge for you. Check out the Sister Salad vid below to get your Hunt on!

If you’re new to our five-day hunt, you can read up on our Rules page here. You’ll also want to check out last month’s hunt and read up on our defending champion, Neil Konouchi. Ready to get your Hunt on? Click on through.

Fake Cop Pulls Over Real Cop

21-year-old Antonio Fernandez Martinez of Oakland was impersonating a police officer when he tried to pull over a car driven by Jim Beere, who is an actual police officer in plainclothes working undercover. Fernandez was driving a car with flashing lights and loudspeakers. Martinez was promptly arrested. If convicted, Martinez faces more than a sentence for impersonating an officer -he will also have his probation revoked on an earlier charge of car theft.

Misspelled Highway Sign

A sign on Highway 51 in Wisconsin points to exit 185. There are four words on the sign, and three are misspelled. “Exit” was correctly spelled. The state Department of Transportation blamed a subcontractor, Decker Supply Company. The sign read “Buisness 51 Rothschield Schofeild.” By Sunday morning, the sign had been replaced.

World’s Oldest Potted Plant

It took three months of planning, a crane, and nine gardeners to transfer a palm tree called a cycad to a new pot. The operation at Kew Gardens in London was difficult and delicate because the tree is considered to be the oldest potted plant in the world. It was collected around 1770 during the Captain Cook’s second voyage around the world, which would make it at least 235 years old. It has been growing in a pot at Kew Gardens in London for 160 years. The repotting procedure was successful.

Gnome Rescue Operation

An elderly resident of Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia died and left behind around 1500 cement garden gnomes. Not knowing what to do with them, the executor of the will contacted the Australian Gnome Convention for advice on disposing of them. A four-member team traveled 800 kilometers to pack up the gnomes of all sizes.They will be painted and refurbished, and will appear at the 2010 Australian Gnome Convention on January 26th.

Cheese Sculpture Melts

Artist Sarah Kaufmann created a life-size sculpture of astronaut Neil Armstrong made out of Wisconsin cheddar cheese. It was to go on display this week at the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Unfortunately, the air conditioners at the museum are turned off every night to save energy, and the statue started melting and slid off of its base. Visitors were disappointed to see the statue was not on display, or at least most of it wasn’t.

The Only Zebra in Gaza

After two years of economic blockade, the zoos in Gaza are suffering. Only one has a zebra, but there’s something about the zebra that seems, um, un-zebralike.
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“It’s really a painted donkey,” admitted Mahmud Berghat, the director of Marah, when asked about the creature. Making a fake zebra isn’t easy—henna didn’t work and wood paint was deemed inhumane, so they finally settled on human hair dye. “We cut its hair short and then painted the stripes,” Berghat explained behind the closed door of his office.

Most zoo animals have to be smuggled in through tunnels, but a zebra was too expensive for the Marah zoo.

Doctorate on Ice

Diana Entwistle, a former champion ice dancer, is the first person in Britain to achieve a PhD in figure skating.

The ex-British Masters ice dance champ said: “There is so much science in figure skating and it’s the difference between getting a gold medal and appearing lower down in the leadership table.”

Diana, who is in her 20s and from Roxwell in Essex, still competes but now plans to become a coach.

Yep, there’s enough material out there for a two-parter. (If you missed part I, it’s here.) I should mention that above all others, one band takes the grand prize for serial killer songs — the Japanese metal group Church of Misery, who in 10+ albums, have rarely written a song not about a serial killer. Here’s a sampling of their work, about California serial killer Ed Kemper:

Gary Gilmore: The Police, “Bring on the Night”
This spree killer was famously written about in Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song. Killed by firing squad in California in 1977, he accepted his death sentence and fought hard against the ACLU and other groups working to grant him stays of execution. He was so impatient, he even attempted suicide twice in prison. The Police’s song doesn’t reference Gilmore directly, but the theme fits him like a glove.

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