A simple mistake or a terrible culinary suggestion?

Penguin Publishing Australia has recently released a pasta-cooking book that has shocked everyone and forced a rapid callback and destruction of all copies. A typo or error of inattention, if you will, slipped into the recipe for Prosciutto and Sardine Tagliatelle that called for “salt and freshly-ground black people”. Indeed, browsing the rest of the book gives us an indication that that last word should be “pepper”. No one has suggested that Penguin publishing actually condones racist cannibalism but the book must nevertheless be (hilariously) pulped for the shocking ingredient due to mounting calls of outrage and discrimination.

That a typo could so provoke large groups of people, waste such large sums of capital ($18,000) and be an instant pop culture phenomenon (In the top-5 stories of BBC News for over a week) is not an isolated incident. As we have seen time and again, a good proof-reading can be essential to avoid disaster, ridicule or just general misinformation.

Not to mention the economies of not looking stoopid

Here are a few examples from the illustrious and unintentionally fascinating history of the typo (or misprint, mistranslation, misinterpretation, Freudian slip, slip of the tongue…).

1. The True Number of the Beast (~300 AD): As the Bible’s New Testament (and the band Iron Maiden) have told us, the Devil’s number of choice was “Six hundred threescore and six” or 666. Recent scholarship has unveiled the oldest version of this passage known to man in a second-century manuscript. Lo and behold the famed number of the beast is indicated as “616″. It is possible that this early version of the Book of Revelations was mistaken seeing as all these versions were painstakingly transcribed by hand, copy by copy, and therefore human error was a very real concern. That being said, this being the earliest copy, certain specialists suggest that the following copy got it wrong and that, with Gutenberg’s XV^th century printing press, the 666, along with who knows how many ‘mistakes’ have been immortalized as canon. On the bright said, all those metal bands weren’t actually taking orders from the Prince of Darkness, they were just taking the (current) Bible’s word for it.

Now just another number

2. The Wicked Bible (1631) – The King James Bible was set to be published in yet another English edition, one of the many hundreds over the centuries; surely a few of them would let a typo or misprint in here and there (it is a very long book and this is ages before Word’s autocorrect). The result of the typo here however was so blasphemous (and surely hilarious) that the entire edition was deemed cursed and it remains known today as the “Wicked Bible”. The Typo? In Exodus, the sixth commandment is conspicuously missing the word “not”. The Wicked Bible of 1631 thus indicates God’s commandment as “Thou shalt commit adultery”. As you might imagine the few (single-digits) remaining copies of this edition are all but priceless on today’s collector’s market.

3. A glass slipper? (1697) – Frenchman Charles Perreault almost assuredly borrowed from ancient lore and oral tradition but we credit him for the basis of our modern Cinderella story. The wicked stepsisters, the prince, the fairy Godmother and the glass slipper were all here in this first and French version. One question that may come to mind is why glass? Not only would it be uncomfortable and out of place for the time, it would surely shatter at the first step. Nevertheless, we’ve accepted the glass slipper for centuries and it has become so iconic it no longer even needs Cinderella; it is a pop culture reference on its own. The problem is that the slipper was never made of glass (nor was it a slipper). Her “Soulier de vair” was in fact a shoe made of fur. A mistranslation took “vair”, an archaic term for a pelt, and took it to mean “verre”, the French term for glass. All in all, the moral of Cinderella’s story remains undisturbed but it is interesting to see our most stable of common knowledge revealed as false due to minor mistakes and an unquestioning audience.

Slightly less romantic

4. Pennsylvania IS hard to spell (1751) – Destined to adorn the Philadelphia Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell has come to symbolize the pinnacle of American liberty and freedom. Look closely enough however and you may just find American history’s most visible yet least noticed typo. On the 2000 lbs behemoth is written “…By order of the assembly of the province of Pensylvania for the State House…”. Again, it really doesn’t change anything but certainly puts a smile on my face. Words come and go but writings on national treasures will be (hilariously) incorrect and preserved as such for many centuries.

5. Neil Armstrong’s redundancy (1969) – I was not born at the time but remember it as vividly as if it were yesterday. That day in June 1969, ‘we’ reached the moon and everything would change forever. Although things stayed relatively the same, most of this event has passed on to pop culture and common knowledge. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, the other guy (Michael Collins), “The Eagle has landed” and of course “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. There is a slight problem with that last one however; it doesn’t really mean anything. What happened is that Armstrong had been thinking of the perfect words to immortalize his (and by extension our) timeless feat but, as happens, he sort of messed it up and forget the ‘a’ “…for A man…” which makes a lot more sense. Armstrong later said he “would hope history would grant me leeway for dropping the syllable”. In the end, we have not only excused his omission but we all unquestioningly remember his mistake as the defining phrase of the space race.

He may have had a few things on his mind...

6. An online typo worth $150 billion (2002) – In 1996, Larry Paige and Sergei Brin attended Stanford University and teamed up to create an Internet search engine. Using complex statistical and mathematical models yet simplifying design and accessibility, they thought they had a real winner that could go up against the biggest of Yahoos and Altavistas. Having almost completed the technical design of it all, the boys needed a product name. They focused on the amplitude of search results and settled on a number to represent their engine.  They chose ten duotrigintillion or ten to the 100th power or what was simply called a googol. Paige thought it was perfect and immediately tried to reserve the domain name. Unfortunately, he did not necessarily know how to spell googol and ended up registering google.com by mistake. No matter, they ran with it anyway and became the most successful Internet millionaires in history (for now).

More accurate but pointless

There are MANY other examples but the main point to take from all of this is that it changes very little. As far as we know, all of these were unintentional and under no circumstances should be taken as meaning anything in any way. Penguin does not want you to sprinkle some of your crushed African-American co-workers onto a questionable tagliatelle (sardines?), they simply made a (hilarious) mistake.

End.

Pictured: Peace

1) “If you surrender to the capitalist pigs, go directly to Treblinka and do not pass go” – The Board Game that taught the Hitler Youth how to win over the enemies of Germany. (Link)

2) New York will soon host an upcoming Peace concert featuring an intact piano that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima. A powerful/drastically out of tune symbol. (Link)

3) The “Cyrus Cylinder”, an ancient Cuneiform tablet held by the British Museum will not be returned to its native Iran. Subsequently, Iran has cut all ties with British Museums. (Link)

4) A Swedish man has been arrested in connection with the recent theft of the Auschwitz sign. Ironically, he will get a trial. (Link)

5) South Africa marks the 20th Anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from Prison. Apartheid has since ended but the country continues a long trend of instaboility and tension. (Link)

6) Beating out the 1983 record established by M*A*S*H, this year’s superbowl between…two NFL teams achieved ratings of over 106 million viewers. (Link)

7) A New book reveals that Eva Braun was a rather intelligent woman…that just happen to marry on of the most ruthless dictators in recent history. (Link)

8 ) An Asian skeleton found in a 2000 year-old Roman grave site suggests that the Empire was once much larger than we thought…maybe. (Link)

9) Iran marks it’s 31st anniversary since the revolution of Ayatollah Khonenei. Celebrating emancipation from fear and opression, they also announced to the world the progress of their nuclear program. (Link)

10) Beef has been “What’s for dinner” for 2.5 million years according to new findings. Scientists still looking for evidence of the first vegans. (Link)

This week back in:

- 1587: on Feb. 8th, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded for an alleged conspiracy against her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. (Link)

- 1967: on Feb. 7th, thousands of screaming fans greet arrival of the Beatles in New York for the first time. (Link)

The lighter side: Cracked.com’s

-”6 Global Corporations Started by  Their Founder’s Sh***y luck” – Learn from your mistakes and found McDonald’s. (Link)

- “The 5 Most Widely Believed WWII Facts (That Are Complete Bull****) – So Bugs Bunny DIDN’T vanquish Hitler with cunning rabbit wyles? (Link)

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One of these is a Saint of the Catholic Church... (2)

New feature – a top 10 of History news and oddities from around the web will be posted every Thursday. Enjoy and tell us what you think.

1) 15 by 60 metres, Egypt has announced that they have found and excavated a massive temple to the cat goddess Bastet in the ancient city of Alexandria. Largely intact, the structure seemingly has nine lives (pun intended, deal with it). (Link)

2) The ‘relics’ or bones of Joan of Ark that have been stored in a French holy place for centuries have turned out to largely be…those of a cat. (Link)

3) He’s been made a saint of archaeology and of strenuous scientific conservationism but a new story supposes that Howard Carter may have stolen from the tomb of Tutankhamun. (Link)

4) The Nazis stole the Amber panels from Moscow’s Hermitage museum 70 years ago. The priceless artifacts may soon be discovered or else we will all be very angry with one particular journalist claiming he found them. (Link)

5) Winston Churchill put out a cigar butt in August of 1941. In case this really interests you, there is a story attached to it. In case you are completely hellbent on the subject, you can actually buy the tobacco stump for $500. (Link)

6) Millennia of revolution and war have devastated the giant Buddha statues carved out of Chinese rock faces. Beijing now tries to preserve one of the last remaining ones. (Link)

7) Pope Pius XII let Hitler and Mussolini round up Jews in Rome…but helped thousands of them escape. Pope Pius XII tried to remain neutral and protect his Church…but helped fascist criminals such as Ante Pavelic escape. The debate on the canonization or demonization of Pope Pius XII may never be over. (Link)

8 ) Florence Green of the UK, 108 years of age, turns out to be one of the First World War’s only remaining veterans, having fought for the women’s Royal Air Force. (Link)

9) 1700-year-old bronze mirrors have been found in Japan. Perhaps the Japanese have been practicing in front of the mirror all this time…to come up with game shows that freaks the bejesus out of us. (Link)

10) After a long stay in the loony bin of public revile, Mel Gibson is set to make a Viking Epic… that presumably isn’t a sequel to Braveheart. (Link)

THIS WEEK IN :

1778: Captain Cook discovered the Hawaii Islands. Well, there were already people there but they didn’t wear pants or have a flag so Cook came to the conclusion that their land now belonged to the British Crown. (Link)

1920: Prohibition begins in America and also coincidentally begins the wealth and proliferation of organized crime. (Link)

THE LIGHTER SIDE: Cracked.com brings us -

- “The 7 Creepiest Unexplained Broadcasts” – Cause it ain’t quality media if you’re not reducing your public to quivering masses of fear, confusion and perhaps a soupcon of urine. (Link)

- “The 6 Most Baffling Nobel Prizes Ever Awarded” – And people though President Obama’s award was strange. (Link)

End.

[My article was first published in December on the Ty.rannosaur.us website. Thank you to Sami and the team for their support and a happy New Year to all.]

History is full of epic mustaches. The Babylonians believed that a man’s virility was proportional to the thickness of his mustache and even swore oaths upon their beards. This tradition continued into Saddam Hussein’s reign, where mustaches were practically mandated. At times, one wonders if it is the man or the mustache. The following are notable examples of humanity’s timeless mustache heritage.

1. Socrates

Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome were not fond of facial hair. A well kept man of the time was expected to be athletic, cleanly shaved, and with cropped hair. Socrates was a short, ugly drunkard with a bristly mustache. Along with his full beard and receding hairline, Socrates’ mustache witnessed the dissemination of the Athenian philosopher’s wisdom and of rhetoric that challenged the state-defined preconceptions of the time. Ultimately put to death for “corrupting” the youth of Athens, Socrates heralded the return of the philosopher beard and is credited as the father of western philosophy.

2. Charlemagne

The Middle Ages were full of barbarians rampaging through Europe with raggedy and unkempt facial bushes. Towering over everyone else at 7 feet tall was the mustachioed Charlemagne. Although he fit the ancient description of “barbarian“, he became the first “civilized” leader outside of traditional Roman political culture by handing everyone else their asses. Charlemagne’s mustache inspired him to crush the other invaders of the former Roman Empire so ruthlessly that Pope Leo III made him Emperor of Rome. As his mustache developed into a beard, Charlemagne fostered a period of untold artistic expansion known as the Carolingian Renaissance.

3. Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan started growing his mustache after murdering his brother in a dispute about fish. Considered a symbol of wisdom, Genghis’ mustache helped him spread his aegis over most of China, all of Central Asia, most of the Middle East, and even all the way to the modern-day Czech Republic. Genghis’ empire was the largest ever seen then or ever since. Unfortunately, infighting, Japanese and Muslim resistance as well as his mustache’s traditional desire to die with its ancestors led Genghis to stop his expansion, pack up his things, and return his army home to die. His less epically mustachioed successors would have moderate success but a century later, the Mongolian Empire would be no more.

4. Otto von Bismarck

One amongst a plethora of mustachioed German statesman, Otto von Bismarck’s trademark “Kaiser” mustache quickly became symbolic of Prussian manhood. Even Hitler sported one through World War I until he was possibly ordered to whittle it down. As the architect of a united Germany in 1871, von Bismarck became known as the “Iron Chancellor” for his tough isolationist policies and hostile attitude towards all other forces in Europe. Perhaps intimidated by his lady-tickler, Russia, France, and England were cowed into forming an unlikely alliance against an aggressive German power. The web of alliances and hostility engaged by von Bismarck became one of the main catalysts of World War I where millions of mustaches would be left dying on the battlefields.

5. Ambrose Burnside

Ambrose Burnside was an inventor and politician from Rhode Island who not only promoted his Scottish ancestry with a fierce mustache but grew it so full and so distinctive that his heavy ’stache blended into a high beard and into his hair, promoting a new term for facial hair: the “Sideburn“. The constantly smiling Burnside made friends everywhere he went and made it a point to remember everyone’s name. Unfortunately, not even his epic whiskers could prepare him for the Civil War. His inability to command troops led to an abysmal track record and a morale crushing defeat at Fredericksburg. Years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attempt to emulate Burnside’s facial hair was met with laughter.

6. Friedrich Nietzsche

Bismarck’s countryman, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche may very well have owned the brushiest, bushiest, fullest, most lip-hidingest mustache of the era. What didn’t kill Nietzsche became part of his mustache. Under his mustache, Nietzsche is remembered for many works of thought provoking insight, especially his eminently quotable statement “God is dead” immortalized in The Gay Science and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Perhaps made confident by his lip shield, Nietzsche claimed that religious institutions were dead and that mankind would never again find solace in their auspices.

7. Theodore Roosevelt

The 26th President of the United States and arguably the most badass world leader of his time, Theodore Roosevelt’s finely groomed mustache has been immortalized in stone on Mount Rushmore. The man may have been the top statesman of his time, but his crumb-catcher is better commemorated by Roosevelt’s exploits as boxer, naturalist, and hunter. Boxing his way through a Harvard diploma in history and government studies, the President’s naturalist ambitions brought him to a 1909 hunting expedition in Africa. Bringing back specimens and carcasses of over 11,000 animals, we would surely have demonized him in 2009, but at the time, these exploits actually became (and remain) the base of the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History’s exhibits.

8. Charlie Chaplin

There may have been a more obvious embodiment of the Toothbrush mustache but it was our man Chaplin who popularized it at the turn of the 20th century. He not only pioneered and fostered comedy acting for over 75 years, but also founded United Artists in 1919 and may very well have inspired the facial grooming preferences of a young German corporal. Unfortunately, following the invention of the “talkies” in the 1920-30s, Chaplin’s comically twitching little mustache was retired and Chaplin shifted his focus to behind the cameras due to his “unappealing” voice. There, sans mustache, he still managed to find success as a producer and filmmaker.

9. Josef Stalin

20th century dictators are notorious for using their ample lip hair for evil ends. Veiled behind his mustache, Stalin was a participant in Russia’s Communist revolution of 1917 and following the death of Lenin, became the architect of Soviet Russia. From his disastrous “five-year plans” and radical nationalization that caused the starvation of millions of his people to his alliance with Hitler destined to divide up Poland and to his eventual conquest of Eastern Europe, this graying and impossibly symmetrical mustache is remembered as one of the most ruthless mustaches in history. That being said, the victims of Stalin’s regime and historians in general are dismayed to see his image is being progressively rehabilitated in today’s Russia. Indeed, a recent poll declared him the third greatest Russian of all-time.

10. Salvador Dali

This Spanish artist’s crazy mustache may very well have inspired the mind-boggling qualities of his oeuvre. Dali grew his mustache as a marketing tool, he knew he would stand out a zany artist if he had bizarre facial hair. He called it his “antennae” when asked about it, saying that he grew inspiration from it. From “The Persistence of Memory” to “Shirley Temple: The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster”, the melty clocks, and demon-children of this mustache’s pieces have made it an enduring part of popular culture. In the end, the surrealist eccentric and his crazy mustache spent their lives shocking the world. Accordingly, Dali died both hated and loved but left no one indifferent and remains universally famous.

Bonus: Ned Flanders

Assuredly not an actual person and most definitely not a historic figure, Ned Flanders’ left-handed mustache in The Simpsons has graced worldwide screens since 1989. More than a caricature of the Christian right, Stupid Flanders has been an omnipresent critique as well as an invitation to question our tenets of morality and ethics for the better part of two decades. The result of appearing on a show that is now aired in most countries on earth at least several times a day is evident: despite not being a main character, his name, his persona, and his mustache are known worldwide. Furthermore, keeping in mind that television signals travel at the speed of light when breaking free of our atmosphere, Flanders’ soup strainer may be famous in an interstellar way at this point. Bringing warmth, friendliness and a blanket-feeling of honesty, the Flanders mustache ends our list as a true testament to the power of facial hair throughout history.

And no, your lower-back tattoo of a unicorn won't look any better if we mummify you.

1) From the Smithsonian: 10 Apocalypses that seemingly didn’t happen. It’s only a matter of time. (Link)

2) With the coming of Christmas time, here is a nice shopping catalog from 1940. Now with “Electric” appliances for all the housewives! (Link)

3) Germany has apologized to several nations for the atrocities of WW2 but the German victims of Hitler’s sterilization program are still waiting. (Link)

4) The ancient and mysterious history of tattoos. From sacred to tribal and back. (Link)

5) Several religious leaders and nations have condemned the Swiss ban on new Muslim constructions as racist and irresponsible. (Link) – See how historically, Swiss “neutrality” has not been borne of moral choices. (Link)

ON THIS DAY IN 1981: The American Center for Disease Control officially recognize Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which replaces the more pejorative media designation of GRID or Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. (Link)

THE LIGHTER SIDE: Cracked.com’s “7 Inventors You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Punch in the Face” – Why would we hate the inventor of the infomercial and the call center? (Link)

End.

"What's delaying my dinner" - and people think computers made us dumb

1) For the lovers of pillage and carnage, Ty.rannosaur.us brings us a list of “7 badass Vikings”. I guess they’re cool if you don’t live near a fjord… (Link)

2) After the worst inventions in History, Time magazine brings us the most useless and forgettable inventions of 2009 – Computer critics? (Link)

3) Part 2 of our Great Depression caricatures – funny how a lot of these can apply to the current recession, no matter how much the media insist it’s over. (Link)

4) The “computer critics” have been applied to some of the greatest speeches of our time and you know what, Churchill would have failed English. (Link)

5) How do you know if an antique book is well preserved? By sniffing it of course… (Link)

ON THIS DAY IN 1558: Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, ascends to the throne of England, reaffirming protestantism and ushering in fifty years of prosperity for her Kingdom. (Link)

AND AS FOR THE LIGHTER SIDE: Cracked.com’s “8 Online Fads You Didn’t Know Were Invented Decades Ago” – Lolcats from the silent era? Now I’ve seen everything. (Link)

End.

You didn't seriously think I would put pictures up of big Japanese gangsters did you?

“Don’t leave me high, don’t leave me dry…” -William Wallace

1) From 11,000 BC to today, “Tattoo5″ brings us the history of Yakuza tattoos. And I have nothing funny to say about any of it (respectful bow). (Link)

2) Sparking both outrage and celebration, the state of Texas has refused to remove “Christmas” from all school textbooks. Now if they could just bring back “evolution”, we may appreciate the next president from Texas. (Link)

3) In miscellaneous history, we have here a complete interpretationof the history of the ampersand (&). Don’t worry, it’s not as graphic as the history of the semi-colon (;). (Link)

4) Newly excavated Mexican ruins shed light on the mysterious downfall of the Mayan Empire centuries before the Spaniards arrived to ravage it. (Link)

5) Michael Faraday, British inventor and pioneer of electricity has been honoured posthumously as Britain’s greatest inventor. Too bad he isn’t around for the impending reality show. (Link)

ON THIS DAY IN 1889: Nintendo company limited was founded in Tokyo, Japan. No, that is not a typo, they were founded 120 years ago today to market a card game. (Link)

AND AS FOR THE LIGHTER SIDE: Cracked.com’s “5 People You’ve Never Heard of Who Saved the World” – Our unsung heroes are somewhat better than pot-smoking Olympic medalists. (Link)

End.