There’s not much nostalgia for Magnavox’s Odyssey, the game console that launched the industry. But Al Williams writes that it lost out thanks to a sales strategy that guaranteed it a market but sharply limited its appeal. Numbers are somewhat in dispute, but Magnavox sold about 100,000 units the first year. By 1975 they’d sold […]
In 1953, the National Cathedral in Washington DC installed two stained glass windows depicting Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. A task force recommended removal, which started this month.
Ships need a reliable way to know their exact location at sea — and for centuries, the lack of a dependable method caused shipwrecks and economic havoc for every seafaring nation. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll meet John Harrison, the self-taught English clockmaker who dedicated his life to crafting a […]