Main Page

Blue Figures.

The Gnomon Chronicles is a work of fiction and nonfiction by Karl Jones (nonfiction). Fresh content daily.
January 17

Better Than News

• 

  Euglena Junction is a reality television program about the life of Euglena, a genus of single-celled flagellate protists. It is loosely based on the television program Petticoat Junction, with various species of Euglena playing the roles of Kate Bradley, her three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo, and her uncle Joe Carson.

• 

  I Am Curious (Texas) is a 1967 Swedish erotic geography film.

• 

  "Minecraft Girl" is a song by American soft rock duo Seals and Crofts.

• 

  Arrakis Drive is an epic surrealist neo-noir space opera mystery film written and directed by David Lynch, and starring Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi Watts, Francesca Annis, Justin Theroux, and Laura Harring.

• 

  The Shining 2: Return to Antarctica is a science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter and Stanley Kubrick, starring Kurt Russell and Jack Nicholson.

• 

  Pulp Dumbo is a fantasy period crime adventure film directed by Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton, starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, and Michael Keaton.

• 

  The Dark Scot is a 2008 superhero philosophy film starring Tom Hardy and Antony Flew.

Beyond Plausible

• 

  "Demagogue Has Torments" is an anagram of "The Most Dangerous Game".

In Other Words

• 

  Roommates is a 2022 comedy documentary film about root vegetables and their living arrangements.

Are You Sure ...

• ... that President Dwight Eisenhower famously warned the U.S. about the "military–industrial complex" in his farewell address?

• ... that the East German secret police developed Zersetzung, a set of psychological techniques intended to secretly destroy a victim's self-confidence, for example by damaging their reputation, by organizing failures in their work, and by destroying their personal relationships?

• ... that three nuclear bombs were damaged in the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash in Spain, releasing plutonium over a 2-square-kilometer area, while a fourth bomb was recovered intact from the Mediterranean Sea?

Selected Anniversaries

• 

  1492: Mathematician Adam Ries born (uncertain). He will write textbooks for practical mathematics, promoting the advantages of Arabic/Indian numerals over Roman numerals.

• 

  1551: Writer, humanist, and historian Pedro Mexía dies. He wrote Silva de varia lección ("A Miscellany of Several Lessons"), which became an early best seller across Europe.

• 

  1574: Astrologer, mathematician, cosmologist, Qabalist and Rosicrucian apologist Robert Fludd born.

• 

  1647: Astronomer Elisabeth Hevelius born. One of the first female astronomers, Hevelius will be called "the mother of moon charts".

• 

  1706: Inventor, publisher, and statesman Benjamin Franklin born.

• 

  1834: Physicist and academic Giovanni Aldini dies. Aldini contributed to galvanism, anatomy and its medical applications, the construction and illumination of lighthouses, and the mitigation of the destructive effects of fire.

• 

  1903: The short film Electrocuting an Elephant is released. It documents the deliberate execution of an elephant named Topsy.

• 

  1911: Statistician, progressive, polymath, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, and psychometrician Francis Galton dies.

• 

  1949: Computer scientist Anita Borg born. She will found the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.

• 

  1961: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military–industrial complex."

• 

  1966: Palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea.

• 

  1997: Astronomer and academic Clyde Tombaugh dies. He discovered Pluto, as well as many asteroids.

• 

  2001: Mathematician and computer scientist Tom Kilburn dies. Over the course of a productive 30-year career, he was involved in the development of five computers of great historical significance.

Topic of the Day

Sound

• 

  Say Nothing is an American horror-comedy film starring John Cusack and Emily Blunt.

• 

  Project Darkwhistle (also Project Darkwhistle, DARK WHISTLE, etc.) is an orbital wind tunnel.

• 

  Tintinitus is the perception of Tintin when no actual external Tintin is present.

Interview

INTERVIEW: "Gnomon Chronicles: An Interview With The Man Who Makes Up Movies - Meet the satirist blurring the line between entertainment and reality…" by Aaron Cowell for Tr!ll online magazine.

Favorites