When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in September 1998, they initially called it "BackRub", referring to the system's algorithm which checked sites' backlinks to estimate their importance or ranking. They also had a third member, Scott Hassan, who was pivotal in developing the bulk of Google's code, but he left before Google became an official company.

Twenty five years later, Google is the #1 search engine, averaging over 99,000 searches every second according to 2022 statistics.

In celebration of Google's 25th anniversary, the company created a 'Where's Waldo'-inspired game where players look for some of the most searched terms over Google's 25-year history, divided into five different categories.

It's a fun game though it might take a while to find all the items and characters. But once you finish one category, it will give several tidbits about each of the search terms. Furthermore, if you're having difficulty looking for the hidden objects, just click on the item or character on the side panel, and a compass will point you toward the area where it can be located.

Apart from the game, Google also created a short video about the most searched terms. -via My Modern Met

(Video credit: Google/Youtube)

All you need to do is drive around your neighborhood to see the inflatable lawn decorations to realize how many pop culture Christmas characters we now have. There's the Grinch, Elf on the Shelf, Frosty the Snowman, and of course, Rudolph. Outside of Santa Claus, they are all less than 100 years old. But there could have been many more. The success of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which was created as a promotion for Montgomery Ward department stores, led to many retail outlets creating their own Christmas characters that didn't stand the test of time.

The story of the first man who played Mr. Jingeling, Santa's keeper of the keys at Halle's department store https://t.co/Olchu3phaH #CLE #ThisWasCLE #holidays #holidayseason pic.twitter.com/KXIQcgUD86

— Cleveland Historical (@CLEhistorical) December 23, 2017

Does anyone remember Mr. Jingeling, the locksmith who helped Santa Claus? Unless you live in Cleveland, probably not. How about Billie the Brownie? Or Uncle Mistletoe and Aunt Holly? There were also Twigbee, Bawlmer Bear, and Mr. Bingle, among others. Read about these lesser-known Christmas advertising characters who were big in their day, but never reached the global fame of Rudolph, at Smithsonian.

The warm weather in Gävle is melting all the beautiful snow 😭 Still hoping for a white Christmas. pic.twitter.com/mmiR8RKIw7

— Gävlebocken (@Gavlebocken) December 17, 2023

Every year at the beginning of December, the town of Gävle, Sweden, erects a giant goat made of straw (Gävlebocken) for Christmas. And every year, we wonder whether the goat will survive until New Year's Day. The Gävle Goat (previously at Neatorama) gets burned to the ground more often than not, despite a fence, security guards, and a 24-hour live webcam. Arsonists face heavy fines and/or jail time if caught. But this year, the goat is in danger from a completely different enemy- nature.

An unusually wet summer in Sweden led to the production of straw that has more grain still attached. Jackdaws have discovered this food source, and have been flocking to the goat to pick apart the straw to reach the grain. There's not much the goat committee can do about it, apart from replacing the goat, and they've decided to let it stand. Note the thinning horns in the image above. You can see the gathering number of jackdaws in this video clip. Only time will tell if the goat falls apart before Christmas, but all agree that a goat collapsing due to hungry birds is better than a goat destroyed in a flaming conflagration.

A timeline of the Gävle Goat's fate from its first incarnation in 1966 shows how many times it was destroyed before January and the method of its downfall. This year's Gävle Goat can be seen anytime via the live webcam.  -via Metafilter

The Mediterranean fruit fly is an invasive species that is causing intolerable damage to crops in California. So why is the USDA breeding more of them and releasing them? It's for competition. The medflies from the labs are treated to make them sterile, and then released to mate with wild medflies which will then produce no offspring. This method is not as quick or thorough as spraying pesticides, but it's certainly a lot safer for people, crops, and the environment as a whole. It's a case of taking the long way around for long-term benefits. Still, the process of growing, sterilizing, transporting, and releasing these flies is quite complicated, as Tom Scott shows us. Then they have to be monitored, which is only possible because they've also been marked. Another thing I learned: ginger root oil helps male flies become more successful at mating. How long until someone bottles that for sale? Oh, it's already happening? I'm not surprised.

For divers, going underwater to retrieve objects, artifacts, or other materials is second nature. They don't mind getting wet, as it is part of what they do.

However, there are cases when it's unsafe to go diving in certain areas such as those with rapid currents. So, they make use of specialized chambers which allow them to go underwater without getting wet. They are called diving bells. Currently, there are two diving bell ships in operation at the Rhine River.

The way the chamber works is that when it goes down, air is pumped into the chamber pushing the water out, at which point, the divers can descend the chamber to collect the items they are searching. But before going down, divers acclimate themselves in a pressurized cabin to get used to the atmosphere inside the chamber.

(Video credit: Free Doc Bites/Youtube)

In ancient times, when people had conflicts in their business affairs or rivals in romance, they used to write curses on lead tablets, invoking the powers of the darkness to remove whatever obstacles stood in their way.

These tablets were then folded up and stashed in places believed to be gateways to the underworld, like graves, wells, or temples. So, it wasn't surprising to find one such tablet in a 15th century latrine in Rostock, Germany.

It had been discovered when Rostock's town hall was undergoing some excavation for renevations. They found the metal rolled up, and when they unfurled it, an inscription was written in Gothic script. It was a curse that invoked devils to presumably break up a couple.

Though about 1,500 curse tablets have been discovered so far, this is the first one to be found in Rostock, Germany. Moreover, despite the practice being abandoned in the 7th century in most parts of Europe, it seems that it continued on in Germany well into the Middle Ages.

(Image credit: The History Blog)

For three years, everybody had to stay at home and attend classes or work meetings from the comforts of their own room, which had its perks. But, as many have reported, doing meetings or classes over videoconferencing platforms like Zoom, Teams, Skype, or Webex, gets really tiring after a while, and that's why many simply do other things while the meeting is ongoing, unless you have to speak.

Although most of that is anecdotal, a new study has now provided supporting evidence that shows how our brain and our heart experiences fatigue when having an online meeting as opposed to attending the same in person.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the Graz University of Technology in Austria. They had 35 students attend an engineering lecture, and divided them into two groups, ones who attended online, and those who attended in person. After a week, they had the students switch and attend another lecture.

To measure the level of fatigue, the researchers monitored the students' brain and heart activity through EEG and ECG, respectively. Through these, they observed reduced alertness, a change in heart rhythm, and a change in mood for the participants attending online.

This doesn't mean that we have to do away with videoconferencing tools altogether, but it just goes to show that these tools can complement in-person meetings or lectures, but they can't be replacements for face-to-face interaction.

(Image credit: Chris Montgomery/Unsplash)

When you look at the photo above, you can't help but think it looks like one of those sliding puzzles wherein you have to rearrange the pieces to restore the image to its original order.

However, it's not a puzzle, but the ceiling art of Suwajinja shrine's worship hall. For almost 60 years, the pieces have stayed in disarray causing the chief priest, Shoko Koshiba, to constantly feel as though something is not right with it whenever she looked at it, but she just couldn't put her finger on what. Until a few researchers from the Institute of Technologists in Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, visited the shrine to study the worship hall.

Given the perfect timing, Koshiba asked Shinichi Yokoyama, professor of historic architecture studies about the ceiling art. True enough, the fifteen pieces were all in the wrong place. Of course, the reason why it got like that was because of a storm that blew the roof off the shrine in 1966, when Koshiba's grandfather was still chief priest.

Having no reference photos or any witnesses to the original order of the tiles, Koshiba had no idea how to put them back. With some help from Yokoyama and his lab, they were able to solve the puzzle after six months, and even learned a bit of history about the tiles themselves.

Apparently, 9 of the 15 tiles had been donated by parishioners of the shrine in 1862, as a token of gratitude for being able to arrive safely at another shrine in Mie Prefecture.

(Image credit: Yokoyama Lab)

Here at Neatorama, we have read about several Guinness World Records being achieved this year such as Jovante Carter's gurning, Steve Kueny's pumpkin paddling, and Tami Manis' mullet, just to name a few. But, of course, as the holder of the largest database of records, the Guinness World Records is constantly in search of any and all kinds of records to bestow upon, not just people, but animals too.

On this list, curated by UPI, we have ten of the oddest records achieved in 2023. These include a tabby cat skipping rope as shown in the video above, a parrot skateboarding, a dog with the longest tongue, and Kimberly Winter, the woman with the loudest burp, which we have also reported here.

A couple of the records are also death-defying like the man who ran the longest distance while on fire and the magician who did the most magic tricks while underwater.

(Video credit: Guinness World Records)

Mary and Jake Jacobs' relationship is truly one that has stood the test of time. Jake, who was originally from Trinidad, had been serving in the US Air Force and was stationed in the UK during World War II when he met Mary. At the time, they were both attending the same technical college, and got to talking.

When Jake had to go back to Trinidad after the war, they kept in touch by exchanging letters. Four years later, in 1948, Jake returned to Britain and proposed to Mary. She was 19, he was 23.

However, not everybody approved of their relationship, as the thought of an interracial marriage was still frowned upon in the UK during those times. Mary's father, who was totally opposed to the idea, even threatened to banish her from his house, never to let her set foot in it again.

But, love conquers all as they say, and the two got wed at the civil registry office with no other kin celebrating with them. The couple struggled during the first few years, but in time, Jake found a job at the Post Office, and Mary became a deputy head teacher.

In 2019, they celebrated their 71st anniversary. Sadly, Mary already had Alzheimer's and later that year, Jake would pass away at 93. Mary would soon follow him, passing away in July 2020.

Still, their story endures as an inspiration that, with a lot of hard work and effort, relationships can withstand even the harshest criticisms and rejection from others.

(Image credit: The Homemade Home)

Talk about a unique gift! The Chernobyl Spirit Company is offering vodka dubbed ATOMIK, distilled from grains grown in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The drink comes in essences of apples, pears, or plums, and it's not radioactive, or at least not any more radioactive than vodka produced elsewhere.

When the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Pripyat, Ukraine, suffered the world's worst nuclear meltdown in 1986, we thought that entire area would never be habitable again. You still can't live there, officially, but nature has displayed an amazing recovery in the almost forty years since the disaster. Trees and other plants grow, and wildlife has moved in to the places people used to live and work. The boar on ATOMIK bottles is an example of a thriving population in the Exclusion Zone. The grains used in ATOMIK show some radioactivity, but once they are distilled, that radioactivity is gone.  

The real story is the Chernobyl Spirit Company, whose goal is to show the area's recovery and to help support those affected by the meltdown and Ukrainians affected by the war. The company was founded by a group of unsalaried scientists. They designate 75% of their profits to such support, and have so far have donated more than $30,000. Read about ATOMIK and how it reveals the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone's recovery at Mental Floss. 

(Image credit: Chernobyl Spirit CIC)

(Image credit: Chad Doebelin)

Christmas trees are trees, decorated with Christmas lights. That's all they really have in common. Really, iy doesn't even have to be a tree, just vaguely tree-shaped. Some people go the extra mile to make their tree extra nice, or personalized, or they go with a theme, often something that's close to their heart. Surely you recognize the game Portal in Chad Doebelin's clever Christmas tree, but did you notice the TARDIS tree topper? I bet if we look closer, we'll see other pop culture references. And speaking of pop culture references, here's an excuse to put up two trees.

(Image credit: sabins253)

But you don't have to have a theme for your Christmas tree. Sometimes it just takes a little planning to achieve a stunning effect. This one is the result of seven hours spent decorating it.

(Image credit: Morana_Saracevic)

Those are just the tip of the iceberg. A bunch of people shared their awesome Christmas trees that are lovingly decorated, themed, or cleverly cobbled out of things they already had. You can see 50 examples of Christmas trees that might make you rethink yours at Bored Panda.

But if those trees truly make you feel inadequate, Bored Panda also has a gallery of images from those who selected "laziness" as their Christmas decorating theme.

When you get too many Christmas gifts, or gifts you just don't care for, what do you do? Some people just keep them or regift them, but 20 to 30% of all merchandise these days is returned for money or store credit. What happens to all that returned merchandise? It was once up to each individual retailer to deal with returns, but the retail industry has now developed a complicated and centralized infrastructure to receive, sort, classify, and dispose of unwanted goods. And that system ramps into high gear after Christmas.

Inmar Intelligence is one of the larger third-party logistics companies that deals with half a billion returned items every year. Amanda Mull of The Atlantic visited their returns-processing center in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, where each item is inspected by a materials handler who follows the standards set by the various companies they contract with. Returned items are inspected, judged, and then either repackaged for sale, sold to a resale company, donated, recycled, or destroyed. Find out how all this happens at The Atlantic. -via Nag on the Lake

Florence Hackman of Cincinnati, Ohio must have some secrets to her longevity and suggestions that we could incorporate into our own lifestyles. Her birthday plans provide immediate guidance.

19 News reports that Mrs. Hackman will celebrate her birthday with the boys at the Deerfield Township Fire Department watching pro football and drinking Fireball Cinnamon Whisky. Her beloved Cincinnati Bengals will presumable demolish the Minnesota Vikings.

-via Dave Barry | Photo: WXIX

Gmünd, Austria, has a church in two pieces, with a road between them. The minister preaches from the pulpit in one half of the church, while the congregation sits in the other half to listen. The two parts are open to the air, so that each party can see the other. It's called The Divided Church, for obvious reasons.

There's a story behind this church, although it's not a case of the government building a road and the church refusing to move, as you might expect. The road was there first, and it had a little roadside shrine where travelers could pray for safe travel over the mountain -or for mercy as they were led to execution. In 1748, the shrine was expanded into a chapel, with an open side so that the pastor could preach to people who gathered outside on the road. Eventually, the pastor arranged to have a room built for congregants to sit in out of the weather just across the street. Read how the shrine grew into a chapel and then a unique church, and see more pictures, at Amusing Planet.

(Image credit: Johann Jaritz)