Funeral procession of William Lemp Jr. in front of the Lemp Mansion, 1922 | Source

Often, when a structure or area is rumored to be haunted, the explanation offered is a chapter from local folklore. A beautiful, Native American princess was said to be murdered by a warring tribe there. “Legend has it” that star-crossed lovers were killed on the spot. A cemetery may have occupied an area near the grounds. The reasons offered for the paranormal activity are as nebulous as the reported ghosts.

Yet the story of a mansion in St. Louis, Missouri, a property declared in a 1970 issue of Life magazine to be one of the nine most haunted places in America, is no undocumented tale. In fact, the Lemp family, one of nineteenth-century beer barons, was plagued with as many suicides and untimely deaths as they were blessed with wealth and power. So much so, that many Lemps believed their family was cursed.

A BREWING DYNASTY IS BORN
Johann Adam Lemp left Eschwege, Germany to try his luck in America. He settled in St. Louis in 1838, opening a grocery store in which he sold beer that he brewed himself from a family recipe. By 1840, demand for Lemp’s beer became so great that he closed the grocery store and established Western Brewery.

A British technology research company called The Center for Process Innovation suggests that the passenger aircrafts of the future would be much improved by removing the planes' windows and instead having OLED touch screens down the length of the plane, displaying the view from the outside as seen through rear-mounted cameras. 

CPI says that such a design would reduce the weight (and thereby the associated fuel and other costs) of the plane. According to CPI, the body of the aircraft would be lighter yet stronger, C02 emissions would be reduced and seating woulld be roomier.  

As impractical as it may seem in many ways, I would be interested to test ride such a plane, but I know a lot of people who wouldn't dare to, such as a member of my family who won't even ride in a glass elevator. How would the cabin's indoor environment affect the passengers? Would such a design turn too many passengers off, reducing ticket sales? What do you think?

Learn more about CPI's ideas regarding aircraft technology here.

-Via Bored Panda. | Images: CPI

 

 

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This sweet footage is of a litter of tiny kittens crawling around and exploring their world, as they haven't yet mastered the art of catwalking. The video is perfect for anyone in need of a dose of that powerful medicine known as kitten therapy. It's a fine cure for what ails. -Via Laughing Squid

These images of feminine and feline wiles on display are from a Tumblr by the name of Cats That Look Like Pinup Girls. The site is amusing; check it out if you're so inclined. But be warned: while your work might well tolerate naked cats in provocative poses, they may not feel the same about nude pinups, even if they're drawings.

-Via Juxtapoz | Images: Cats That Look Like Pinup Girls

 

In what one writer called a "manvalanche of epic proportions," these men are a few of the masculine natural disasters taking part in the World Beard & Moustache Championships 2014, held in Portland, Oregon. So much facial hair, so few comments I should make here.

See this Bored Panda post for what they deem to be the "ten fanciest" entrants and visit the championship website for more photos and information.

Images: Imgur 

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Maisie is asleep in her carseat until the music starts. Once she hears the beat, she springs from sleep into action. Even wiping the sleep out of her eyes becomes a dance move. Maisie is a role model for dancing babies everywhere. There's no sleep for the rhythmic. -Via Tastefully Offensive

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Halloween, done right, has various standards and protocols. Cats are not free of such regimens. In this video, Cole and Marmalade (previously at Neatorama) provide this handy guide for their other feline friends instructing them as to how to navigate their way through this human holiday with kitty self respect and sense of superiority intact. -Via Tastefully Offensive

Pvt. Samuel H. Decker, Company I, 4th US artillery. Double amputation of the forearms for injury caused by the premature explosion of a gun on 8 October 1862, at the Battle of Perryville, KY. Shown with self-designed prosthetics

More men died fighting in the Civil War than in any other U.S. war: an estimated 600,000 to 750,000. Many more soldiers were left with permanent, physical reminders of the battles they fought. Amputations were frequent, estimated to account for more than 3/4 of wartime operations. Sterile environments for such a medical procedure were usually impossible. Some amputations were performed without anesthesia. Often the procedure left the amputee with terrible pain from the severed nerves.

The pictures included here are from the Flickr page of the National Museum of Health and Medicine. As the referring article warns, this archive is "not for the faint of heart." Yet it's one way to see photos of the brave and often incredibly young (an estimated 100,000 Union soldiers were boys under 15) soldiers who fought in such horrifically bloody Civil War battles.

-Via Dangerous Minds | Images: National Museum of Health and Medicine


Robert Fryer. Amputation of third, fourth, and fifth metacarpals. PVT, Company G, 52nd New York Volunteers. Wounded March 25, 1865 at the Battle of Hatcher’s Run, Virginia


Jason W. Joslyn. Excision of head & 4 inches of shaft femur, prosthesis in place. PVT, Company I, 7th New York Heavy Artillery. Injured at 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor

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Is it possible to erase bad memories? Some people who suffer from mental problems after going through traumatic experiences, such as war veterans with PTSD, could possibly benefit from such a mental deletion. AsapSCIENCE takes on the question as to whether it's possible in their latest video. -Via Laughing Squid

London

Artist and scientist Stephen Von Worley's detailed and ambitious project Crayon the Grids uses color to show the orientation of streets in major metro areas. The images are beautiful as well as visually informative. Thus far, Von Worley has created maps of Paris, London, Berlin, Tokyo, New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Read about Von Worley's process in creating these algorithmic images from start-to-finish here.  

New York City


San Francisco

Image: Flickr user Prakaas Lekshmanan 

This article at The Ark in Space features a nice photo collection of the lovely glasswinged butterfly (previously), scientific name Greta oto. This beautiful species is typically found from Mexico and south through Panama and Columbia, though they have been sighted in Florida as well. The species lays eggs mostly on toxic tropical plant Cestrum, on which the caterpillars also feed, likely rendering them toxic to predators. See the link above for additional photos and information. 

Image: Flickr user Justin Lowery

Image: Flickr user canorus

Image: Flickr user Benjamin Pender
 

These three Asian small-clawed otter cubs were born in September at Newquay Zoo in the U.K. The trio joins a group of 19 other otters at the facility. Zoo Director Stewart Muir said,

“The cubs are impossibly cute. Asian small-clawed otters are incredibly social animals compared with other otter species, so visitors will be able to watch how the cubs’ siblings play an active role in teaching them how to cope in the strange new world outside the nest."

Asian small-clawed otters are the smallest otter species in the world and are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to habitat destruction, water pollution and over fishing in their native Southeast Asia. The IUCN estimates that the population of the species has been reduced by up to 30% in the past 30 years.

Read more about the otters and see an additional photo at Zooborns.

Image: Newquay Zoo

Acapulco was a wildly popular tourist destination from the late 1920s and peaking in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The warm, beautiful waters, inviting temperatures and interesting sightseeing remains a draw for tourists today. 

Yet today, Acapulco tourists risk the high crime rates of the city, which are nearly 30 times higher than the average in American cities. In 2013, the murder rate was 142 in 100,000; in January and February of that year, there were 200 murders. Also in 2013, six Spanish female tourists staying in a vacation home together were raped when masked gunmen broke into the property and tied up the men present. 

The United States Department of State’s Mexico travel warning is strict, and the U.S. government will only allow its employees to stay in two Acapulco hotels, and bans people from leaving them after dark. How sad it is that such a beautiful place is so fraught with risk. 

Read about other dangerous tourist destinations here.

Image: Wikipedia

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Actress and blogger Lynn Chen decided to see how many sandwiches from around the world she could sample while in Los Angeles. Her finds are both varied and delicious looking. I know which one I'd like to try most. How about you? -Via Viral Viral Videos

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Colin Delehanty and Sheldon Neill's gorgeous video of Yosemite National Park was the result of an over 200-mile trip backpacking through the wilderness. The two spent a combined 45 days in the park capturimg the images within; the footage was filmed over a ten-month period. Read more about the project here and on Facebook. -Via Twisted Sister