This Interactive Civil War Map Will Enlighten And Inform You

From beginning to end, this is the most comprehensive interactive map on the Civil War I’ve seen. Very well done.

[click to view on the YouTube]

This NYC A-Train Sax Battle Will Blow Your Mind And Make Your Day

Life can be pretty amazing sometimes, especially when you least expect it. Be sure and watch the whole video because the ending is fantastic.

These Examples of Creative Architecture Are Stunningly Beautiful

Stunning. Check ’em out. If you want descriptions of any photo gimme a holler.

[click & scroll, baby]

Here Are The Best WINS Of 2020!

See, it wasn’t all that bad.

Cool Animal of the Day: The Fire-Proof Spiny Anteater

Check out that Fire-Proof Spiney Anteater, man. Dude fights off Dingoes and survives bush fires like it ain’t no thing. Incredible really. Fire-Proof Spiny Anteaters, also known by the less interesting name Echidnas, are found in Australia. These spiky creatures lay eggs even though they’re mammals, they eat termites but they’re not related to anteaters, and they evolved from an ancestor shared with the duck-billed platypus. That’s wild. And now we’ve learned they also have one of the most impressive bush fire strategies ever – they just go to sleep, even if they end up a little less spiky afterwards. Anywho, Fire-Proof Spikey Anteater.

[For more cool animals, just type “Cool Animal” into the search box on the left]

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Best Selling Artists Bar Chart Is Fascinating, Quite Possibly Incorrect

Cool, but I have questions. Do you?

Incredible Photo of the Day: The Clearest Lake in the World

This is Blue Nelson Lake in New Zealand. Amazingly, you can see to depths of up to 260-feet.

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Meet The Amazing U.S. Ghost Army of WWII

Ever heard of the United States Ghost Army of World War II? The unit of master illusionists made up of artists, architects, actors, set designers, and engineers? No? Then read on, because their story is amazing. Incredibly, they helped take down none other than Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Army . . .

The Ghost Army was a United States Army tactical deception unit during World War II, officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. The 1100-man unit was given a unique mission within the Allied Army – to impersonate other Allied Army units and deceive the enemy. That’s right, they weren’t an actual fighting army but were in many ways just as important as one. From a few months after D-Day when they landed in France until the end of the war, they put on a “traveling road show” utilizing inflatable tanks, sound trucks, fake radio transmissions and scripts. They staged more than 20 battlefield deceptions, often operating very close to the front lines.

Ghost soldiers were encouraged to use their brains and talent to mislead, deceive, and befuddle the German Army. Many were recruited from art schools, advertising agencies and other occupations that encouraged creative thinking. In civilian life, ghost soldiers had been artists, architects, actors, set designers, and engineers. The unit’s actors were even turned loose in French towns posing as divisional generals where enemy agents were likely to see them and overhear them “talking loose” in the local café over bottles of wine. These cats were not your typical soldiers, man. Bottom line, the unit’s elaborate ruses helped deflect German units from the locations of larger allied combat units.

The Ghost Army was equipped with inflatable tanks, cannons, jeeps, trucks, and airplanes that the men would inflate with air compressors, and then camouflage imperfectly so that enemy aerial reconnaissance could see them. They created dummy airfields, troop bivouacs (complete with fake laundry hanging on clotheslines), motor pools, artillery batteries, and tank formations in a few hours. Weapons of mass deceptions indeed.

Members of The Ghost Army even went to Fort Knox to record sounds of armored and infantry units onto a series of sound effects records that they brought to Europe. For each deception, sounds could be mixed to match the scenario they wanted the enemy to believe. This program was recorded on state-of-the-art recorders and then played back with powerful amplifiers and speakers mounted on halftracks (sort of a half-truck half-tank hybrid).

Just amazingly diabolical stuff, and get this – the story of The Ghost Army was kept secret for more than 40-years after the war, until it was declassified in 1996.

The Ghost Army – unsung heroes of World War II.

[click and scroll to enlarge the photos – video is below]

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  UNITED KINGDOM – CIRCA 1939: World War II. Rubber tank (decoy) in England. (Photo by Roger Viollet via Getty Images)

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These 18 Charts & Maps Are Informatively Delightful

Well, at least to me, and possibly to you. Check ’em out.

[click, enlarge, scroll to see the entire map or chart]

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  Mountains of the USA

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  Most words The Office characters said.

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  THis one is especially close to my heart.

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  Well, there are a lot of na na na nas at the end.

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  Random but cool.

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  Seems about right.

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  Bikes? Yikes.

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  Whaddup USA?

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  Jeebus.

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Here’s My New Favorite Sports Team & Logo For Your Perusal

Everyone knows my love for cool sports logos, man. One of my most popular blogs was the cleverly titled The Coolest Team Nicknames & Logos In Sports: My Top 10. I mean, come on. Who doesn’t love the Montgomery Biscuits? Anywho, most of the cool names and logos come from minor league baseball teams, probably because they have these young public relations people coming up with whatever would look good on a t-shirt, hoodie or hat. That said, we have a new frontrunner in the favorite category. My crack staff here at Shoe: Untied has unearthed the latest and coolest team and logo and are prepared to share it with you, our loyal readers.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you the Carolina Disco Turkeys, a minor league baseball team from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

PS- I can’t mention Winston-Salem without being reminded of this. Good times.

Spectacular.

Parents Sharing Weird Things Their Kids Said Will Give You Chills

Good . . . Lord.

[click to enlarge, scroll]

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Cool Animal of the Day: The Stygian Owl

Check out that Stygian Owl, man. Dude is looking straight into your soul. Stygian means “relating to the river Styx” which seems about right since that river is in Hell. These guys live in the forest and like to hunt at night. Their prey includes birds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, and insects, so yeah, they’ll eat just about anything that moves including your pet chihuahua. Stygian Owls live in South America, parts of Central America, the Caribbean, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It has also been documented twice in Texas and once in Florida but was probably just visiting realtives at the time. But what about those eyes, man? Anywho, Stygian Owl.

[for more cool animals type “cool animals” into the search box on the left over there]

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This All-Time “One Shining Moment” Mix Is Fantastic

The Gary Williams moment brought me to tears.

These Old-Timey Visions of the Future Are Endlessly Fascinating

Well, at least to me. Check out what people expected the 2020s to be like back in the day. Some are close, most not so much. Interesting stuff for sure though. Enjoy.

[click and scroll]

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  Pretty close with this one!

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  Balloon Water Walking? O.K.

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  Self-driving cars. They knew.

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  Food delivery to the home.

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  That pool would be fun during turbulence.

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  Love the little robot disciplining the kid with a stick.

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  The way we thought GPS would look like back in 1957.

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  Pedestrians of the future!

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  Not sure I get the flying thing but it looks cool.

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  What over population would supposedly lead to.

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  Nope.

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  Also nope. Not yet anyway.

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  Not even close.

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  Space Tube!

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  Why though?

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  Love the Hiway Haircut.

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  Stacked Suburbs.

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  Yeah, so this has happened.

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  THose space suits do not look practical.

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  Cool.

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  I’ve seen similar houses today.

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  A supposed bus of the future.

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  Poor Man’s DeLorean?

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  Super Train!

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  Sand Machine.

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  Flying Bus!

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  Cool Camper.

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  Awesome.

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  Man, that’s a big water plane.

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  Somebody predicted this is what busses would look like.

That Time Shark Tank Rejected Ring, A Future 1-Billion Dollar Company

Somehow, they didn’t see it.

Rating The Professional Athlete Logos

So a lot of pro athletes have logos now, some are great, some not so much. Anywho, at the bi-monthly meeting with my crack staff here at Shoe: Untied, we decided to select of few of them and give our opinions. The panel of judges consists of yours truly (CEO and Founder), Sim Hao Xiang (Legal Department) and Ariella Levinsky (Fashion Editorial Assistant). Sim Hao asked to be on the committee because he has a “passion for fashion” (his words). Ariella actually happens to have a degree from Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, ranked 7th in the world (look it up). Me? I’m on the committee because it’s my website and for my snarky, insightful world view. Let’s take a gander, followed by our combined rankings, 1-10:

Former NBA player and current NBA coach Steve Nash.

Score: 7.3

We had to point out to Sim Hao Xiang where the “N” was located. Bleh.

Blake Griffin.

Score: 8.2

Get it? That’s a griffin, which is a legendary creature with the body, tail and legs of a lion but with the wings and head of an eagle. Cool.

Chris Paul.

Score: 6.8

See, Chris Paul is known as CP3, and his logo has both letters and the number. Kind of cool but a tad boring. Meh.

Deron Williams.

Score: 6.0

Deron Williams is #8, and as you can see there are two basketballs forming an 8, surrounded by a weird looking “D” and “W”. It’s a little too busy for our tastes, in particular Sim Hao Xiang. He said it makes him woozy.

Dwyane Wade.

Score: 5.5

As you shall soon see, both Shaq and MJ have logos that are essentially silhouettes of themselves, and I guess Dwyane Wade is going for that same vibe. The problem is he’s just standing there and not, you know, playing basketball. Weird.

Jack Nicklaus.

Score: 9.7

Now we’re talkin’. Jack Nicklaus was known as the Golden Bear, and this logo is magnificent in its sleek, classic design. We love it.

J.J. Watt.

Score: 4.9

There was some argument between Ariella and Sim Hao Xiang as to whether that was just a “JJ” or a “JJ” and a “W”. Either way, not great.

Kevin Durant.

Score: 3.4

The consensus was this – booooooooring.

Ken Griffey, Jr.

Score: 9.0

The panel liked this one because Griffey Jr. was known for his smoooooth swing and backward hat. Sweetness personified.

Kobe Bryant.

Score: 5.7

I mean, it’s classic looking and all but what the hell is it? It looks like it should be the hood ornament of a car or something. We feel like we’re missing something.

Kyrie Irving.

Score: 1.9

Sorry Kyrie, we aren’t fans. See, the “K” is one bar but the “I” is two bars. That’s inconsistent, man. Plus, this logo just screams blaaaaaah.

LeBron James.

Score: 8.8

See, that’s an “L” and a “J” with a crown up top because LeBron is “The King.” Clever and simple.

Carmelo Anthony.

Score: 4.2

Leave it to Melo to have a tribal designed logo. Thumbs down.

Russell Westbrook.

Score: 7.3

It took us awhile to see it because it’s confusing like Russ, but once we did it grew on us.

Greg Norman.

Score: 8.7

Greg “The Shark” Norman with a classic logo, sorta like Jack “The Golden Bear” Nicklaus. Thumbs up!

Vince Carter.

Score: 1.0

No Vince. Just . . . no. This looks like it was designed in a 7th grade Art Class.

Tom Brady.

Score: 6.5

Yeah, that’s a TB and a 12. Don’t hate it, definitely don’t love it.

Shaquille O’Neal

Score: 9.5

We like the classic silhoutte logos, especially if you have a signiture move like Shaq.

Tiger Woods.

Score: 9.3

Again, it is our opinion that simplicity is key with logos. Plus this looks really good on a golf hat.

Michael Jordan.

Score: 9.9

Yes, we saved the best for last. It’s a silhouette, it’s simple, and it’s easily recognizable. Perfection.

For International Women’s Day, My Top 8

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  Jane Austen

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  Anne Frank

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  Maya Angelou

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  Marie Curie

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  Sojourner Truth

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  Ada Lovelace

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  Rosa Parks

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  Amelia Earhart

I’m talking about famous women, women that changed the world. Hey, if I was including everyone of course my Mom would top the list. Everyone knows that. By limiting the list to eight I know I’m leaving some great women out, so feel free to add some of your personal faves. Let’s goooooo . . .

Jane Austen (1775 – 1817)

“The person, be it gentle man or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

How great is that statement? I also happen to agree with it 100%. Jane Austen defined an entire literary genre with her shrewd social observations and wit. Born into a family of eight children in England, Austen started writing her now classic novels such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility in her teens. You read that right, kids. In her teens. Her novels are funny, endearing, and most importantly questioned women’s roles within society. Because of attitudes towards women back in her day, Austen had to hide her identity as the author of some of her most popular novels and it wasn’t until her death that her brother, Henry, revealed to the public that she was the real author. Her literary influence remains and the themes and lessons from her novels still hold up today. Jane Austen, man.

Anne Frank (1929 – 1945)

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Again, just stellar. What an attitude. Everyone knows about The Diary of Anne Frank. It’s one of the most honest, powerful and poignant accounts of World War II and was written by a German teenage girl. The Franks were a Jewish family living in Germany, then Austria throughout Hitler’s rise to power and during World War II. The family hid in a secret annex with four other people throughout the war but were discovered and sent to concentration camps in 1944. Out of the Frank family, only Anne’s father survived, and he made the decision to publish Anne’s diary. The diary is an intimate portrayal of one of the most inhumane moments in history and is able to educate us on the universal human qualities of emotion, passion, love, hope, desire, fear and strength. In a word, it’s incredible.

Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014)

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Maya Angelou nailed that one, amirite? Angelou is one of the most influential women in American history and was a poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist whose award-winning memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. Angelou had a difficult childhood. As a black woman growing up in Stamps, Arkansas, Maya experienced racial prejudices and discrimination all throughout her life. At the age of seven, Angelou was assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend, who was then killed by her uncles as revenge. The incident traumatised Angelou to the point that she became a virtual mute for years. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as well as her other works have been one of the loudest voices in the civil rights movement and explore subjects such as identity, rape, racism, and literacy, and illustrate how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. Amazing woman.

Marie Curie (1867 – 1934)

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”

Polish-born Marie Curie was a pioneering physicist and scientist who coined the term radioactivity, discovered two new elements (radium and polonium) and developed a portable x-ray machine. Not bad huh? What have you done lately?She was the first person (not woman) who won two separate Noble Prizes, one for physics and another for chemistry, and to this day Curie is the only person, regardless of gender, to receive Noble prizes for two different sciences. Currie faced near constant adversity and discrimination throughout her career as science and physics was such a male-dominated field, but despite this her research remains relevant and has influenced the world of science to this day.

Sojourner Truth (1797 – 1883)

“Truth is powerful and it prevails.”

Again, helluva quote that happens to be absolutely dead-on. Sojourner Truth is one of the most inspirational black women in America’s history and those words were a part of one of the most famous speeches by any human, ever.  An African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Truth delivered a now famous speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851 that has come to be known as “Ain’t I a Woman?” Truth was separated from her family at the age of nine and was subsequently sold for auction as a slave along with a flock of sheep for $100. In 1829, Truth escaped to freedom with her infant daughter Sophia, but her other two children had to be left behind. Truth began to advocate for the rights of women and African Americans in the late 1840’s and was known for giving passionate speeches about women’s rights, prison reform and universal suffrage.  Truth, who died in Michigan in 1883, is known as one of the foremost leaders of the abolition movement and one of the earliest advocates for women’s rights. Legendary.

Ada Lovelace (1815 – 1852)

“That brain of mine is something more than merely mortal; as time will show.”

I bet you’ve never heard of Ada Lovelace, but she was an amazing woman as you’re about to find out. Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician and the world’s first computer programmer. She was born into privilege as the daughter of Lord Byron (who left her family when Ada was just 2 months old) and Lady Wentworth. Ada was a charming woman of society who was friends with people such as Charles Dickens, but she is most famous for being the first person ever to publish an algorithm intended for a computer, her genius being years ahead of her time. Lovelace died of cancer at 36, and it took nearly a century after her death for people to appreciate her notes on Babbage’s Analytical Engine, which became recognised as the first description for computer and software, ever. Take that, Bill Gates.

Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005)

“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.”

We all know the Rosa Parks story, right? Rosa Parks was on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 when the bus driver asked her to stand up and give her seat to a white man. Parks, a black seamstress, refused and in doing so sparked an entire civil rights movement in America. Born in 1913, she moved to Alabama at age 11 and attended a laboratory school at the Alabama State Teachers’ College for Negroes until she had to leave in 11^th grade to care for her ill grandmother. Before 1955, Parks was a member of Montgomery’s African-American community and in 1943 joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP where she became chapter secretary. In 1955 Alabama was still governed by segregation laws and had a policy for municipal buses where white citizens only were allowed to sit in the front and black men and women had to sit in the back. On December 1^st, there were no more seats left in the white section, so the bus conductor told the four black riders to stand and give the white man a whole row. Three obeyed, Parks did not. She was subsequently arrested, and her actions sparked a wave of protests across America. When she died at the age of 92 on October 24, 2005, she became the first woman in the nation’s history to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, and deservedly so.

Amelia Earhart

“Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”

Amelia Earhart was the definition of a rule breaker and bona fide American badass. She was, as you know, an American aviator who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and the first person ever to fly solo from Hawaii to the US. She was a pioneering aviator and a true female trailblazer. She refused to be boxed in by her gender from a young age. Born in Kansas in 1897, Amelia played basketball, took auto repair courses and briefly attended college. In 1920, she began taking flying lessons and quickly became determined to receive her pilot’s license, passing her flight test in December 1921. She then proceeded to set multiple aviation records, but sadly it was her attempt at being the first person to circumnavigate the globe which led to her disappearance and presumed death. In July 1937, Earhart disappeared somewhere over the Pacific, her plane wreckage has never been found and to this day, her disappearance remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.  

So those are my Top 8 women for International Women’s Day. What say you?

This Revolutionary War Animated Battle Map Is Educationally Fascinating

Watch and learn. Incredible stuff. I’m still amazed that we won.

Animated Map of Battle of Gettysburg is Fascinatingly Informative

Pretty amazing mix of animation, acting and actual photos here. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen such a concise and complete summary of the battle. After watching it’s still hard to believe Robert E. Lee’s rationale for Pickett’s Charge on the third day.

Get Your Hillbilly Hot Tub Today!

Well, technically not a hot tub but still. And hey, only $380 at Tractor Supply!

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Kid Meets Voice of Bart Simpson, Gets Mind Completely Blown

The instant this kid realizes who he’s talking to his reaction is priceless.

Map of the Day: U.S. Settings of Horror Movies Where Everything Went Wrong

Good stuff for you ceniphiles out there.

[click to enlarge]

Nature Video of the Day: Walrus vs. Polar Bear

Big bear guy here, especially the Polar Bears because they drink Pepsi and whatnot. Still, I gotta say I was really pulling for the Walrus in this particular encounter, probably because Mamma Walrus was protecting her baby calf. Anywho, nature, man.

Bill Maher’s Thoughts On Cancel Culture Are Dead On

This illustrates the problem with sterotyping people. I’m a liberal but I agree with what Bill Maher is saying 100%. See, there are extremists on both the left and right, and they’re mostly idiots. Wait. Did I just stereotype extremists? I don’t even know anymore but you get my point. Anyway, I’m not a huge Bill Maher fan but I’m with him on this one. Take a listen . . .