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On This Day
1763 – Catherine II of Russia endorses Ivan Betskoy’s plans for a Foundling Home in Moscow
The Moscow Orphanage or Foundling Home (Russian: Воспитательный дом в Москве) was an ambitious project conceived by Catherine the Great and Ivan Betskoy, in the early 1760s. This idealistic experiment of the Age of Enlightenment was intended to manufacture “ideal citizens” for the Russian state by bringing up thousands of abandoned children to a very high standard of refinement, cultivation, and professional qualifications. Despite more than adequate staffing and financing, the Orphanage was plagued by high infant mortality and ultimately failed as a social institution.
The main building, one of the earliest and largest Neoclassical structures in the city, occupies a large portion of Moskvoretskaya Embankment between the Kremlin and Yauza River, boasting a 379-metre frontage on Moskva River. The complex was built in three stages over two centuries, from Karl Blank’s master plan (1767) to its complete implementation in the 1940s. Today, the ensemble of the Orphanage houses the Academy of Missile Forces and Russian Academy of Medicine.
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Born On This Day
1848 – Auguste Forel, Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, and psychiatrist (d. 1931)
Auguste-Henri Forel (1 September 1848 – 27 July 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and eugenicist,[2] notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of ants. For example, he is considered a co-founder of the neuron theory.[3] Forel is also known for his early contributions to sexology and psychology.[4] From 1978 until 2000 Forel’s image appeared on the 1000 Swiss franc banknote.
FYI
By Damon Young: The 10 Best, Blackest, Messiest and Ugliest Moments From Aretha Franklin’s Epic Marathon Homegoing
https://youtu.be/s66grYJ5DDs
By Elizabeth Werth: You’ll Never Be As Cool As the Astronauts Who Fixed Their Spaceship With Duct Tape and Epoxy
By Elizabeth Werth: Racing Just for Fun Didn’t Stop Eileen Ellison from Winning
Eileen Ellison (12 December 1910 – 29 July 1967) was a British Grand Prix racer. Born in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, she was a daughter of Sidney and Theresa Ellison (formerly Vinter). She had a sister, Diana, and a brother, Tony.
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By Elizabeth Werth: The Frankenstein-Looking Sir Vival is Part of the Reason The Auto Industry Is So Safety Conscious Today
The Sir Vival was a concept car created by Walter C. Jerome of Worcester, Massachusetts in 1958. Jerome created what he termed a “revolutionary vehicle” due to concern with what he saw as 1950’s Detroit’s lack of concern with safety and focus on planned obsolescence. While never produced commercially the Sir Vival featured many innovative car safety concepts that would later become standard such as seat belts, a roll cage, sliding side doors, rubber bumpers, and side lights. However, the most distinctive feature of the car are a two-part construction that separates the engine and front wheels from the main passenger cab via an articulated universal joint and the driver’s turret, an elevated seat where the driver commands a near-360 degree visibility thanks to a cylindrical glass enclosure. Along with the 1957 Aurora it is one of the earliest Experimental Safety Vehicles ever made.
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By David Nield: How to Get Everything Possible Out of Your Old Gadgets in 2018
By Al Cross: Education Department says school officials have always been able to use federal money to buy teachers guns
By Mark A. Berman: Authentication of Social Media In his State E-Discovery column, Mark Berman uses case law to demonstrate how courts have been flexible as to the manner of authenticating electronic evidence, with often comes from a combination of sources.
By Casey Chin: This Week: Hackers Hit The Oatmeal, and It Wasn’t Funny
By Elizabeth Smith: The Communist Cookbook That Defined Prague’s Cuisine For years, one book dictated how and what people could eat.
By Carianne Whitworth: The Secret London Exhibition for Spies’ Eyes Only During World War II, the Natural History Museum showcased tools for sabotage.
By Becky Little: Women Surfers Have Been Riding Waves Since the 1600s
Rell Kapolioka’ehukai Sunn (July 31, 1950, Makaha, Oahu, Hawaii – January 2, 1998, Makaha, Oahu, Hawaii)
was an American world surfing champion. Known as “Queen of Makaha” and “Aunty Rell”, she was a pioneer in the world of Women’s surfing.
Cancer battle
In 1982, during a pro surf meet in Huntington Beach, California, Sunn felt a lump in her breast which turned out to be breast cancer. When she was diagnosed in 1983, her prognosis was for one year. Sunn continued to surf every day after her diagnosis, despite the pain and chemotherapy associated with the disease.
Following her diagnosis, Sunn became a radio disc jockey and surf reporter, a physical therapist at a Waianae care home, and a counselor at a cancer research center.[1] She helped pilot a program for breast cancer awareness at the Wai’anae Cancer Research Center that involved educating local women about the causes and prevention of breast cancer.
Over the next 14 years, her cancer went into remission three times, and she underwent a mastectomy and a bone marrow transplant.
Death
Rell Sunn died on January 2, 1998, aged 47. More than 3,000 people attended her memorial service, where her ashes were scattered in the ocean off her native Makaha.[2]
Family
Rell Sunn had one daughter, Jan Sunn-Carreira.[3]
Tributes, honors, and memorials
In 1996, Sunn was the topic of the song “Mother Of The Sea” by Hawaiian Singer/Songwriter Darren Benitez.
In August 1996 she was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame as that year’s Woman of the Year; the Walk is in Huntington Beach, California.[4][5]
In 1997, an award-winning documentary about Sunn’s life, Heart of the Sea, was filmed by Charlotte Lagarde and Lisa Denker.[6]
In 2010 a book, Stories of Rell Sunn: Queen of Mākaha, was published.[7]
Dave Wronski, lead guitarist of Slacktone, composed an instrumental surf rock tune, “Rell Sunn Aloha”, in her honor.
Rell Sunn Website
By Jessica Leigh Hester: Revisiting a 1958 Map of Space Mysteries What have we learned about the cosmos over the past 60 years?
By Katharie Schwab: If you haven’t already switched to Firefox, do it now Firefox has announced plans to block all third-party trackers. Why haven’t you switched yet?
By Gary Price: LC Announces Winners of 2018 Library of Congress Literacy Awards
By Gary Price: National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) Announces Release of Eight Datasets (August 2018)
By Gary Price: Center for Open Science: “The Landscape of Open Data Policies”
By Rachel Siegal: John McCain’s remarkable mother: At 106, Roberta McCain has outlived her son
By DC: Don’t Call 911 If You See a Coyote, Unless It’s Carrying ACME-Branded Products: The Office of Sheriff, Monroe County, New York
By Annaliese Griffin: A meat vending machine exists, for all your midnight steak needs
By Nick Fouriezos: This Arizona ‘Ghost Town’ Pretends Wild West Reverie Is High Art
By Ian Graber-Stiehl: Make America’s Yards Great Again
At the edge of my high school football field in Homewood, Illinois, lived a nice woman named Gina Mensone. Fed up by her Homeowner Association’s (HOA) lawn maintenance fees, she decided to fight back. Gina replaced her lawn with low-maintenance native grasses and plants and had the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) certify her yard as a wildlife habitat. This gave her a property tax exemption that meant HOA couldn’t touch her.
Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings: Epictetus on Love and Loss: The Stoic Strategy for Surviving Heartbreak, Against the Illusion of Separateness: Pablo Neruda’s Beautiful and Humanistic Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech and more ->
The Old Motor: Four Fun Friday Kodachrome Car Photo Series No. 170
Carhunter: CLASSIC AUTO MALL, GOLDEN SAHARA II, XL-500 AND YOU HAVE A SPLINTER?
Ideas
By Chas’ Crazy Creations: Fitfirst Christmas Light Projector
Chas’ Crazy Creations: Fitfirst White Noise Sound Machine
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wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 19 June 19, 2026Picture of the day Alley on Escheckstraße (and part of the cuckoo clock trail), Schönwald im Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 18 June 18, 2026Picture of the day Red-headed weaver (Anaplectes rubriceps leuconotus) male building nest in the Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya.
Recipes
Camp Coffee
Camp Coffee is a concentrated coffee-flavoured syrup, which was first produced in 1876 by Paterson & Sons Ltd., in a plant on Charlotte Street, Glasgow. Almost one hundred years later, in 1974, businessman Dennis Jenks merged his business with Paterson to form Paterson Jenks plc.[1] In 1984, Paterson Jenks plc was bought by McCormick & Company. McCormick UK Ltd. assimilated Paterson Jenks plc into the Schwartz brand.
Camp Coffee
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