Good News Monday
What better way to start the week than with some bite-sized chunks of upbeat news?
Fastest Ever
“I can’t believe I did it,” read New Zealand-born ultrarunner Sophie Woods’ first message to her supporters after achieving what only a handful of runners have ever attempted, let alone completed. After 29 days on the trail, 42 year-old Woods crossed the finish line in Monaco to become the fastest person ever to complete the Via Alpina, a gruelling 1,243 mile (2000km) route that spans the length of the Alps. Her team announced the milestone on Instagram with a simple tally. “29 days. 2000km across the Alps. And the fastest known time.” Asked how she was feeling after nearly a month of running through Europe’s highest mountain range, Woods had a short answer: “Ecstatic, but knackered. I’m really tired.”
Make My Drive Fun
An intriguing travel tool for America that layers your road trip route with roadside oddities, hidden curiosities, and worthwhile detours you would never have found otherwise.
Illustration Institution
Illustration is a powerful force for communication. This type of art conveys stories and ideas, making even the most complex concepts accessible. It’s an important part of our culture, and a new institution in London’s Clerkenwell neighbourhood is honouring the field. The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is the UK’s first and only charity for illustration, founded by eponymous illustrator Quentin Blake. Blake is perhaps best known for illustrating Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Matilda (1988). The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is officially the world’s largest space for illustration. In it, you’ll find exhibitions related to illustrators and illustrations, and creative projects done in collaboration with collections, universities, schools, community groups, and more.
New George Lucas Museum: Dedicated to the ‘Universal Language’ of Illustrated Storytelling, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens next month in LA.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
The recently released movie earned over $1 billion globally in its first six days. Sony and Marvel‘s comic book adventure, starring Tom Holland as the web-slinging hero, notched the milestone after just six days of release, a mind-boggling pace. Only 2019’s superhero epic Avengers: Endgame, which captured a stunning $1.2 billion worldwide in its opening weekend, was faster to the coveted box office benchmark. Variety says that with euphoric word-of-mouth and minimal competition in the weekends ahead, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will quickly climb to $2 billion, a metric that only seven other movies have ever achieved, and should rank among the highest-grossing films of all time by the end of its theatrical run.
Giant Pop-Up Book
The Los Angeles’ Central Library houses more than 10 million items, making it the third largest library in the USA. The institution also celebrates its centennial this year. So, what better way to ring in a new century of reading and learning than with the largest pop-up book ever created? Commissioned by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, it is a monumental ode to knowledge, discovery, and imagination. With an assist from paper engineer Matthew Reinhart, the project even surpassed the previous Guinness World Record for largest pop-up book by spanning approximately 31 by 20 feet when open (the previous record-holder’s dimensions were about 29 by 18 feet). The design rises to more than 11 feet tall, and overall, it weighs nearly a ton. It’s also made from materials customarily used to produce standard books, like fabric, paper, and adhesive.
Smells Fishy
Residents of a small Newfoundland town “can breathe a sigh of relief” at last, after a clean-up operation began to remove more than 100 tanks of fermented fish sauce abandoned there more than 20 years ago, said The Associated Press. The Atlantic Seafood Sauce Company closed its factory near St Mary’s in the early 2000s, leaving behind more than 30,000 gallons of sauce that emitted a stench described by the town’s mayor as “the worst rotted fish you ever smelled in your lifetime, times 100”.
“Always play your best cards - Love and Kindness. They trump every other card in the deck.” Richelle Goodrich
On This Day
10 August 1846: When British scientist James Smithson drew up his last will and testament, he included a rather curious stipulation: If his nephew, the beneficiary of his estate, were to die without heirs, the inheritance should go “to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” Smithson died in 1829, and his nephew passed in his 20s just six years later, leaving behind no children. Shortly after, the U.S. government became aware of the unusual gift, and began the process of carrying out Smithson’s direction. After eight years, President James K. Polk signed an act officially establishing the Smithsonian Institution, and today, it’s the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. Meanwhile, the motives for Smithson’s bequest “remain mysterious” - he’d never even visited the U.S.
Today's Articles
Complete Surprise: Elderly woman in Romania used a rock as a doorstop for decades - turned out to be worth $1 million.
Mood Boosting Video
Go Betty! 97 year-old breaks her own wingwalking record. "Otherwise I'd get bored."
