Modern-day carriage rides are viewed as romantic, but there was nothing quaint about the pre-car era - the days when cities ran on literal horsepower produced their own sets of severe problems. As this article explains, thousands of pounds of horse manure and urine littered the streets, creating terrible odors, attracting disease-carrying flies, and making it difficult to walk through the streets - the combination of rainy days, poop-filled streets, and long skirts was not a fun one. The sound of hooves and wheels on cobblestones was often deafening in large numbers. In the late 18th century, Benjamin Franklin lamented the “thundering of coaches, chariots, chaises, wagons, drays and the whole fraternity of noise” on Philadelphia streets.
The incredible strains put on horses to deliver goods and passengers around the city gave them incredibly short life-spans, averaging four years in service - and when they dropped dead on the streets, they would often not be picked up for days or weeks, especially in poorer districts. The sight of dead horses littering the streets garnered the sympathy of of Henry Bergh, who in 1866 founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Today, cars are one of the biggest urban pollutants, but in the early 19th century the machines were seen as a grand solution to cleaning up the streets from dung, noise, and carcasses.
Numismatics is the study of currency, money, and its uses thereof. U.S. Currency is noteworthy for several reasons:
(ha! “note” worthy! Get it? It’s another of my famous puns. You lucky, lucky bastards…)
Anyways: -Did you know that US currency is the only money where the notes are all the same size? People in Europe refer to USD as “Monopoly Money” for that reason. Seriously.
-Since 1969, the largest denomination in circulation of US currency is the $100 Note. On top of that, there are far more people in the U.S. than there are $100 notes. Consequently, whenever you use a $100 note, most people would be smart enough to verify the authenticity of the note!
So, starting from the top:
-Yup. The first issuing note of $100 from the U.S. Treasury featured Lincoln on the note. It was in 1862, one year before his assassination, and in the midst of the Civil War.
-The next series was put into Circulation in 1870. It featured Senator Thomas Hart Benton (Missouri) on the note. He was most closely associated with the “Manifest Destiny” idea of westward expansion. Also, do you see where it says “GOLD” all over the note? US Currency is ensured in value by our stores of gold bullion, which are kept in places like Fort Knox, Kentucky or the Federal Reserve Bank, in NYC.
-1914 Was the first time Benjamin Franklin made his appearance on the note. That is Independence Hall on the back (it is where the Liberty Bell is: in Philly.)
-1966 Was the next series. I kinda like the typography on that note. It is kinda cool looking. It also has a new seal of the US Treasury, and the Latin has been replaced with English. It was issued because of a bunch of changes internally, and because of a decrease in the amount of currency in circulation.
-Series 2006A was the next release of the note. It was actually released in 1996, but was renamed the 2006A because it underwent numerous changes to stop counterfeiting efforts.
-the most current version of the currency from 2009. Current Currency designs are often subject to recalls, modifications, and so forth. (Current Currency is the correct terminology. it is also alliterative, with the same root for each word. Do you KNOW what that means? It means that I have given you lucky bastards TWO examples of my stunning word-play, in only one post! You guys hit the freaking jackpot with me!) The 2009 series was DESIGNED in 2009, but was released in 2011, recalled and replaced with an uncolored version (some kind of problem with creasing), and the next series is set to be released in October of 2013.
It is actually kind of interesting, when you read about it. Also, look at world currency pictures at some point. They’re often quite beautiful. Another thing to look for: in the UK, Coins issued with the Portrait of the Queen are issued with her age correct for the date of issue. So, the first coins released under her reign showed a young woman. Now, they show her to have aged quite considerably.
Ben Franklin left $2,000 to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia in his will to help young tradesmen, with one hitch: much of the money could not be drawn on for 100 years, and the rest could not be distributed for 200 years. In 1990, it was worth $6.5 million.
One thing about Hope? She can control the dead. That’s her singular talent as a psychic. There are limits on this ability, but if she gives a direct command to a ghost, they have to obey it. She spent a very long time not realizing that she could do this, with assorted consequences and fallout. (See: all of Act 1 of the comic, and the Hope Blackwell books.) Ben told her this the first time they met, but she didn’t understand and it took her a loooooongtime to grok his meaning. That conversation is what she’s referencing in this strip.
…I actually have that story all scripted out and I should just draw it because Hope gets to ride a freakin’ dragon through Dreamland! but I have no time…
“We all have the same 24 hours that Beyoncé has” and its various iterations took the web by storm in late 2013 as the megastar became the figurehead of not only having it all, but being able to somehow do it all too.
How do creatives – composers, painters, writers, scientists, philosophers – find the time to produce their opus? Mason Currey investigated the rigid Daily Rituals that hundreds of creatives practiced in order to carve out time, every day, to work their craft. Some kept to the same disciplined regimen for decades while others locked in patterns only while working on specific works.
Benjamin Franklin helped to create Impeachment Clause of US Constitution. He realized that if a president were to “render himself obnoxious,” then people would logically consider assassination unless there was a legal way to get rid of the president.
