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The Now I Know Week in Review

Monday: The First Curfews: The etymology of the word, and how it turned into a physical item.

Tuesday: Why Is This Panda Rowing a Giant Pumpkin?: A few people wrote in to tell me that I had a mistake in the bonus fact; I had the Red River flowing backward. In retrospect, that was a silly mistake. The guy was rowing north, and had he been rowing upstream, there's no way he'd get very far (let alone 26 miles). I fixed this on the archived version. I guess I keep thinking that "south" is down and, as water runs downhill, rivers also flow south. That's obviously not the case, though.

And, to make matters worse, that's not the biggest mistake I made! The record doesn't go to the guy I cited; rather, it goes to Duane Hansen of Nebraska, as Smithsonian reports. Thanks to reader Ames H. for flagging this one for me! I've updated the bonus fact on the archives to note this new development.

Wednesday: The Sugar Cereal Edition of Where’s Waldo: First off, only two people wrote in to say they liked circus peanuts. Use that info as you may. Second, thanks to reader Bernardo G. for informing me that Chile, Mexico, and a few other countries in Latin America have banned the use of cartoon mascots on sugar cereal boxes.

Thursday: How the Aurora Borealis Almost Sent Humanity Over the Brink: I wasn't around for most of the Cold War and certainly not its peak, but it sure seems like a scary time in retrospect.

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