Weekend Link Dump, Annual Kentucky Derby Edition

This week's Link Dump is sponsored by the dark horse of this year's Derby field.

What the hell are the Georgia Guidestones?

What the hell happened to Hitler?  Yup, we're still debating that one.

Who the hell used these 700,000 year old tools?

Watch out for those fairy home invasions!

Putting out the lights at the Boxer's House.

An example of what Ivan Sanderson liked to call "OOPARTS."

Horses are getting lawyers, and I for one am for it.

A theater riot in 1813.

19th century French policemen didn't have it easy.

The Mystery of the Plums.

May Day folklore.

The first British scientific expedition to Iceland.

A look at Napoleon's last months.

Murder at Goat Castle.

A mother-daughter suicide.

A crooked lawyer gets a ghostly comeuppance.

A crooked spy gets a non-ghostly comeuppance.

Earth's magnetic field is getting weird.  Which would explain a lot.

An Indian poltergeist.

Crowning a dead May Queen.  How did "Midsomer Murders" miss this one?

And here we have a dead and properly coffined gnome.

AI and the Vatican secret archives.

19th century marriage etiquette.

200-year-old biscuit, anyone?

18th century conjurers.

The ancient "graffiti trick."

Some good reasons why you wouldn't want to live in 17th century London.

Some good reasons why you wouldn't want to eat Victorian candy.

The Grand Canyon's most famous burro.

This week's "Oopsie!" moment.

King of the Waldorf Hotel.

You know, it's really not a good idea to drink embalming fluid.

That's all for this week!  See you on Monday, when we'll look at a "romance" that turned into one young woman's real-life horror show.  In the meantime, here is tomorrow's Kentucky Derby field!  As is the case every year, you are all free to leave your picks in the comments.  I'm inclined to ignore the favorite in favor of My Boy Jack, Audible, and Mendelssohn.  And how can I pass up a horse named in honor of red wine?!

Here's some Bill Monroe to get us into the racing spirit.

Weekend Link Dump, Annual Kentucky Derby Edition

This week's Link Dump is sponsored by Kentucky Derby winners and the cats who loved them:

1956 Derby winner Needles and his pal Boots

1957 Derby winner Iron Liege and Houdini

1958 winner Tim Tam and unofficial trainer

That ongoing question:  What the hell is the Shroud of Turin?

What the hell brought down the Hindenburg?

What the hell happened to Napoleon's body?

Watch out for the Burbank Bat Light!

Watch out for those bewitched spinning wheels!

How a fistula became a 17th century celebrity.  Because the 17th century was just like that.

A horse-racing Run For the...Crape?

If you think George Patton was someone you wouldn't want to mess with, you need to meet his wife.

When pet squirrels were A Thing.

When moss saved lives.

When a movie was used to try to capture a serial killer.

Let's talk about Tinker Bell's sex life, shall we?

You've gotta love a guy who was nicknamed "The War Wolf" AND "King of the Trebuchets."

The machine that transformed London.

The strange disappearance of little Harry Browe, Jr.

So now you can control a turtle with your mind.  Although, if your life's goal has been mental domination over a turtle, we really need to talk.

An essay on Poe's "Eureka."

An 18th century French ballerina.

A 17th century moon mission.

Film makers in 1910 California.

A visit to the rings of Saturn.

Ghostly house-hunting.

A Yorkshire murderer.

A Newmarket murderer.

Victorians were weird, but not weird enough to use tear catchers.

When cats go to war.  (Mutterings from the gallery:  "Aren't they always at war?")

NESSIE LIVES!!!!

The ancient pyramids of Nubia.

Meet Doctor Strange.

The India Office and the Russian Revolution.

You'll be greatly relieved to hear they've found the hoof of Napoleon's horse.

May Day and Mayday.

Reincarnated dogs.

The billionaire pirate.

The ill-fated Lady Mary Grey.

The ill-fated Madame Récamier.

The really ill-fated Madame Elisabeth.

Know your fairies!

A look at Spitalfields in 1842.

The "Evil May Day."

Unity Mitford, Hitler's fangirl.

This week's Advice From Thomas Morris:  What not to do with a saw.

The Lioness of Coalville.

Queen Victoria's governess.

The 19th century "Dandy Horse."

Murder on the Cotswold Hills.

And that's it for this week!  We'll return on Monday, with the story of a famous murder case...that just might have been a terrible miscarriage of justice.

In the meantime, as usual this time of year, I'm inviting everyone to select their picks for tomorrow's Kentucky Derby.  If you win, you get...um, massive bragging rights in the comments section?

And, no, I don't have a solid idea who'll win.  Nobody has a solid idea who'll win.  This year, I'm just going to wait until I see the post parade on TV, put a couple of bucks on whoever happens to catch my eye, and pray.  Until then, here's John Stewart with horse racing's greatest song:

Weekend Link Dump, Second Annual Run For the Roses Edition

Strange Company is looking forward to tomorrow's Kentucky Derby.

Burgarry and unnamed feline friend, "Canberra Times," April 7, 1966

And, of course, the cats are saddled up and heading for the starting gate.

Behold the weekly dose of links:

What the hell happened to Marvin Clark?

What the hell is this South African...fish?

Here's what the hell happened to Einstein's brain.

Watch out for those Hairy Men!

Watch out for those Mongolian Death Worms!

Watch out for those Workhouse Women!

Watch out for those Tudor Neighbors!

Watch out for those British Werecats!

Watch out for those Jet Chickens!

Watch out for those headless miners!

Watch out for those hatpins!

Indiana is really sinking!

Turns out that "Louis XVI's" blood was a ringer.

More on those Battling Booses I linked to last week.

How two young women bicycled across America in 1944.

Some interesting accounts of blind people and near-death experiences.

And don't ignore the possible animal NDEs!

The real Valley of the Dolls.  I like quiet neighbors.

The damnable Byron H. Robb and his electro-magnetic brushes.

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream...

The Devil visits Copenhagen, 1826.

The real Hell's Angels:  Tales of ghostly cyclists.

Louise Mourey, scandalous midwife.

Out:  Roman Empire brought down by lead.  In:  Roman Empire brought down  by concrete!

A brief history of burning libraries.

A Martian tourist takes a selfie.

Young women are visited by awful, beer-guzzling monsters.  No, no, that's not a preview of my Derby party tomorrow, but it probably comes pretty close.

The Parisian Sweeney Todd.

The hidden history of the "Victorian Titanic."

The Great Diamond Hoax of 1871.

Jane Austen goes to war.

Cold Nose College, where you can earn a degree in training chickens.

Or perhaps you would prefer to enroll in the Thespian Horse College?

Dueling in 18th century Dublin:  a how-to guide.

Mock-dueling in 19th century France: a how-not-to guide.

Behaving badly in 18th century Harvard: another how-to guide.

A look back at the Raven Poetry Circle.

Shakespeare vs. Prince Philip.

Solving the riddle of the "time-travel murder."

A 16th century Facebook.

Atlit Yam:  a submerged 9,000 year old settlement.

The "S" stands for nothing: The renaming of Hiram Ulysses Grant.

Paul Revere's Ride:  no big deal?

Sir Isaac Newton, UFO hoaxer.

Birth of a legend: The debut of Spring-Heeled Jack.

On Darwin and extraterrestrial life.

And, finally, behold the Sacred Hierarchy of Victorian Beards.

To digress a bit:  Last year at this time, I invited everyone to suggest a horse for me to bet in the Derby.  It proved to be a wash-out, financially speaking (I'm not sure if Verrazano has crossed the finish line yet) so, naturally, I'm eager to do it again this year.  Because that's just how my mind works.

"California Chrome had a message for his @KentuckyDerby competition this morning" - @ABRLive pic.twitter.com/rlan01NzMW
— Santa Anita Park (@santaanitapark) April 30, 2014

I have to say that I'll be rooting for California Chrome.  His trainer, Art Sherman, is a friend of a friend of mine, so I'd like to see him win.  Sherman's one of the good guys.  Besides, I feel I owe some loyalty to him because the other weekend he gave me a tip on another horse of his who won at very handsome odds.  But if anyone has any other horses they like, say so in the comments.  If I get any suggestions from you, I'll use them with CC for an exotic bet.  Picture the honor of telling all your friends you helped a fifth-rate blogger with an audience that could fit into a golf cart cash her first Derby ticket since the Reagan Administration.  Here's the field.  (Note:  Hoppertunity has been scratched.)

May the horse be with us!  See you Monday, with the story of one of my favorite female poisoners.