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π National Raisin Reserve
The National Raisin Reserve was a raisin reserve of the United States. It was created after World War II by the government in order to control raisin prices. The reserve was run by the Raisin Administrative Committee. It was enforced by means of a "marketing order". In 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled the reserve unconstitutional and ended it.
Discussed on
- "National Raisin Reserve" | 2015-08-06 | 100 Upvotes 40 Comments
π Jensen's Device
Jensen's Device is a computer programming technique that exploits call by name. It was devised by Danish computer scientist JΓΈrn Jensen, who worked with Peter Naur at Regnecentralen. They worked on the GIER Algol compiler, one of the earliest correct implementations of ALGOL 60. ALGOL 60 used call by name.
Discussed on
- "Jensen's Device" | 2015-08-03 | 14 Upvotes 11 Comments
π Curta: a mechanical calculator
The Curta is a small mechanical calculator developed by Curt Herzstark. The Curta's design is a descendant of Gottfried Leibniz's Stepped Reckoner and Charles Thomas's Arithmometer, accumulating values on cogs, which are added or complemented by a stepped drum mechanism. It has an extremely compact design: a small cylinder that fits in the palm of the hand.
Curtas were considered the best portable calculators available until they were displaced by electronic calculators in the 1970s.
Discussed on
- "Curta" | 2023-02-05 | 66 Upvotes 12 Comments
- "Curta: a mechanical calculator" | 2015-07-17 | 28 Upvotes 6 Comments
- "Curta mechanical calculator" | 2015-01-12 | 38 Upvotes 14 Comments
- "Curta calculator - hand-held, mechanical arithmetic" | 2011-10-02 | 42 Upvotes 16 Comments
- "Curta calculator" | 2010-01-11 | 23 Upvotes 17 Comments
π Cincinnati Subway
The Cincinnati Subway is a set of incomplete, derelict tunnels and stations for a rapid transit system beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio. Although it is only a little over 2 miles in length, it is the largest abandoned subway tunnel system in the United States. Construction began in the early 1900s as an upgrade to the Cincinnati streetcar system, but was abandoned due to escalating costs, the collapse of funding amidst political bickering, and the Great Depression during the 1920s and 1930s.
In 1928, the construction of the subway system in Cincinnati was indefinitely canceled. There are no plans to revive the project.
Discussed on
- "Cincinnati Subway" | 2015-07-14 | 94 Upvotes 33 Comments
π FloydβHoare logic
Hoare logic (also known as FloydβHoare logic or Hoare rules) is a formal system with a set of logical rules for reasoning rigorously about the correctness of computer programs. It was proposed in 1969 by the British computer scientist and logician Tony Hoare, and subsequently refined by Hoare and other researchers. The original ideas were seeded by the work of Robert W. Floyd, who had published a similar system for flowcharts.
Discussed on
- "FloydβHoare logic" | 2015-07-13 | 36 Upvotes 14 Comments
π US time zones (1857)
The International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C., in the United States, to determine a prime meridian for international use. The conference was held at the request of U.S. President Chester A. Arthur. The subject to discuss was the choice of "a meridian to be employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the world". It resulted in the recommendation of the Greenwich Meridian as the international standard for zero degrees longitude.
Discussed on
- "US time zones (1857)" | 2015-07-01 | 81 Upvotes 36 Comments
π Transactional analysis
Transactional analysis (TA) is a psychoanalytic theory and method of therapy wherein social transactions are analyzed to determine the ego state of the patient (whether parent-like, childlike, or adult-like) as a basis for understanding behavior. In transactional analysis, the patient is taught to alter the ego state as a way to solve emotional problems. The method deviates from Freudian psychoanalysis which focuses on increasing awareness of the contents of unconsciously held ideas. Eric Berne developed the concept and paradigm of transactional analysis in the late 1950s.
Discussed on
- "Transactional analysis" | 2015-06-23 | 13 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Gabriel's Horn
Gabriel's horn (also called Torricelli's trumpet) is a geometric figure which has infinite surface area but finite volume. The name refers to the Abrahamic tradition identifying the archangel Gabriel as the angel who blows the horn to announce Judgment Day, associating the divine, or infinite, with the finite. The properties of this figure were first studied by Italian physicist and mathematician Evangelista Torricelli in the 17th century.
Discussed on
- "Gabriel's Horn" | 2015-06-16 | 98 Upvotes 29 Comments
π The General Crisis of the 17th Century
The "General Crisis" is the term used by some historians to describe the period of widespread conflict and instability that occurred from the early 17th century to the early 18th century in Europe and in more recent historiography in the world at large. The concept is much debated by historians; there is no consensus.
The term was coined by Eric Hobsbawm in his pair of 1954 articles entitled "The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century" published in Past and Present.
Discussed on
- "The General Crisis of the 17th Century" | 2015-06-15 | 89 Upvotes 95 Comments
π Norwegian butter crisis (2011)
The Norwegian butter crisis began in late 2011 with an acute shortage of butter and inflation of its price across markets in Norway. The shortage caused soaring prices and stores' stocks of butter ran out within minutes of deliveries. According to the Danish tabloid B.T., Norway was gripped by smΓΈr-panik ("butter panic") as a result of the butter shortage.
Discussed on
- "Norwegian butter crisis" | 2022-04-20 | 15 Upvotes 2 Comments
- "Norwegian butter crisis (2011)" | 2015-05-20 | 176 Upvotes 111 Comments