Best Of MetaFilter

Ever wondered what those green huts by the side of the road in London are? They're Cabmen’s Shelters and ' chariot pulled by cassowaries' made a lovely post about these relics from the Victorian era.

These “forgotten papyrus” scrolls existed circa 1100 B.C. ... 1100 B.C.!! (*feeling very small*) Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) Vienna, Austria by Sharon Hahn Darlin (cc by)

Love in an Orchard, as Written by the Trees. Donating Kittens to the Goddess Bastet. Parental Grief. Same-Sex Love Spells. A Runaway Child Bride. Rumple's post highlights various vignettes of ancient Middle Eastern life from the Papyrus Stories Group Blog.

Cozy by Anne Marie Clarke

Snuggle up, frens: In Ask Metafilter, azalea_chant seeks Cozy Crime (less trope-y than cozy mystery), signal is looking for Cozy History on everyday life, and churl wants Bedtime Reading Suggestions for Couples.

Scene from The Black Gold Tapestry Come view this breathtakingly beautiful embroidered story of oil in human history, created by Sandra Sawatzky, in this great post by 'They sucked his brains out!'

Williams OXO Playfield by Ryan Somma (cc by)

Ever wondered how old pinball machines? Pendragon made a post that explains all the complexities that are going in these beautiful machines!

1978 Citroën 2CV 6 Charleston by Rutger van der Maar (cc by)

Oh, mon dieu! Sonascope has posted 75 years on four wheels and an umbrella, an absolutely magnifique megapost on Citroen's iconic 2CV.

What do you do when Case stopped manufacturing your favourite tractor 110 years ago and none are available on the used market? If you are Kory Anderson you start a foundry so you can build, with help from your friends, a brand new Case 150 steam road tractor.

72 years ago in Iowa, a worker named Mary Foss wrote a message onto an egg. She put the egg into a carton and sent the carton out for distribution. Last month, someone responded

Didsbury Old Parsonage Sundial Panel Install 1 by Sundials by Carmichael (cc by)

zamboni posted Time in the Sun about the site "Stained Glass Sundials" featuring hundreds of amazing stained glass timepiece installations with sundial faces that allow you to tell the time from inside or outside.

The Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog), Claude Monet

You are a man of guile, means and influence in Victorian England and you know what orders to give to get the following done. You want to have a patient kidnapped from a hospital and secretly installed with people you trust. We're helping Omnomnom abduct(?) liberate(?) a gent from a British infirmary in the 1800s. What could go wrong?

Bridge as seen from the north Community member 'Kat Allison' made a post about the deepest of deep dives into the history of a seemingly trivial phenomenon: a footbridge over a suburban freeway south of Minneapolis. At the same time, an amazing piece of citizen research and reporting on a bit of pre-internet local history.

Photo by Roberta Sorge on Unsplash

"Recently saw a map where they had divided Europe into butter Europe and olive oil Europe. If this had been a map of the world, what other oils would be on there?" Interesting question from iamsuper, lots of great answers, and fascinating background from Jane the Brown

"...one of the most influential and intriguing buttons in history." Community member brundlefly links to a story of the Zenith Space Command, one of the earliest examples of a remote control for television. Many memories ensue!

#metafilter #bestofmetafilter #retro #remotecontrol #remote #tv #television #history, #zenithspacecommand #cllicker

Greek and Roman epitaphs can be touching. They can also, in the case of Allia Potestas, even be risqué. But they can also be horribly, incredibly embarrassing -- as in the case of Aphrodisios of Alexandria Troas ... Mefites discuss an ancient death — and odd elegy.

paduasoy has posted the London Medieval Murder Map to scratch your 14th-century murders-most-foul demographics itch