Matt Novak

TLDR: 9 Paleofuture Stories From 2013 You Swore You’d Finish Later

From the story of Upton Sinclair’s failed utopian community in New Jersey to that post about DARPA actually trying to build Skynet in the 1980s — these were the longform stories that you swore you’d finish one day but never got around to. Well, here’s your second chance. Nobody Walks in L.A.: The Rise of…

“Sputnik Girl” Was Ready to Blast-Off On New Year’s Eve 1958

December 31, 1958 — Five-year-old Linda Chapman of Kent stands in costume beside her toy rocket at New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Gillingham NAAFI Club. [Getty Images]

This 1901 Cartoon Takes a Humorous Look at the Future of New York

The folks over at Ohio State University’s Cartoon Library and Museum have posted a fantastic cartoon from 1901 that takes a humorous look into the world of tomorrow — specifically that far off, futuristic year of 1987. Drawn by J. Campbell Cory for the New York World newspaper, this “prophetic vision of the 20th century”…

Drunk Driving and The Pre-History of Breathalyzers

Drunk driving combines two of America’s favorite pastimes: getting absolutely hammered and driving an automobile. But before the invention of the modern breathalyzer in the 1950s, determining if someone was too intoxicated to operate a motor vehicle was incredibly subjective. It took decades for law enforcement technology to catch up with one of our most…

No, Real ID Is Not a National ID Card

Big Brother! Little Brother! Medium-sized Brother! Conspiracy-minded websites are ramping up the rhetoric in the lead-up to full enforcement of the Real ID Act, set to happen early next year. “It’s a National ID card!” they scream. No, no it’s not. Back in 2005, the federal government set standards for what security features state-issued IDs…

The Top 10 Time Capsules of 2013

It was an exciting year for time capsules! Am I allowed to say without getting my lunch money stolen and then violently stuffed into a locker? The oldest known message in a bottle was discovered in Canada. We finally found the long-lost Steve Jobs capsule in Colorado. And a time capsule even left the solar…

A futuristic stage show at the London Casino on April 27, 1938. [Getty Images]

7 (More) Fun Facts That Are Total Lies

Did Nikola Tesla actually work as a swimming instructor? What’s the deal with that famous photo of Albert Einstein and his therapist? Did they actually make radiation-aged bourbon back in the 1960s? Nope! A few weeks ago we looked at nine “fun fact” photos that were totally lying to you. Today, we have seven more…

Father Christmas giving out presents at a children’s party given by journalists at the Press Club in 1924. [Getty Images] Happy Christmas!

I Hope the Ghost of Christmas Paleofuture Finally Brings My Hoverboard

When I was a kid there was nothing I wanted more than a hoverboard for Christmas. Or a personal robot. Or a videophone. You get the idea. Back in the 20th century, we all had different ideas about what futuristic toys should look like. Below we have a small sample of Christmas presents and traditions…

The Coolest Toys from the 1911 FAO Schwarz Catalog

Smithsonian’s Around the Mall blog recently dug up an awesome FAO Schwarz catalog from 1911, found over at the Internet Archive. It’s filled with some pretty fantastic toys, including airship-themed board games, Kodak cameras, and carriages led by sheep. But these gifts didn’t come cheap. Even the board games were expensive. That airship-themed game (complete…

Airships and Automobiles Were Going To Put Santa’s Reindeer Out of Work

Every generation changes Santa Claus to fit with their times. But at the turn of the 20th century, ol’ Father Christmas wasn’t just getting an update to his stature (in the original “Night Before Christmas” poem he used to be a tiny elf), his ride was also getting modernized. With all the new innovations in…

This Week in Time Capsules: We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Capsule

This week’s top time capsule stories from around the world include an abundance of riches in Florida, a surprise capsule found by some rather patient people Down Under, and the old question of tech obsolescence at a school in California. Florida County Gets So Many Donations They Have To Buy A Second Capsule Sarasota County,…

Ford’s Synergy 2010, an 80 mile per gallon concept car created in 1996 as part of the company’s work with the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles. [AP Photo]

This Was An Electronic Christmas Card In 1960

Imagine being able to send a Christmas card electronically. Sounds crazy futuristic, right? Well that’s what this Sunday newspaper comic promised to the good people of 1960. Though it was a bit more complicated than the e-cards and emails we send today. The December 25, 1960 edition of Arthur Radebaugh‘s “Closer Than We Think” showed…

Roberta the Robot demonstrates an electric carving knife to Christmas shoppers in the Macy’s department store basement in New York, Nov. 17, 1966. [AP Photo] If Roberta “the robot” looks a bit odd, that might be because she wasn’t actually a robot. She also went by quite a few different names. But boy, was she…

Forget Die Hard. Brazil Is Actually the Best Christmas Movie

Terry Gilliam’s 1985 cult classic Brazil is a wonderfully dark examination of bureaucracy in a brutally oppressive future. But its backdrop — the lead-up to Christmas — makes it one of the best Christmas movies of all time. Unlike Die Hard. Which is a bullshit choice for a favorite Christmas movie. Remember when scenes of…

Anti-Pollution Makeup for the Woman of 2000

In 1968, model Vicki Dunlap was featured in newspapers around the country as the face of the future. But that stylish makeup of tomorrow wasn’t just for show. It was to protect from L.A.’s smog-filled air. From the Associated Press about this “woman of the year 2000”: A Los Angeles engineer thinks women living in…

Where to Watch the 25 Movies Just Added to the National Film Registry

Each year the Library of Congress adds 25 movies to the National Film Registry for preservation. This year they’ve selected a broad range of films, with everything from Pulp Fiction to Mary Poppins to more obscure movies with historical significance, like the 1962 Academy Award winner for best animated short film, The Hole. You may…

DARPA Tried to Build Skynet in the 1980s

From 1983 to 1993 DARPA spent over $1 billion on a program called the Strategic Computing Initiative. The agency’s goal was to push the boundaries of computers, artificial intelligence, and robotics to build something that, in hindsight, looks strikingly similar to the dystopian future of the Terminator movies. They wanted to build Skynet. Much like…