2016

They once could. It was the great vision of International Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin to exalt both brain and brawn in a single program. While the concept was met with apprehension at first, in 1912 his dream was realized, and through 1948 the committee awarded artists medals alongside their sporty counterparts. There was one caveat: works of art were only considered if they “glorified a sporting ideal, an athletic competition or an athlete.” Additionally, professional artists were prohibited from entering, resulting in a largely forgettable event that has receded into history. Today, the art contest of yore has evolved into as a parallel exhibition and festival held at the sites of the games, carrying on the Olympics founder’s goal to marry the aesthetic and the athletic.

Dancer Pose Print | $40-$95

If you’ve ever asked for a coke, then been asked what kind of coke you wanted, then been utterly confused by the question, you’re familiar with the phenomenon of different areas of the U.S. using different words to describe the same thing. There are more reasons behind these linguistic lunacies than there are words for a sub… or a hoagie, or a grinder (or a hero, a poor boy, or sarney).

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Now a ubiquitous symbol used to tag social media content, it’s reasonable to assume that the hashtag [#] must be a Silicon Valley invention that can’t be older than the personal computer—right? #guessagain. Once called a “number sign” or “pound sign,” the character in question first appeared in bookkeeping parlance and typewriter keyboards in the 1880s (not the 1980s). Its modern origins may lie in shorthand for the Roman term libra pondo (“pound weight”), but a recent discovery suggests that the form of the hash mark goes back much farther in human history—WAY back, in fact. While studying Gorham’s cave in Gibraltar, archaeologists found a rough hashtag-like symbol carved into a natural platform of rock. They were confident that the carving was human-made and not the accidental result of activity like butchering game. They’ve dated the carving at around 37,000 BCE and here’s the amazing thing: it wasn’t made by Homo sapiens, but rather by our distant cousins the Neanderthals, making it possibly the oldest humanoid creation ever found. #prehistoricpoundsign #hominidhashtag #neanderthalsarepeopletoo

Game of Phones | $20