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Mao Zedong introduced his idea of paper tigers to Americans in a 1946 interview with journalist Anna Louise Strong: "...he outcome of a war is decided by the people, not by one or two new types of weapons. All reactionaries are paper tigers. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful." A decade later, Mao was interviewed by Strong a second time, and invoked the concept again: "In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of; it is a paper tiger. Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain. I believe that it is nothing but a paper tiger."

Danger Doom was a hip hop project consisting of Danger Mouse and MF DOOM. Their first album, The Mouse and the Mask, was released in 2005, and followed by the Occult Hymn EP in 2006. MF Doom had stated that he hoped there would be a second Danger Doom album in which he would rap from the perspective of the cartoons and in their voices, rather than simply create stories around them. Danger Mouse was slated to reunite with MF Doom in 2008, though ultimately no reunion projects occurred before MF Doom's death in 2020.

After a decade farming in rural Platteville, Wisconsin, Wilson J. Boldt joined Andrew Brothers in Platteville in a dual role as both farm and seed house manager in 1944. In 1947, he set out on his own by founding County Seedmen, and specializing in selling certified seeds and fertilizers to local farmers. Certified seeds are important to farmers as they are produced under strict seed certification standards to maintain varietal purity. Seed lots must also meet specified standards for other crops, inert matter, weed seeds, and germination. Boldt ran County Seedmen until selling it in 1968 to Dick Swart, who continued to operate County Seedmen for another 20 years until he retired.

Beneke Fabricators Incorporated is a fictional fabrication company that exists in the Breaking Bad universe, making its first appearance in the seventh episode of the second season on April 19, 2009. Located at 5208 Morris Street in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the company run by Ted Beneke, who assumed ownership from his father who had founded the firm. Skyler White had worked for the company as their bookkeeper when Ted's father was running things, but later returns to her old job working for Ted. The exterior shots of Beneke Fabricators were filmed at the real world location of 2241 Phoenix Ave NE in Albuquerque.

The Dorm That Dripped Blood is a 1982 American slasher film that follows four college students who stay on campus over the Christmas break. The students are tasked with cleaning out a condemned dormitory, when an unknown assailant begins stalking and murdering them. Filmed on a Los Angeles college campus in December 1981, the film was originally released in the United States and United Kingdom under the title Pranks in 1982. When its distributors found the title to not be conducive to box-office sales, the film was re-titled The Dorm That Dripped Blood and re-released in 1983. In the United Kingdom, it suffered significant censorship due to its graphic violence, earning its inclusion on the British film "video nasty" list.

The Atlantic Earth Festival was founded in 1989, in Rosebud, right in the heart of the southwestern Nova Scotia countryside. Attendees camped right at the festival site in a large field, enjoying a weekend of folk music in celebration of the earth. Held on the first weekend in June, the festival was used as a vehicle to celebrate the earth and create awareness for pesticide free farming and global environmental concerns. In 1992, the festival moved to Seaview Memorial Park in Halifax, and remained there until the final event in 1998.

Tower of Pizza opened its doors to the denizens of the Las Vegas Strip back in 1964. Behind the business with the iconic leaning tower neon sign was Gaspare "Jasper" Speciale, a well-known bookie and loan shark from New York. Serving traditional New York style pizza and authentic Italian dishes into the small hours, Tower of Pizza quickly became the late night spot for entertainers to grab a bite after performing at the casinos. The joint was also known as a mob hang-out where many deals went down in the dark corners and back rooms over the years. In 1979 Speciale sold the business to Bobby Capozzoli, the son of a California restaurateur who'd moved to Vegas. In the mid '80s, when the rent tripled, Capozzoli moved it out to Boulder Highway.

Hemp is a botanical class of Cannabis Sativa cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use that was first spun into usable fiber 50,000 years ago. Along with bamboo, hemp is one of the fastest growing plants on Earth, and also like bamboo, hemp be used to make a wide range of environmentally friendly products. It can be refined into a variety of commercial items, including paper, rope, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed. Despite hemp's limitless applications, the plant was first struck down by the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, and then became a victim of the '70s 'war on drugs' in America due to its association with marijuana.

Founded in the mid-sixties in Overland Park, Kansas, American Freight System grew from a Midwest regional short haul carrier to a national long haul powerhouse inside just two decades. By the mid-eighties, American was operating close to 200 terminals from coast to coast with a fleet of 1,600 tractors and 5,200 trailers, making them the fourth-largest trucking company in the United States at the time. Unfortunately, the company sold themselves to an investment group in 1988 that promptly stripped the company for a quick profit, leaving American Freight System as a footnote in the history books.

Star Frontiers is a space opera role-playing game that is set near the center of a spiral galaxy. A previously undiscovered quirk of the laws of physics allows starships to jump to "The Void," a hyperspatial realm that greatly shortens the travel times between inhabited worlds, once they reach 1% of the speed of light. Four races — Dralasite, Humans, Vrusk, and Yazirian — have independently discovered this way of travelling vast distances, and in "The Frontier Sector," they form the United Planetary Federation (UPF). A large number of the star systems shown on the map of the Frontier sector in the basic rule book are unexplored and undetailed, allowing the game master to put whatever they wish there.

“Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.” ― Mark Twain

Ripcord Games began as a publishing label of Panasonic Interactive Media in 1997, and is probably best known for Postal, its debut game, and the Spec Ops series. In 1999 Ripcord Games was spun off from the parent company and sold, but continued to operate as it had previously, but as a privately held company. The company partnered with Southpeak Interactive for publishing, but when Southpeak suddenly dissolved in November 2000, so did Ripcord's much needed funding. Although the company had the most experience publishing games for the PC, Ripcord had announced and promoted several console titles, but without the financial support it required, Ripcord shuttered their offices in 2001 and stopped publishing.

The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold, and white. The North Stars played 2,062 regular season games and made the playoffs 17 times, including two finals appearances, but were unable to bring home the cup. After the 1992–93 season, the franchise moved to Dallas.

The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (reporting mark KCS) was an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operated in 10 Midwestern and Southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. KCS had the shortest north-south rail route between Kansas City, Missouri, and several key ports along the Gulf of Mexico. The focus of the routes was the fastest way to connect Kansas City to salt water ports as it was 800 miles from Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico compared to 1,400 miles between Kansas City and the Atlantic Ocean ports. KCS operated over a railroad system consisting of 3,984 route miles that extend south to the Mexico–United States border.

Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics, and later rebranded as SGI) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer founded in Mountain View, California in 1981. SGI was dedicated to manufacturing high-performance workstations, software design, and supercomputers for professionals specializing in 3D graphics. At its peak in the '90s, Silicon Graphics had legendary status among 3D artists and graphic designers who leveraged the unique power of these workstations as they were at the bleeding edge of visual computing. The '90s also saw Silicon Graphics workstations become the go-to workstations in Hollywood, with SGI machines contributing special effects, post-production work, and 3D animation to over 40 major productions.

Based in Southern California, International Racing Enterprises Ltd. was an off-road race organizer and promoter behind several Baja style racing events throughout the '70s and '80s. Not much more info on them, but hey, it's an off-road racing design with a cool old school race buggy, so what's not to like?

This '80s animal lover design has been around for a while, and now it's been thoughtfully recreated to give it another run with a new generation.

Big Sur is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery, and has been called the longest and most scenic stretch of undeveloped coastline in the contiguous United States. The views, redwood forests, hiking, beaches, extreme surfing, and other recreational opportunities have made Big Sur a popular destination for visitors from around the world. With 4.5 to 7 million visitors annually, it is among the top tourist destinations in the United States. Despite its popularity, the region is heavily protected to preserve the rural and natural character.

Released in 1987, into the Pandemonium is the third studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost. The album is vastly different from the band's previous work which cemented its late '80s avant-garde metal term; it is also a departure from the style found on the band's previous albums, Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion that Celtic Frost had become known for. However, it does have the recurring symphonic elements found on previous albums. The album has a more classic heavy metal style within the songs with elements of industrial, classical, gothic rock and doom metal. The album's cover image is a detail from the right (Hell) panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights, a triptych painted in 1504 by Hieronymus Bosch.

Inn-Square Men's Bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts originally started as a men’s only bar (yes, that was a thing) back in 1964. It was as a favorite watering hole for local public works employees, who practically kept the place in business on their own. In the '70s, the bar was sold, and while it was still called the Inn-Square Men's Bar, they added a little 'ladies invited' under the name, and it soon evolved into one of the most well-loved music venues in town. The Inn-Square was a small, warm neighborhood bar with great taste in music, featuring both local and national bands that might otherwise not get to play. Despite the bar's second act being a huge success, the Inn's liquor license wasn't renewed in 1984, bringing an end to the bar.

Luckie's Massage & Sauna was a Chinese style massage parlor located in downtown San Francisco. In business from 1974 to 1982, Luckie's provided traditional Chinese style massage to the downtown crowd so that they didn't have to make their way out to Chinatown.

Crystal Castles is an arcade game released in 1983 where the player controls a bear who has to collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies, some of whom are after the gems as well. Crystal Castles is one of the first arcade action games with an ending, instead of continuing indefinitely, looping, or ending in a kill screen, and to contain advance warp zones. Crystal Castles has nine levels with four castles each, and a tenth level with a single castle—the clearing of which ends the game. Each of the 37 castles consists of a maze of hallways filled with gems and bonus objects and also includes stairs, elevators and tunnels that the player can use as shortcuts.

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Much like the erratic flight of a butterfly, jazz does not have a set style, but rather many styles, which leaves the definition of jazz hard to lock down. Without set rules they have to follow, a jazz musician can play various styles, and since jazz can be played with a variety of instruments, this only adds to the confusion of defining the genre.

Centurions: PowerXtreme is a syndicated 30 minute American science fiction animated television series produced by Ruby-Spears and animated in Japan. Top comic book artists contributed to the design and concepts of the show, while Japanese anime artists handled the character designs. The series run began in 1986 as a five-part miniseries, and after being well received, was followed by a 60 episode run. The show centered around the adventures of a unit of elite soldiers who wear special exoskeletons that accept various weapons and equipment teleported from their HQ in a low orbit space station. The toy line followed this premise very well, allowing kids to snap on gear accessories using multiple attachment points.

Prodigy Communications Corporation was an online service that operated from 1984 to 2001 that offered its subscribers access to a broad range of networked services. Prodigy grew and evolved to become one of the major internet service providers of the '90s. The company claimed it was the first consumer online service, citing its graphical user interface and basic architecture as differentiation from CompuServe, which started in 1979 and used a command-line interface. By '94, Prodigy was the first of early dial-up services to offer full access to the web and to offer web page hosting to its members. Two years later, they retooled as a true ISP, making its main offering internet access branded as Prodigy Internet.

Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 and in the decades since has grown to include countless events coordinated globally in more than 193 countries. Over the years, there have been quite a few slogans used to promote the event and the environmental conservation it espouses, but 'give earth a chance' is probably one of the better ones.

The Muscular Dystrophy Labor Day Telethon was an annual event held over Labor Day Weekend in the United States to raise money for the fight to cure childhood muscular dystrophy. The show was hosted by comedian, actor, singer, and filmmaker Jerry Lewis from its 1966 inception until 2010, and raised $2.45 billion for from its inception during his tenure. Lewis became so tightly associated with the cause, that the children he helped became known as 'Jerry's Kids.' The first telethon was held the weekend of September 4th and 5th, 1966, and proved the doubters wrong as the event was so successful that Lewis had to climb a ladder and paint a seventh digit, a '1,' on the six-digit tote board when the final total reached $1,002,114.

On August 6, 1945, a U.S. B-29 dropped the atomic bomb named 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb named 'Fat Man' was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. After the world witnessed the raw power of atomic weapons that ended WWII, humanity stood silent. Calls to ban them began to grow during the Cold War era, and by the 1960s, 'ban the bomb' protests were frequently held throughout the world. These morphed into general calls for peace in the early '70s as the Vietnam War waged on, and designs like this one calling for people to 'get it together' and love one another were a common sight.

Basketball has long been one of the most popular sports in Lithuania, and the Lithuania men's national basketball team has history reaching back to 1936. Despite Lithuania's small size, and a population of less than 3 million, the country's devotion to basketball has made them a force of the sport in Europe. Following the country's annexation by the Soviet Union during WWII, Lithuanian players formed the core of the Soviet national team. After Lithuania's independence was restored in 1990, the country wanted to stand on its own in basketball again, establishing a new national team ahead of the 1992 games to continue the country's proud history of top level basketball well into the future.

Birmingham's K-99 first hit the air in December 1976 as WVOK. Broadcasting at 99.5 on the FM dial, the station launched with a progressive rock and roll format, claiming to have 100,000 watts of power, and be "Birmingham's finest rock." The station was sold in 1978 and changed the call letters to WRKK, but continued to be a rock station. The station was sold again in 1982 and switched to a country music format under the name "K-99 Country." In 1984 the station was renamed "U.S. 99" and its call letters changed to WQUS. We could go on, but the changes continued to go on, with sales and format changes literally every few years well into the 2010s.

CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) was a method of emergency broadcasting to the public of the United States in the event of enemy attack during the Cold War. It was intended to allow continuous broadcast of civil defense information to the public using radio stations, while rapidly switching the transmitter stations to make the broadcasts unsuitable for Soviet bombers that might attempt to home in on the signals (as was done during World War II, when German radio stations, based in or near cities, were used as beacons by bomber pilots). President Harry S. Truman established CONELRAD in 1951. CONELRAD was replaced by the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) in 1963, which was replaced by the Emergency Alert System in 1997.

Byte Magazine started in 1975,shortly after the first personal computers began appearing as kits advertised in the back of electronics magazines. Whereas many magazines were dedicated to specific systems or the home or business user's perspective, Byte covered developments in the entire field of small computers and software, and sometimes other computing fields such as supercomputers and high-reliability computing. Coverage was in-depth with much technical detail, rather than user-oriented. Byte was purchased by in 1979, an event that led to many of the early computer magazines being swooped up by larger publishers. Like many magazines, Byte suffered in the '90s due to declining ad sales, leading to the publication's demise in 1998.

Country music station KBBQ 1500 AM in Burbank became KROQ in September 1972, changing its format to Top 40 and hiring established disc jockeys from other stations to shake things up. In 1973, KROQ purchased KPPC 106.7 FM in Los Angeles, which had been broadcasting an influential free form, progressive rock format since 1968. The FM station became KROQ 106.7 FM, and the two stations began simulcasting programming, referring to themselves as "The ROQ of Los Angeles" and later "The ROQs of LA: Mother Rock." The AM/FM simulcast broadcast continued through 1978, when the AM station was sold off, allowing the FM station to grow to be L.A.'s biggest rock station for the next few decades.

There are hundreds of banana varieties grown around the world, but in the US, you're likely to only find one kind for sale — the Yellow Cavendish. When the popular Gros Michel variety was wiped out by Panama Disease in the early 1950s, fruit companies were looking for another variety that was easy to handle, pack, and ship. Enter the Yellow Cavendish. Growing in bunches about three meters above the ground with a consistent shape that makes them easy to pack, and a beautiful yellow color to boot, the Cavendish was the one. These new bananas were a hit, though they were more sensitive to cold, so firms like Fruit Dispatch Company created educational materials to tell stores how to properly store and display bananas to minimize waste.

The '70s were a time of great change and experimentation for dirt bikes that resulting in some amazing rides, as well as some amazingly bad ones. While purpose built dirt bikes were available in the decade prior, they were expensive, and not always that great. As the Japanese factories fired up, newer, better designed dirt bikes began to hit the market and much to everyone's surprise — especially stalwart manufacturers — they were considerably more affordable. This mid '70s design celebrates that wondrous era that took motocross from a fringe hobby to a worldwide sport that was accessible to just about everyone. Do it in the dirt, baby!

Interstellar traveling reptile astronauts are a pretty trippy concept, so it makes sense that variations of this classic headshop design have been going around for decades now. While we have no idea what the concept is, we think it's pretty safe to say that hallucinogenics will help make sense of it all.