Vol. 3 (Columbus Day Edition)
Holiday! Time to party!
Monday marks the 180th anniversary of Columbus Day as a federal holiday (although it has been celebrated since at least 1907). For those of you that will be working on Monday, I have bad news for you. You are not entitled to holiday pay or overtime pay. In fact, unless you work for the federal government, there’s actually no such thing as holiday pay. Even worse, there’s no law requiring you to be paid for the day if your company does count it as a holiday, nor is your employer required to pay you if you take it off as a vacation day.
The Earth is round. Or is it?
Speaking of Columbus, did you know he wasn’t trying to prove the Earth was round? While that is a popular misconception, by 1492 it was pretty well-accepted that the Earth is not flat. With today’s technology, it is even more evident that our planet is (mostly) round. But that doesn’t stop people from believing the Earth is flat. Seriously. See, for instance, the various flat earth societies. Or some of our popular athletes.
Kyrie Irving has since said he was trolling everyone with his claim, but it’s worth pointing out, he never actually refuted his claim. Does he really believe in a flat earth? Only he knows.
Flat Earthers even have a theory about the eclipse.
An eclipse can be a life saver!
An eclipse once saved the life of Christopher Columbus. You see, Columbus was in a dispute with the Arawak Indians, but knew when the next eclipse would be occurring. He used that knowledge to claim his God was angry with the Indians and would soon make his fury known. When the eclipse actually occurred, the Indians believed Columbus’ claim.
Columbus was a Pear Earther
Columbus refused to believe he had landed on a new (to him) land. He was insistent that he had actually discovered a new passage to India. To justify this belief, he proposed that the Earth was shaped like a pear. Most people didn’t, and still don’t, agree.
AIM-Less
It was announced today that AOL Instant Messenger would be shutting down in a few months. After December 15th you’ll no longer be able to sign in and ask your friends, “You there?”
No Wallet
An email was also sent out today informing users of FatWallet that its service would be shutting down on Monday, October 9th.

Purdue takes the field this weekend in what should be an emotional game against Minnesota. Earlier this week, Joe Tiller, the winning-est coach in Purdue history passed away. The game was already planned to commemorate his 1997 Rose Bowl team, but now it will truly be a tribute to Coach Tiller himself. Much respect to the University of Minnesota who will also be honoring Coach Tiller.
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