The USS Thomas A. Edison was an Ethan Allen-class ballistic missile submarine in the service of the United States Navy from 1961 until 1983. Although submarines, especially boomers, are supposed to prize silence, the Edison was built with a fully functional piano that remained in use throughout the boat's service.

The Naval Submarine League reports that Steinway and Sons made the custom upright piano for the Navy, which installed the huge instrument during the submarine's construction. Crew members who knew how to play it did so and the piano was often the centerpiece of musical performances conducted by the crew.

The piano was removed when the Edison was scrapped. Veterans of the boat rescued the piano from destruction and arranged for its restoration. It's now in the Steinway and Sons Museum in New York.

-via U.S. Naval Institute

Car manufacturers have made great strides in automobile safety in the last few decades. When I was a child, my family drove everywhere in a Volkswagen Beetle or a Microbus that didn't have seatbelts. Nor did they have crumple zones, antilock brakes, or airbags. Riding in the bed of a pickup truck was a regular experience. Fifty years later, my oldest child wanted to get a classic Beetle, but was dissuaded when my brother called them "death traps." Now she has children, and purchased an SUV the size of a tank to keep the kids safe.

The newer a car is, the safer it will be, but when does that become overkill? We know large SUVs are safer for the occupants, yet more dangerous for others around them. We also know that accidents can happen anywhere, but deadly accidents are more likely at high speeds on highways than a short trip to school. And we know that children learn situational awareness and how to test their limits and manage their fears by being in slightly unsafe situations, such as old-fashioned playgrounds. Today, we have young adults who are terrified at the idea of learning to drive.

Jason Torchinsky at Autopian asked reader's opinions on letting their child ride in a classic car such as the original Volkswagen Beetle, and got plenty of replies about how much automotive safety is enough, from farm kids who drove tractors at a young age to ultimate safety advocates. The best comment: "Being unsafe in a car was how I got kids in the first place."

Breanna Teel is a high school science teacher who keeps things like fish and eels in her classroom. She did not foresee becoming a rabbit rescuer. A student brought a rabbit to school not knowing she was pregnant. While there, the rabbit gave birth to two bright pink baby bunnies, but didn't feed them, so Teel went into overdrive to save the newborns. She would have done so under any other circumstances, but when your students are following along, you go the extra mile to set a good example. I can imagine that no one in the classroom has ever seen newborn rabbits. I certainly haven't.

Teel's efforts paid off when the babies began to grow and flourish. They appear to be some odd breed of show rabbits that resemble large powder puffs with wiggly noses. Are they tribbles? At any rate, they've become a permanent part of the classroom into which they were born.    

You've certainly heard of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, but have you heard of the Nutty Narrows Bridge? Futility Closet introduces us to this bridge that was built in 1963 in Longview, Washington.

Workers in an office building near the R. A. Long Park noticed a number of squirrels that were killed crossing the street from the park to an area with abundant nut trees. They proposed that the city build a bridge for them. Two local architects and an engineer designed the bridge, and it was built by contractor Amos Peters. He built the bridge with recycled aluminum piping and a recycled fire hose, for a total cost of a thousand dollars. The bridge is 60 feet long and 22 feet high over the street. A city councilwoman named it the Nutty Narrows Bridge. The bridge has since been removed and repaired several times, and the location has been changed slightly a couple of times. The squirrels love it and use it regularly. The tourist attraction is known as "the world's narrowest bridge," and inspired the city to launch their annual Squirrel Fest in 2011. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. -via Nag on the Lake  

(Image credit: SounderBruce)

Here's a vase that's sure to be a conversation piece for your next family gathering. Just put it at the center of the dinner table, and make sure that the face is pointing towards the person you love the most. Or the least. We're not sure.

Check out VisoVaso, handmade ceramic vase by Italian artist Jimmy Lanza over at his Instagram page.

November 9 is the 96th birthday of Harrison Ruffin Tyler, a retired chemical engineer and a historical preservationist who lives in Virginia. His claim to fame is that he is the grandson of U.S. President John Tyler, our tenth president who served in office from 1841 to 1845. That's like, 180 years ago. How is that possible?

President Tyler fathered 15 children. The thirteenth was Lyon Gardiner Tyler, born in 1853, when the former president was 63 years old. Lyon Gardiner Tyler had six children, the fifth being Harrison Ruffin Tyler, who was born in 1928 when his father was 75 years old. Therefore, a president who was born 234 years ago has a living grandchild today. 

Harrison Ruffin Tyler is also a descendant of Pocahontas and several other prominent figures from both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Happy Birthday, Mr. Tyler. -via Boing Boing

(Portrait of President Tyler from Wikimedia Commons)

(Image credit: catcurio)

There exists a delightful subreddit called Council of Cats. This is where you'll find groups of cats having important discussions of matters both urgent and mundane. I have four cats, and I find it difficult to get all of them in one picture if they aren't asleep, so seeing many cats getting along is really nice. You can often guess what they are discussing at their council meeting, or they might be enjoying some group activity like birdwatching or annoying their human. They often get together to make demands on your time, or in other words, they gang up to get what they want.  

(Image source: reddit)

But there are also pictures that show cats just like each other's company. Bored Panda has collected 50 of the most amusing photographs from Council of Cats to give us a taste of a cat colony's strength in numbers, presented in a ranked list for your amusement.

I smell fried chicken. Is that supposed to happen?

Well, HELLO handsome... Don't TOUCH me, you evil wenches! Can't you see by these FABULOUS tights and my jaunty antenna I'm far too gay for the likes of you!

Listen, im gonna crash it... we'll call it Dubstep.

Thou dost appear quite the jester... ...with thine trousers upon the floor

Beggin' your pardon sir, but if we're all dressed differently, exactly why is it called a uniform?

Trust me, Sweety. Even if it tastes like crap, they'll eat it. They're men... They'll eat anything.

THE WORLD BEFORE CRAIGSLIST

So basically this sort of thing has been going on longer than the internet?
Check out our Funny Craigslist memes if you want more humor of this kind...

It's the humidity

CHILL I Got This

Parasols: the smart woman's protection against ogling.

An Amish Kindle.

VLADISLAV BABY DON'T HURT ME, DON'T HURT ME. NO MORE.

My Love, my Darling I want to kiss you hard right now...but you've got a bat hanging out of the cave.

the old days were much more dangerous for infants

Trah la la la la .... Wait, what the fu...?

We're gonna need a bigger hankie!

Ain't no feed grain too good for mah peeps.

Don't be such a shlemiel, Jacob! Stripes is just FINE already, and the Rabbi says you can wear that coat to the synagogue!

Shabbat Shalom yeah, since you've been gone we kinda moved away from that whole "Jewish" thing. But I was gone for like 3 days

Oh, yes. This will cost extra.

Tonight We're Gonna Party, Like it's 1939!

So, it's settled. Tea at my house later ... Bring the whip...

But my parents...they'll never understand. Would it help at all if I ate them?

divine creation evolution discussing politics during a family reunion is never a good idea

On March 15, 44B.C. Julius Caesar, the "dictator for life" of the Roman Empire, was murdered by his own senators at a meeting in a hall next to Pompey's Theatre. The conspiracy against Caesar encompassed as many as sixty noblemen, including Caesar's own protege, Marcus Brutus.

Caesar was scheduled to leave Rome to fight in a war on March 18 and had appointed loyal members of his army to rule the Empire in his absence. The Republican senators, already chafing at having to abide by Caesar's dec