Ungainly Mass of Friday Links

• 20 Things You Didn't Know About Science Fiction. (Discover Magazine) My favorite little factoid from this? Robert Heinlein's role in the conceptualization of the waterbed, which, if you have ever read Heinlein, should surprise you not at all.


• Presidential Elections and Height Differences (Mental Floss)


• 5 Places to Watch Movies Legally Online (PBS) This isn't directly history-related, except in the sense that there are some great historically-significant films available in the public domain that you can, and should, try to catch.


• The 5 Nastiest Presidential Elections in U.S. History (Neatorama) Thomas Jefferson actually pretty much called John Adams a hermaphrodite. True fax. Expect more on the topic of election mudslinging in the future. 'Tis the season and all.

Finally, speaking of John Adams, how psyched are you for the HBO John Adams miniseries?

One for the ladies

Over at the Freakonomics blog today, there's some great betting-themed analysis of Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire primary victory, with bonus comparisons to Truman and Dewey. Though I'm an Obama girl myself, I'm a presidential trivia nerd first and foremost, so I think the outcome will be fascinating no matter who wins it all.

Also, discussion over there has inspired me to do a little extra research on female presidential candidates, which led me to this list of female candidates, worldwide, since 1870.