Tuesday links

Today is Ben Franklin's birthday - bio, quotes, videos, his 200 synonyms for drunk, the bodies found in his basement, and more.

Animals that Self-Medicate.

Semaphore: The World’s First Telegraph.

Here's a Photograph of Lincoln's First Inauguration.

For Al Capone's birthday, here's the story of that time he bought large blocks of stock in miniature golf construction companies.

In Search Of A Vaccine To Vanquish The Plague.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include the anniversary of the beginning of prohibition in the United States, all about sinus “fungus balls”, how to become a lawyer without law school, Boston's 2.3 million gallon molasses flood in 1919, and a 1950s French sobriety poster recommending that you limit yourself to a liter of wine per day.