The (British) National Trust wants to record One Day in History in what it calls the biggest ever blog.

LOTR quizzes from "The Thain's Book", an online LOTR encyclopaedia. My best score is a miserable 56.2%.

Bet on how long a couple will last. Vote, or click on "see how everyone else voted on this couple" to see other couples. But how do I collect my winnings?

Patent medicine cards. Some of UCLA's collection of patent medicine trade cards have now been digitised - only a sample yet, and searching seems to be the only way of getting at the images, but still worth a go. via

Teoria provides on-line music tutorials and exercises for people who would like to know what those black dots on the funny lines mean. Every Good Boy Deserves FPPs. (Flash)

Horse Chestnut trees across the south, and increasingly other parts of England, are dying. more inside

Dandiya fever is breaking out again across India as Navratri, the nine-day festival of dancing and fasting in honour of Durga comes round again. more inside

Banned Book Week 2006, organised by the ALA marks the 25th anniversary of the event There are texts of some famous banned books online. more inside

Fun is the theme of the first exhibition (part of the Liverpool Biennial) from Digital Show, a new site for digital art. more inside

Clan MacDonald of Keppoch has a new chief at last. Not everyone is happy. MacDonald of Keppoch, aka MacDonnell, aka Ranald of Lochaber, is not to be confused with the larger Clan MacDonald, of which it is one branch.

Look and Learn This may only appeal to British Mofites aged 45 - 55 (which probably = me), but thousands of images from 'Look and Learn' are accessible here. Unfortunately IPC has retained the rights to the Trigan Empire, the bit people actually wanted to read. more inside

Bulldogs: brutal, loyal, or lovers of funny mischiefs and dressing up? more inside

Is your brain male or female? An online test from the BBC accompanying a recent programme. I scored zero, which makes me exactly androgynous, but I think I rushed some of the tests (the whole thing takes 20 minutes). Some other recent views.

The Outwin Boochever portrait competition. The finalists. more inside

Recent research, drawing on genetic data, suggests that the Anglo-Saxons must have instituted a system of 'apartheid' against the British. Previously some have proposed a gradualist theory. more inside

Still evolving? Researchers from Princeton say that the Galapagos finches which provided Darwin with a striking example, are continuing to evolve noticeably. Some have said that while the finches may vary with local conditions, there is no true speciation, and the variation is therefore not a real example of evolution at all. more inside

John Heartfield's photomontage is on show at the Getty. A prominent Dadaist, he changed his name from Helmut Herzfelde as a protest against German nationalism in WWI, and produced a stream of striking anti-Nazi images. More here and here, and a bio plus quotes here.

Happy birthday, James Clerk Maxwell, who some believe rates with Einstein and Newton.

Mathematical Imagery from the American Mathematical Society. more inside

Rembrandt's 400th birthday is coming up in July this year. Here's the Webmuseum's introduction to Rembrandt, and here's Rembrandt's house. According to legend, Rembrandt had a pet monkey: when it died, he was so upset he painted it into the family group he was working on at the time, causing the client to reject the picture. Some say the picture still exists, but I'm not convinced myself.