What better way to start the week than with some upbeat news?
10 x Estimate
A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28m at auction Saturday.
Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3m or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum. Including the Dallas-based auction house’s fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5m. Online bidding, which opened last month, had stood at $1.55m before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon.
A First For Namibia
A freedom fighter turned politician who has long campaigned for women’s rights made history this week by being elected Namibia’s first female president. 72-year-old Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah rallied against occupying forces when her country was ruled by South Africa, and lived in exile in Zambia, Tanzania and the UK, before returning to the country of her birth.
Great Green Wall
A greenbelt of about 3,000 km (1,865 miles) was completed last week around the Taklamakan, China’s largest desert. Part of a national effort to end desertification and curb sandstorms, the tree planting effort took 46 years and spans more than 300,000 km2 (11,600 square miles), reports Reuters.
Mocha Mousse
As 2025 fast approaches, Pantone has officially selected its latest color of the year: While 2024 was all about Peach Fuzz, a soft pinkish-orange hue, next year’s color is Mocha Mousse, a warm and indulgent brown. “This is the first time in the 25-year history of Pantone’s color of the year that they’ve chosen a shade of brown, which is kind of a big deal,” says the New York Times. Colors are often associated with particular emotions or sensations, and Pantone is betting that the new hue will be a predictor of next year’s trends. In a statement, the company describes Mocha Mousse as “an evocative soft brown that transports our senses into the pleasure and deliciousness it inspires.”
Popemobile
The connection between the Vatican and Mercedes-Benz is nearly a century old at this point, with the automaker producing cars specifically for the papacy since 1930. Over the last half century or so, that relationship has centered around the mighty G-Wagen. With the Church’s 2025 Jubilee event just around the corner, the off-road specialists in Graz, Austria have just pulled the cover off of the latest Popemobile. This all-new 4x4 build represents the first all-electric machine to have the honour of chauffeuring the Holy Father. It even comes with a heated seat and hand rail.
RockyFest
The first RockyFest has just wrapped up in Philadelphia to mark the 48th anniversary of the iconic film franchise starring Sylvester Stallone. The actor was of course involved in the celebrations, loaning out this statue of Rocky Balboa - Philly's favorite fictional fighter - so it could be placed at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps.
Fossil Fuel Divestment
Following years of activism from students and staff, 77 percent of universities in the UK have now publicly committed to divesting from fossil fuels. The 115 out of 149 universities pledging to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios represent £17.7 billion worth of endowments that will now be inaccessible to the polluting industry. Laura Clayson, from People & Planet, said it would have been unthinkable a decade ago that so many institutions had formally refused to invest in fossil fuels. It’s thanks to “the generations of students and staff that have fought for justice in solidarity with impacted communities.”
"It is not necessary to accept the choices handed down to you by life as you know it. There is more to it than that - no one HAS to do something he doesn't want to do for the rest of his life. But then again, if that's what you wind up doing, by all means convince yourself that you HAD to do it. You'll have lots of company." Hunter S. Thompson
On This Day
9 December 1868: The world's first traffic light was erected near Westminster Bridge in London; however, it was removed a month later after a gas leak caused one of the lights to explode.
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