layer8 4 hours ago

It’s curious how there seem to be so few combinations of place and time where nothing important happened.

swader999 6 hours ago

I need this for some past companies I've worked at.

tolugenius 8 hours ago

Funny, does anyone know the history of any of the markers? I'm just curious why this is global thing really.

  • wccrawford 8 hours ago

    You don't think this is just a joke that multiple people thought of independently?

    Some of them might be in reaction to a local event, or even a worldwide event that had no local impact. But I think they're mostly just jokes.

  • Photogrammaton 6 hours ago

    The plaque is identical in two of the photos (one from Ireland, one from Luxembourg), and the wording is identical in those two plus a third (from Western Australia). That makes me curious.

  • clickety_clack 6 hours ago

    Was it in a Monty python sketch or something?

TRiG_Ireland 7 hours ago

The Futility Closet website (and, formerly, podcast) is an amazing treasure trove of fascinating facts.

  • alucardo 1 hour ago

    Yes! and thank you for making me remember its existence

bckr 8 hours ago

My great grandmother taught me that “nothing doing” meant something similar to “there’s nothing for it”.

  • arjie 7 hours ago

    I’m in my late thirties and it was still in common use in India, and perhaps specifically among Anglo Indians? But it meant more like “no chance”.

    “Can I go out to the movies with my friends?”

    “Nothing doing! You have an exam tomorrow”

    Or failure to do something.

    “I tried to fix it myself but nothing doing”.

    • HappMacDonald 7 hours ago

      Looney Toons / Merry Melodies also bear out this connotation quite well

rzzzt 7 hours ago

1897 seems like an important year.