Why John F. Kennedy kept a coconut shell on his desk

From Kat Eschner for Smithsonian magazine: "Throughout his brief presidency, John F. Kennedy kept a paperweight on his desk made out of half a coconut shell preserved in a piece of wood. It was one of two mementos Kennedy retained of the most dramatic moment in his World War II service. The other, more constant reminder was his back. During the war, Kennedy commanded a patrol torpedo boat in the South Pacific. On August 2, 1943, his boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. The future president swam more than three miles to the nearest island, towing an injured crewmate by holding the strap of his life jacket in his teeth. After an exhausting swim, Kennedy arrived at a small unoccupied island with his remaining crew–including the injured companion."

How the Swiss were cured of a strange disease at the turn of the century

From Jonah Goodman for the London Review of Books: "At the turn of the century, the Swiss were plagued by strange, interlinked medical conditions, which existed elsewhere to a degree, but in Switzerland were endemic in more than 80 per cent of the country. It was a curse that had a mark: the goitre, a bulge of flesh protruding from the front of the neck, sometimes so large that it weighed on the windpipe, giving bearers a characteristic wheeze. It was often disguised by collars and high necklines, but its true extent is laid bare by conscription data. In 1921, nearly 30 per cent of 19-year-old Swiss conscripts had a goitre. In the cantons of Luzern and Obwalden, one in four men were exempt from military service due to goitres so large they struggled to breathe."

Khalid Sheldrake: The UK pickle maker who became king of an Islamic republic

From Sharon O'Connor for the UK Archives: "Bertie William Sheldrake was born in 1888, to a man whose father started a pickle business in Walworth. He was brought up in the Church of England but reading free-thinkers like Charles Bradlaugh gradually brought him to Islam. In 1904, aged 16, he was accepted into the Islamic faith, taking the name Khalid, and over the years became well known as a leader in the religion. In 1933 the Islamic Republic of East Turkestan was announced, with Kashgar its capital. When China and Russia ignored the fledgling Islamist republic, representatives traveled to the Sheldrake home in Forest Hill asked: would Khalid become king of the Islamic state?"

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