The Protectograph check-writing machine was patented under the title Printing-Stamp by Libanus McLouth Todd of Rochester, New York (U.S. Patent No. 766,853). It was designed to protect against check forgers by marking and embossing the amount on a check, thereby preventing the amount thus shown to be later dishonestly changed to a higher value. The apparatus had co-axial printing wheels with lines of raised type forming a series of numbers and suitable words. A check would be placed between the wheels and a platen. An inked felt-covered roller applied ink to the type as the wheels were turned to select the chosen imprint. The platen surface had a yielding material, such as rubber. When actuated by a hand-lever, it was raised from beneath the check and embossed the paper against the type.

the record low surface temperature in Antartica was -135.8ºF (-93.2ºC), colder than the freezing point of dry ice. It was determined from analysis of remote-sensing satellite data later announced on 9 Dec 2013 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The location was in pockets scattered near a high ice ridge between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji, two summits on the East Antarctic Plateau. August is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and the temperature resulted from the geographical nature and weather conditions in the pockets. The World Meteorological Organization official records are for air temperatures made a couple of meters above the surface. That recorded lowest temperature, made in Jul 1983 at the Vostok Research Station, Antarctica, remains at -128.6ºF (89.2ºC).