Ant Farm Inventor Milton Levine Dies at 97

Sad news for those who enjoy living vicariously through arthropods. Ant farm mogul Milton M. Levine (of the Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm Levines) died last month at the age of 97, but not before selling his burgeoning scientific toys company—racing tarantulas, anyone?—to private equity firm Transom Capital for $20 million or so, which happens to be about a dollar for every Ant Farm ever sold. Treat yourself to Dennis Hevesi‘s splendid New York Times obituary of the industrious Levine, who came up with the idea for an Ant Farm after spotting a mound of ants during a Fourth of July picnic in 1956.