Good morning and welcome to Wednesday. Fire hydrants: We see them in cities, neighborhoods, reCAPTCHA squares – pretty much everywhere you find groups of humans. But where did they first originate?

• Surprisingly, no one actually knows… because the patent for the fire hydrant was burned in an 1836 fire that destroyed the US Patent Office; its owner remains a mystery.

If only the sidewalk outside had a fire hydrant.🤷‍♀️

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.55 minutes to read.

"It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude."

–Hilary "Zig" Ziglar (1926-2012)

🇺🇦 Several attacks were reported yesterday in the Transnistria region of Moldova, a small former Soviet country bordering Ukraine; local officials alleged there were three separate attacks targeting a government building, two Russian-language radio towers and a military unit, with no reported casualties.

• Transnistria is a breakaway pro-Russian region that fought a war for independence against Moldova in 1992 that ended in a stalemate.
• The separatist region is currently not recognized by any country, but governs itself as though it were independent. It has close ties to Russia.
• Last week, a Russian general said Moscow was looking into the oppression of Russian speakers in Moldova – allegations similar to those made in the weeks before its invasion of Ukraine.

How the invasion is impacting…

🛢️ Oil & gas: Yesterday, the Polish and Belarusian governments confirmed Russia has stopped supplying them with natural gas through one of Europe’s biggest pipelines. 

• It’s the first instance of Putin following through on his threat to cut off countries that don’t pay for Russian gas on new wartime terms that include paying the full amount in rubles; it also sets a potential precedent for the rest of the EU, which gets as much as 40% of its gas from Russia.
• European gas prices jumped as much as 17% yesterday.

🌍 International relations: Finland and Sweden are reportedly preparing to simultaneously submit membership applications to NATO as early as mid-May, according to Nordic media organizations; the two countries have historically pursued policies of military neutrality.

… seems to be getting more expensive. The latest to join the price-hike train? Visa and Mastercard, who are set to increase the swipe fees they charge merchants before the month ends.

• Some context: The change in fees were set to go into effect two years ago but were delayed twice over retailers’ outcry.

🤔💳 Why it’s a big deal: Whenever you swipe/insert/tap to pay, your credit card company receives a cut of that transaction in processing fees. The country’s largest retail association, the NRF, estimates credit cards currently cost the average American family $700/year.

Swipe fees are most vendors’ second-highest operating cost after labor, Quartz reports. Which leaves many small business owners facing a choice: absorb a hit to profits (many with already slim margins) or raise prices for consumers – and most opt for the latter.

• Visa holds a 60% share of the credit and debit card market, followed by Mastercard with 30%.

📈🏷 Zoom out: A recent national survey found that 47% of US small businesses are planning to raise prices by 4%+ and 40% are planning to raise prices by 10%+. 86% of businesses have already raised prices because of inflation.

💻 Microsoft slightly beat expectations this past quarter. Revenue rose 18% from a year earlier to $49.4 billion and net income rose 8% to $16.7 billion. One interesting thing to note: Microsoft doesn’t expect its $69 billion Activision deal, currently under review by the FTC, to close until next year. If it does close, Microsoft would immediately become the third-largest gaming company by sales, with 30 game studios under its management.

🔎 Alphabet, Google’s parent company, missed on top and bottom lines in Q1, with YouTube ad revenue showing particularly weaker-than-expected results. The company’s Other Bets, which includes its life sciences companies and self-driving car unit Waymo, nearly doubled revenue from the year prior, bringing in $440 million versus $198 million the previous year – but lost slightly more than the previous year ($1.15 billion).

🌯 Chipotle’s quarterly earnings and revenue topped Wall Street’s estimates despite inflation, fueled by consumers’ willingness to pay more for their burritos and bowls, CNBC reports. The company’s shares see-sawed after hours – last down 1.2% after an initial 2% gain – after falling more than 5% in the regular session.

📉 Overall: US stocks fell sharply across the board yesterday (Dow: -2.4% | S&P: -2.8% | Nasdaq: -4.0%).

🥳 YES! National Matcha Day is a thing (*pulls out calendar and blocks off next Monday*).

But if you haven’t already gotten with the new era of productivity and energy, see below as we bust five of the biggest matcha myths that might be holding you back.

🍵 The matcha myths...

1. It’s not a real coffee replacement. Real answer: False. Matcha contains ~3X MORE caffeine, weight-for-weight, than coffee. Increase your serving size to get the kick you need.
2. It doesn’t taste good. Uhhh, FALSE. In case you’ve been misguided by a bitter and yucky matcha experience, just know that it wasn't real matcha.
3. Matcha is hard to make. Untrue to the fullest. We’ve literally seen matcha made in 30 seconds. Just mix for ~10 seconds with water or non-dairy milk and you’ll be golden.
4. It’s expensive. Real answer: That depends... but not really. The average serving of matcha costs less than $1. And even the rarest qualities typically don’t exceed $2 per serving.
5. All the different types are confusing. Up until recently, this has been 100% true – but Matcha.com just launched their highly acclaimed Matcha Sampler Flight to help you make sense of matcha! It’s literally the first of its kind. Think: a wine tasting, but DIY and for matcha.

🚨 Ready to take the leap?... Matcha.com is offering DONUT readers a 100% money-back guarantee that you’ll love their matcha! Just make sure to order by today to take advantage of the offer (and plus, you'll receive your order before National Matcha Day).

➡️ Use code DONUT for risk-free matcha & to save 25% off today!

The Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a case centered around a former Washington state public high school football coach who would kneel in prayer at the 50-yard line after each game.

🙏 Background… Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy began his postgame tradition when he started coaching at the school in 2008. He initially prayed alone, “but students started joining him, and over time he began to deliver a short, inspirational talk with religious references,” reports the AP, which adds that Kennedy also led students in locker room prayers.

• The school district asked him to stop in 2015, saying they were concerned about being sued for violating students’ religious freedom rights.
• Kennedy stopped leading locker room prayers upon the school’s request, but continued to pray on the field after games. He was suspended by the school the following year.
• He filed suit in a federal court months later alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights, and lost twice in lower courts before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

🧗‍♀️ The crux: At issue is the fact that the First Amendment’s religion clause points in different directions: the government (i.e., public schools) can’t prohibit the “free expression” of faith – but at the same time, it can’t act in a manner “respecting an establishment of religion.”

⚖️👀 Looking ahead… The Supreme Court’s decision is expected by July.

• ☝️ A giant squid was found alive on a shore in western Japan for what’s likely the first time in human history; the 10-foot-long creature was transported to a local aquarium but it’s unclear if it remains alive.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🗣️ Robinhood announced that it’s cutting about 9% of full-time employees, or roughly 340 people; shares of the company, which reports quarterly results tomorrow, fell more than 5% in extended trading.
• 👓 Meta is opening its first hardware retail store on its campus at Burlingame, California, next month; it’ll feature areas for visitors to demo Portal devices, Quest VR headsets, and Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses.
• 📉 Shares of Tesla fell more than 12% yesterday, knocking ~$21 billion off CEO Elon Musk’s net worth – the same amount he’s personally committed to the Twitter deal.
• 🪙 Fidelity will become the first major retirement provider to allow individuals to invest their 401(k) in bitcoin.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Bad Bunny will star as the titular superhero in the upcoming Marvel/Sony film El Muerto, which is set to hit theaters in January 2024.
• 🎤 The B-52s, singers of the 80s pop hit “Love Shack,” are going on the road one last time this summer for a coast-to-coast farewell tour.
• 📱 The Santa Fe Sheriff's Department released footage and text messages from the fatal October shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🦠 At least 58% of Americans have natural antibodies from a previous Covid infection, according to a new CDC analysis published yesterday.
• 🧬☄️ The 5 key building blocks of DNA and RNA have all been discovered in space rocks, suggesting that meteorites may have delivered these key ingredients for life to ancient Earth, according to new peer-reviewed research.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• ​​🏛️ Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for Covid; she isn’t currently experiencing any symptoms, nor is she a close contact of President Biden.
• 📊 Antisemitic incidents in the US reached an all-time high last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League's annual audit released Tuesday. (From the Left | From the Right)
• ✍️ President Biden took his first actions on clemency since he entered office, pardoning three people and shortening the prison terms of 75 more yesterday. (From the Left | From the Right)

💬 Quoted… “Harvard benefited from and in some ways perpetuated practices that were profoundly immoral.”

• Harvard University set aside $100 million for the creation of a fund to study and redress its ties to slavery; the announcement was published alongside a report detailing how the school profited from slavery during the 17th through 19th centuries.

+Dig deeper: From the Left | From the Right

🥩🎓 Stat of the Day: Meat giant Tyson Foods will spend $60 million to cover the cost of college for all of the company’s 120,000 US employees; the move comes roughly a year after rival JBS did the same.

🤯 Did You Know?... Outback Steakhouse was founded in Tampa, FL, in the late 80s by Americans who had never visited Australia, but wanted to ride the cultural wave inspired by Crocodile Dundee – the second-most popular US film of 1986.

📖 Worth a Read: Why Most Gas Stations Don't Make Money From Selling Gas → (The Hustle)

How do you feel about Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter?

It's good for Twitter (and democracy)

It's bad for Twitter (and democracy)

It won't really matter that much

Unsure/Other

+Note: A written response isn't required – all you need to do is click one of the links above, and your vote is recorded. Poll results and the best comments for each response will be featured in tomorrow's newsletter.

Fifteen-year-old George Tindale is a regular magnet fisher around his home in Grantham, England.

• On one of his recent expeditions, George was shocked when he pulled a small safe out of the river. After finally prying the metal box open, he found himself staring at thousands of dollars in cash.

💰🔎 Search party... With help from his parents, George tracked down the rightful owner of the money thanks to a few bank slips in the safe. The owner, Rob Everett, worked right there in town, and said the safe had been stolen from his business twenty-two years ago.

• "I just felt there are some really nice and good people in this world," Rob shared after getting his safe back. "They could have kept the money... They wanted to return the contents and the goods to the rightful owners and I think that says a lot about humanity.”

❓Trivia: What's the brightest planet in the sky?

🎓 True or false?... If you soak a raisin in grape juice long enough, it rehydrates and turns back into a grape.

🤔 Riddle me this: The poor have it and the rich need it.

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get just for introducing people you know to little old us. Just copy your unique link below, and then send to anyone you think would like the DONUT.

❓Trivia: Venus

🎓 T/F: False, but the logic is there!

🤔 Riddle: Nothing