Few people are aware that on the same day as the Chicago Fire, a far more devastating fire occurred only a few hundred miles north of Chicago. The Peshtigo Fire killed some 1,200 people in Wisconsin— five times as many as the Chicago Fire— and became North America’s worst forest fire in history. The town […]
BARNUM BITS Before he was the owner of his own successful circus, Phineas Taylor Barnum worked the ticket booth and performed as a clown in a small circus. In 1871, he started his “Grand and Traveling Circus, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus.” P.T. Barnum grossed $400,000 his first year. He wasn’t afraid to use a little […]
The term “brand name” originated with whiskey producers who “branded” their names on the barrels. MARKETING MAGIC • The 1930s were host to a barrage of “sandwich signs”---walking billboards worn on the front and back of the human body---announcing the Blue Plate Special at Joe’s or praising the benefits of mustard plasters • Ferrari launched […]
FIRST FACT The letter “H” is about the ninth most-frequently used letter of the alphabet in printed material. As an abbreviation, H might stand for His or Her in H.M. (His or Her Majesty). H can mean hydrogen, harbor, Hawaii, or Hindustan. In the world of electricity, inductance (induced voltage) is measured in units of […]
• The Old Norse noun “viking” meant an overseas expedition, and a “vikingr” was a sailor who went on one of these expeditions. Today many English words can be traced to Norse roots.• The word “berserk” comes from the Old Norse word meaning “bear skin.” How did bear skin come into our language meaning “frenetically […]
Believe It Or Not There are more than 30 Believe It Or Not “Odditoriums” around the world, displaying artifacts, photos, and stories collected by Robert Ripley as he traveled the world seeking out the unusual. Here are some of the articles displayed at the various Ripley museums: A ¾ scale model of a 1907 Silver […]
When European explorers informed the native Dene Indians of the Northwest Territories that explorer Alexander Mackenzie had “found” the river that now bears his name, the Indians replied that they didn’t know the river had ever been lost. SHIP OF FOOLS Martin Frobisher sailed from England past Greenland in the year 1576 in search of […]
In the early days of the 1800s, trade was just beginning to open up between Japan and America. Most American trade ships docked in the port of Yokohama. The city had one main street that was well-policed at night, and it was called Honcho-dori Street. It was the only safe thoroughfare in town; sailors caught […]
DO NOT TRY THIS YOURSELF AS THE RESULTS WOULD NORMALLY BE TRAGIC. LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A young mentally ill man egged into a suicide attempt by his mother apparently cured his phobia of germs and obsession for handwashing by shooting himself in the head, doctors said. The .22-caliber slug destroyed the section of the […]
• Levi Strauss found it difficult to make a living as a peddler in Kentucky. So in 1849 with the news of the California Gold Rush, he packed up his merchandise and headed for San Francisco. It was a long journey by boat around Cape Horn. By the time he reached California, Levi had sold […]
