Did a famous inventor have a plan to use the Statue of Liberty as a loudspeaker?

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday always brings back fond memories from days long past, such as the smells in the kitchen when Mom was preparing our holiday repast.

My favorite part?  The homemade bread.  Mom had the family’s old German and Russian cookbooks and the bread she made would put most bakeries to shame, if she were to share it.  She didn’t share it, though – not because she didn’t want to, but because my siblings and I never left enough for her to do so.

What are your happy Thanksgiving memories?  I hope they all are surpassed by this year’s holiday.

Speaking of surpassing, let’s surpass last week’s trivia list with this one!  Enjoy!

Did you know …

… some of the things learned on the popular show Mythbusters will never be seen?  In the mid 2010s, as the show’s staff was doing research on household items, they discovered that there are a number of common things you probably have in your house right now that could be combined to produce a very powerful explosive.  The staff of the show was so frightened by what they discovered that they destroyed all footage and notes on that particular episode, and even assisted the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, when that agency was looking into how to make homemade bombs.  (Curiosity doesn’t just kill cats, it seems.)

… a popular candy bar was created in an effort to reduce costs?  In 1908, the Hershey Chocolate Company introduced its Hershey Almond™ bar, a chocolate bar infused with almonds, which over the decades has proven to be a very popular candy.  But the introduction of almonds wasn’t done for the sake of creating a new candy, it was done to save money.  The almonds took the place of the more expensive chocolate, allowing Hershey to keep the cost of the bar at a nickel.  (A nickel?  Wow, prices have really gone up since 1908!)

… a famous inventor wanted to use the Statue of Liberty as a giant loudspeaker?  Thomas Edison (1847-1931) wanted to design a massive record player and speaker to be installed in the Statue of Liberty, crafted to make it appear as if the statue itself were speaking.  According to Edison, the system could be used to warn ships during heavy fog.  As designed, Edison’s speaker would have been heard as far as northern Manhattan and all the way across New York Harbor.  The plan died, however, when Edison was unable to secure the necessary permits from the city to launch his idea.  Additional trivia note:  While Edison was unable to make Lady Liberty talk, he did create the first talking doll toy, a 22-inch doll with a tiny phonograph in its body.  The dolls flopped, however, because the tiny phonographs were easily damaged when the doll was played with.  (Edison believed in dreaming big.)

… a dog has a very keen sense of smell?  We all know that, of course, but if you ever wondered just how keen its sense is, there’s this:  a dog can detect the smell of a teaspoon of sugar in one million gallons of water.  (Which makes him very happy.)

… most laughter is not in response to humor?  In fact, a whopping 80% of the laughter in people comes from reactions to regular statements and questions, which helps form social bonds among humans.  Only about 20% of human laughter is in response to jokes or funny stories.  (Not necessarily, as my jokes or funny stories don’t result in much laughs.  Gotta look into that.)

… one of the most famous lines in literature never actually appeared?  Anyone familiar with the stories about the great detective Sherlock Holmes is aware of the phrase, “Elementary, my dear Watson,” supposedly spoken by him to his assistant, Dr. John Watson.  But in reality, that line does not appear in any of the novels or short stories about Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930).  In fact, in all of the original stories about the great detective, Holmes says the word, “Elementary,” only eight times.  The line appears only in movies, beginning in 1929.  (Elementary is so … elementary.)

… the first player to hit a home run in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game was one of the game’s most prolific home run hitters?  In the first All-Star Game, held at Chicago’s Comiskey Park on July 6, 1933, the first homer was by Babe Ruth (1893-1948).  (That figures.)

… the national flag of Belize has the most colors in it?  There are 12 different colors used in the flag.  (Used, I might add, quite well.)

… a test pilot for one of the first U.S. jet aircraft would fly wearing a gorilla mask?  Jack Woolams (1917-1946), who later became the first pilot to fly the Bell X-1 experimental aircraft, was a test pilot as jets were being developed.  Something of a practical joker, Woolams would be on a test run in a jet, join formation with other pilots flying propeller-driven aircraft, and wave at them while wearing a gorilla mask, derby, and cigar, then fly away.  The idea, he later said, was that other pilots who reported seeing a gorilla flying a propeller-less airplane would not be believed.  On a more serious note, Woolams was also the first pilot to fly a fighter aircraft coast to coast over the United States non-stop, in September of 1942.  (He was just monkeying around up there.)

… a shrimp has five pairs of legs?  (And a heck of a time in a shoe store.)

… all GPS units sold to civilians have a threshold at which they deactivate?  In order to not be used on an intercontinental ballistic missile, GPS units sold to the general public are programmed to deactivate themselves if they travel faster than 1200 miles per hour or higher than 60,000 feet.  (Both of which ICBMs do.)

Now … you know!