Did a San Francisco Police officer win an election to allow him to use a ventriloquist’s dummy on duty?

Tuesday of this week was a very special day for me, one I had long anticipated – and long dreaded.

You see, on Tuesday, I turned 65 years old.

I now qualify for Medicare. In another year or so, I’ll be eligible for my full Social Security benefits.

I now get “senior discounts” on everything, and I do mean everything. You name it, I get a discount on it.

There are, in fact, some advantages to getting older. Sure, I’m not as quick-reacting as I used to be, but then, who is?

Given the alternative, I’ll take birthdays any time. Happy 65th to me, and happy trivia to you!

Did you know …

… pencil lead and diamonds are the same thing? No, that doesn’t mean that you can get rich off of pencil lead. But they’re the same chemical composition, carbon. Diamonds become that way because of tremendous heat and pressure. (Kind of like if leaves were legal tender, then money would grow on trees.)

… you might be a snollygoster? In case you’re wondering (and I know you are), a snollygoster is a shrewd and unprincipled person. The term dates back to the mid-1800s. It is believed to be related to the name given to a mythical dragon-like creature that supposedly haunts rural Maryland, the snallygaster. (I had a high school classmate named Snollygoster …)

… almost three million people in the world die each year due to obesity? (Uh oh.)

… the Sun is big? That’s a given. How big? Well, let’s put it into perspective. You could fit 1.3 million planets the size of Earth inside it. While that’s impressive, let’s look at this: You could fit 6 billion stars the size of the Sun inside the largest known star, Stephenson 2-18. So, if you do the math, that means you could fit 7 quadrillion, 800 trillion Earths inside the largest known star. (If your head isn’t spinning by now, you might want to take over researching this stuff.)

… a San Francisco police officer won an election that allowed him to use a ventriloquist’s dummy on his foot patrol? Officer Robert J. Geary (born 1935) was a member of the San Francisco Police Department who, in 1986, was assigned to a community police position in the North Beach neighborhood. To earn the trust of the locals, Geary brought with him a ventriloquist’s dummy named “Brendan O’Smarty.” O’Smarty was dressed in a miniature police uniform, and wore badge number 12. Police Chief Tony Ribera (born 1945) didn’t quite see the good that O’Smarty was doing and ordered Geary to keep him in his patrol car. Word got out, and the public was not pleased with the chief – the city’s Board of Supervisors even passed a resolution to allow O’Smarty to be with Geary. Geary then led a committee to put the question on a ballot, and San Franciscans – God bless ‘em, every weird one of them – voted 51% to 49% to return O’Smarty to his “patrol.” Embarrassed, Chief Ribera reluctantly allowed Geary to work with his puppet, and the two retired in 2000.

… Denver International Airport is larger than Manhattan Island? At 53 square miles, the airport is also bigger than the city limits of Boston, Miami, or San Francisco. (Give me land, lots of land, under starry skies above, don’t fence me in …)

… the United States is one of twelve nations with the highest minimum legal drinking age? The legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21. About 65% of the world’s countries set the minimum drinking age at 18; in Antigua and Barbuda, the legal drinking age is 10. Twenty-four nations do not have a legal minimum drinking age, while thirteen have made consumption of alcohol illegal. (Make of that what you will.)

… the president who gave the longest inauguration speech had the shortest term in office? William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), the ninth man to serve as President of the United States, gave an almost two-hour-long inauguration speech on March 4, 1841, after being sworn into office. The speech was 8,578 words in length. It was a cold, snowy day in Washington, and Harrison – a former army general – was not wearing any warm outer garments. Harrison caught cold shortly afterward, and the cold developed into pneumonia, which claimed the 68-year-old president’s life exactly one month after he was sworn in. (Talk about long-winded!)

… nutmeg can be poisonous? Sure, a little nutmeg is a great seasoning for your pumpkin pie or your egg nog or what have you. But suppose, just on a wild whim, you swallowed two or three teaspoons of raw nutmeg? Well, you’d be setting yourself up for convulsions, nausea, pain, paranoia, and even possible hallucinations that can last for days. Chances are you won’t die from it, though. (You will just wish you had died.)

… cigarettes contain more than 4,000 ingredients? Many of them, when burned, produce about 200 “compound” chemicals – and a lot of those chemicals have been linked to lung damage. (So go ahead and light up another!)

… a popular singer only took three voice lessons in his entire life? Johnny Cash (1932-2003) was told by his voice teacher after the third lesson to stop the lessons – and never deviate from his natural voice. (Which turned out to be fantastic advice.)

… two well-known motel chains are named after their original rates? Motel 6 started operation in 1962, and charged guests $6 a night. The Super 8 Motel began in 1974, and its nightly rate when it opened was $8.88. (Adjusted for inflation …)

Now … you know!

HHJ News