Did hackers once activate the Emergency Broadcast System to warn people about zombies?

I’m going to share a secret with you.

Gather round, close… I don’t want anybody to overhear it. Ready?

This column is written several weeks in advance of its running in this newspaper.

If you’ve ever wondered why the introductions seem to have no real connection to what is going on in the world, that’s the reason. I don’t know what’s going to be happening when this column hits the streets, so I can’t comment on it.

Well, that, and I try to avoid commenting on what’s going on in the world. It’s already whacko enough out there without me adding my two cents’ worth.

That’s today’s shared secret. Don’t tell anybody, okay? Thanks. Now, the trivia!

Did you know…

…the first man on the moon almost didn’t make it into the astronaut program? The application filed by Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) arrived one week past the deadline. Armstrong was aided by a friend who slipped the application in with the others, and later went on to command the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions. (One giant leap indeed!)

…some bars in London serve vaporized vodka? The patron inhales the booze rather than drinking it, and the alcohol enters the bloodstream quickly. The vaporized vodka produces an almost instant feeling of drunkenness, but the feeling lasts only about 20 minutes. (The hangover, however …)

…a recent survey showed that 12% of Americans think that Joan of Arc was the wife of Noah, in the Bible? In 2014, a Pew study showed that a sizeable percentage of American adults believe that Joan of Arc (1412-1431), the French heroine of the Hundred Years’ War, was married to Noah, the Biblical builder of the Ark. (This one’s so silly I won’t even bother with a wisecrack.)

…the tradition of Christmas caroling has a rather colorful past? When celebrations of Christmas first began, those holiday parties included getting pretty drunk and singing naked in the streets. Caroling evolved from that practice. (At least now they carol sober and with their clothes on, thank goodness.)

…the electric food mixer was invented by a mother? Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972) had twelve children, and thus had good reason to improve the efficiency of household items. To make her life easier, she invented and patented an electric food mixer as well as the garbage can with the step-on lid opener. (Great work, Mom!)

…men’s and women’s brains really are different? When focused on a particular task, scientists have learned, a man uses only one side of his brain at a time, devoting all concentration and attention to the task at hand. Women, on the other hand, use both sides of their brains at the same time. They “multi-task” much better than men do. (They don’t print enough money to get me to comment on this one.)

…the Emergency Broadcast System was once used to alert people about zombies? On February 11, 2013, radio and television stations in Great Falls, Montana, and Marquette, Michigan, had their programming broken into by the Emergency Broadcast System. But it was not a weather emergency nor a nuclear strike being alerted; the announcer claimed that zombies had risen from their graves in Montana and in the Upper Peninsula area of Michigan and were attacking people. Of course, there were no zombies; there cannot be, they can’t exist. But hackers broke into the EBS network in those areas and managed to put quite a Walking Dead-style scare into a lot of people. The hackers were never identified.

…being ignored can cause physical pain? Researchers into such things tell us that if you are ignored by the one person whose attention means the most to you, the resulting reaction in your brain is very similar to what goes on during physical pain. (… how well I know …)

…the first contestant to win a million dollars on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Never used any of his important lifelines until the end? John Carpenter (born 1968) was in the Hot Seat in November of 1999 and being asked the million-dollar question by host Regis Philbin (1931-2020) when he finally used his “phone-a-friend” lifeline. Carpenter didn’t need to get help with the question, though; he used the lifeline to tell his father that he was about to win a million dollars, because he already knew the answer to the question. Additional trivia note: The first million-dollar question that paid off on the show was, “Which of these U.S. presidents appeared on the television series, Laugh-In?” The correct answer was Richard Nixon (1913-1994). Nixon delivered the series’ popular catch phrase, “Sock it to me,” in a quick cutaway shot.

…forty-six percent of all home fires in the United States are set off by unattended cooking? That same source accounts for 19% of all fire-related deaths. (Yet another reason why I don’t cook.)

…zebras are actually white with black stripes? And a group of zebras is called a dazzle. (You were really worried about that, weren’t you?)

…the average woman spends one year of her lifetime in deciding what to wear? (No comment, and you can’t make me comment.)

…Japan is the 3rd largest consumer of coffee? (That must make me the second-largest.)

…five flavors of the popular gelatin dessert Jell-OTM have flopped? Kraft Foods, owners of the brand, have over the years introduced flavors such as celery, coffee, cola, apple, and chocolate. None of them caught on. (Celery Jell-O? Ewwwwwwww!)

Now… you know!

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