Did two different comic strips with the same title debut on the same day in two different countries?

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States. And I want to wish you a happy and joyous holiday.

I could share some of my favorite stories of Thanksgiving in the past, but no … I’ve done that already. Just look up last year’s column or ones before that to get my favorite tales.

For this year, I’ll wish you a happy time with family and friends, or if you celebrate solo, may the company you have be the best it can be.

Meanwhile, for dessert, there’s always some trivia … so dig in!

Did you know …

… Ohio has an official state beverage? And before you start thinking what it might be, let me assure you it isn’t alcoholic, no matter how much people in Cleveland need it to be. In fact, it’s tomato juice. Ohio produces a large percentage of the nation’s tomatoes and has also designated the tomato as the state fruit. (Yes, tomatoes are fruits. Look it up.)

… railroads were a major factor in the development of swimwear? Expansion of the railroads in the 1800s brought more and more people to visit the sea. Thus, the need for swimwear developed, thanks to the transportation available. (And some of us are glad that it did develop!)

… the largest rabbits in the world can get 2.5 feet long? Flemish giant rabbits can weigh more than 20 pounds. (Meeting one can be a  hare-raising experience, too.)

… one nation’s flag features a dragon? The Himalayan nation of Bhutan, on the border between India and China, has a flag that features the “Thunder Dragon.” (You can’t accuse them of draggin’ their flag, can you?)

… the tradition of the bride throwing her garter has an ancient root? During ancient times, guests at a wedding would tear off part of the bride’s gown as tokens of good luck. This led to the development of “tossing the garter.” (Better than ripping that expensive wedding gown to tatters, I’d say.)

… an artist had a one-bird rooting section? Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), a post-impressionist painter who laid much of the foundation for the transition of art from the 19th to the 20th Centuries, had a pet parrot which he trained to say, “Cézanne is a great painter.” (I guess you could say Cézanne gave himself the bird. You could say it, but maybe you shouldn’t.)

… two different incarnations of a popular comic strip character debuted on the same date? On March 12, 1951, American newspaper readers were first introduced to Dennis the Menace, created and drawn by Hank Ketcham (1920-2001). The strip, about a precocious kid and his tortured neighbor Mr. Wilson, continues today. It was based on the antics of Ketcham’s actual son Dennis (born 1946), who grew up estranged from his father and who dislikes the fact that the strip was named after him. But on the same day Ketcham’s strip began, British newspapers carried the debut of a completely different comic strip called Dennis the Menace. This strip, created by David Law (1908-1971), also features a terrorizing little kid named Dennis, but no Mr. Wilson. The two characters are not too alike, though; the American Dennis is a well-meaning kid who gets into mischief, while the British version is a bit on the mean side. Both strips are still being drawn, though the U.K. version is now called Dennis and Gnasher. And the most astonishing thing about the coincidence is … neither Ketcham nor Law knew about the other’s strip at the time. There was never any connection between the two. Additional trivia note: Both strips became television series in their respective countries. From 1999 to 2001, an animated British version aired, while a live-action series in the U.S. aired from 1959 to 1963 and starred Jay North (born 1951) as the titular troublemaker. (I always felt bad for “Good ol’ Mr. Wilson” whenever Dennis went over there.)

… during his 17-year career with the New York Yankees, baseball superstar Lou Gehrig (1903-1941) earned a total of $361,500? By contrast, the Major League minimum salary in 2023 was $720,000 for the one season. To give you an idea of what kind of money we’re talking about, consider: in 1992, a Yankee fan paid $363,000 for one of the jerseys that Gehrig wore during the 1927 season. That’s more than Gehrig earned his entire career … for one of his shirts.

… the average American family spends about $935 on gifts for family and friends at Christmas? (Which, by the way, is just around the corner …)

… one of the worst jobs in history had to be at an 18th Century English gambling den? At a time when gambling as such was illegal, places where people gathered to wager money on the roll of dice employed one special person who they paid well, but hoped to never use. His job? He had to swallow all the dice in the place if the police conducted a raid. (The person doing the job also hoped he’d never have to actually earn his keep.)

… what goes around really does come around? In 1999, a youngster named Kevin Stephan (born 1989) was acting as bat boy for his brother’s baseball team when he was hit in the chest with a bat by another boy who was warming up. Kevin’s heart stopped beating, but his life was saved by the mother of another boy on the team – a nurse named Penny Brown (born 1973). Seven years later, Brown was having dinner in a restaurant when she began to choke on her food, and who came from the kitchen to give her the Heimlich maneuver and save her life? Kevin Stephan, by then a volunteer firefighter. (They both should get a medal.)

… it was once believed tomatoes had magic powers? In the 16th Century, people in Europe actually believed that eating a tomato would turn a person into a werewolf. (What, you mean it doesn’t?  Darn.  It would have been fun.)

Now … you know!

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