What did their respective TV series get wrong about Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson?

Two very important things happen this week – one for everyone, and one primarily for me.

For everyone, this week is the official start of autumn. The fall of the year begins on Wednesday, September 22. On that day, the hours of daylight and darkness become equal, and from then until winter, the nights will get longer and the days shorter.

For me, another trip around the sun will be celebrated on Sunday, September 26. It will be my 63rd birthday.

To quote my sister, if I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

But enough about all this. Let’s get to the really important stuff – the trivia!

Did you know …

… a world-record flight for number of passengers actually landed with two more people aboard than when it took off? On May 24, 1991, an El Al Airlines Boeing 747 took off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 1,086 people aboard. The flight was part of Operation Solomon, an evacuation of Jews from the country. When the plane landed in Jerusalem, however, it had 1,088 people aboard. During the flight, two babies had been born. The aircraft’s seats had been removed before the flight to allow as many people to fly as possible, the airline said. The total number of passengers is recognized by the “Guinness Book of World Records” as the most passengers aboard one aircraft. (A record setter any way you look at it!)

… a type of sunglasses were originally designed for court officials? In the 12th Century in China, judges in court cases wore eyeglasses of smoky quartz in an effort to mask their emotions when questioning witnesses. Jury members also wore the glasses. These were not what we would call sunglasses today, as they provided no protection from the sun. (Of course, their sinister smiles did tend to give everything away when the ruling was going against the defendant.)

… a town in Utah has a very creative name? In the center of the state, you’ll find the town of Levan. The name is the word “navel” spelled backward. (Tell me they grow navel oranges there and you win the Pun Award of the Month.)

… chickens can suffer from depression? (How would you tell?)

… you will find more barrels of bourbon than people in Kentucky? And I don’t mean some triflingly small number, either. According to the Kentucky Distillers Association, the Commonwealth has two barrels of bourbon for every person. Talk about your two-for-one specials! I’ll drink to that.)

… about 2/3 of the people in the United States don’t check their credit reports? (Why look at something when I already know what it says?)

… you may be suffering from aichmophobia? It’s the fear of sharp objects such as needles, knives, etc. I’m only afraid of them when they’re pointed at me.)

… television was not kind to two famous Western lawmen? During their actual lifetimes, Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) and Bat Masterson (1853-1921) were best friends. However, when their stories were told in highly-fictionalized television series in the 1950s, each man was very much left out of the others’ stories. In the series, “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,” which ran from 1955 to 1961 and starred Hugh O’Brian (1925-2016), the character of Masterson was seen in only 34 of the show’s 229 episodes, and was portrayed more as a “young fan” of Earp than as his best friend. But in the series, “Bat Masterson,” which ran from 1958 to 1961 and starred Gene Barry (1919-2009), Wyatt Earp only appears in one of the program’s 108 episodes, and is mentioned in only one other. Neither O’Brian nor Barry played their roles on the other’s show. Additional trivia note: The actors who played both men were born while the Western heroes they would later portray were still alive.

… a very common name among Greek people makes Russian people laugh? The name Panos is popular in Greece, but if a Russian hears it, he’ll chuckle. Panos is also the Russian word for “diarrhea.” (Heck, in Greek “Panos” means “all holy.” You do the math.)

… the Chinese ideogram for the word “trouble” depicts two women living under one roof? (Make of that what you will.)

… flying fish don’t really fly? They glide. In fact, flying fish can glide up to 1,300 feet, and can reach an altitude of 20 feet above the water. They can travel in the water at speeds up to 43 miles per hour. (Whatever you call it, seeing a fish flying above the water is still disconcerting.)

… the first professional football team to sport insignia on their helmets was the Los Angeles Rams? In 1948, the Rams took the field with their now-iconic yellow horns painted on the blue leather helmets by halfback Fred Gehrke (1918-2002), all on his own initiative. (An idea whose time had obviously come.)

… you cannot kiss or lick your own elbows? (You just tried, didn’t you?)

… about 40% of people who are rejected in romantic love slip into a clinical depression? (Well, duh!)

… the Disney organization was sued over its portrayal of an animal in a movie? To prepare for the classic Disney movie, “The Lion King,” animators consulted with hyena biologists to visit their facilities to sketch real hyenas. The biologists requested that the hyenas depicted in the film be portrayed in a positive light, but the movie turned them into senseless, villainous creatures. Some researchers boycotted the film for that reason, but one researcher was so upset by the way the hyenas were portrayed that he sued the Disney organization for defamation of character. (The hyenas, on the other hand, just laughed the whole thing off.)

… butterflies taste with their feet? (And they smell with their … uh … never mind.)

Now … you know!

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