Why did one member of the Apollo 11 crew have a real fear about returning to Earth?

I’m sitting here totally stunned.

As many of you know, I am a regular denizen of the Georgia Renaissance Festival, and go several times a year. I have some very good friends there, and on August 6, I – and the performing arts world – lost one of them.

Elyse Weasley-Freer, better known as Nutmeg the Washing Well Wench, passed away suddenly. I’m heartbroken, because Elyse was a fantastic performer, a great entertainer, and a friend – not only of me, but of the trivia column.

The Renaissance Festival will be a much lesser place in the future without Nutmeg, and I am saddened beyond words at her loss.

This week’s column is dedicated to you, Elyse. Thank you for all of the laughter.

Did you know …

… one of the first restaurants to offer a children’s menu did so in order to recoup losses from Prohibition? The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York began to offer a special menu for the little ones in 1921. The kid-friendly menu offered items like broiled lamb chops and flaked chicken over rice. The whole idea was to help make up losses the hotel suffered once Prohibition went into effect in 1919. (Somehow, the idea of making money off kids to replace money made from booze bothers me.)

… only two countries in the world use purple in their national flags? Those two countries are Nicaragua and Dominica. Nicaragua’s flag has a rainbow including purple in its coat of arms, while Dominica’s flag features a parrot with purple feathers. (And purple is such a nice color, too!)

… every gallon of sea water contains about a quarter-pound of salt? (And about a gallon of water, too!)

… the first winner of the Tour de France bicycle race ended up being disqualified from the next one? Maurice Garin (1871-1957) won the initial Tour de France bicycle race, which ran a course of 1,509 miles over a three week period, in 1903. The following year, Garin was set to defend his title, and in fact he won – but was later disqualified when it turned out that he had cheated by taking the train for part of the race. Garin used his winnings from the first race to purchase a gasoline station, which he ran for the rest of his life. (So he went from pedaling a bike to peddling gas?)

… one member of the Apollo 11 crew had a real fear of coming back? Michael Collins (1930-2021), who served as Command Module Columbia pilot on the first manned lunar landing mission in 1969, remained in orbit of the Moon while the Lunar Module Eagle descended to the lunar surface, where Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (born 1930) would take the first steps. But Collins had a secret fear while orbiting alone – that he would be returning to Earth all by himself. Had anything happened to prevent Eagle from taking off from the Moon’s surface, no rescue was possible, and Collins would have had to make the 240,000-mile journey back to Earth all by himself. In interviews later, Collins admitted it might have been better for him not to have had that option.

… horses can actually smell fear? The sense of smell in horses is very acute, and it allows the horse to detect nervousness or even fear in a person who is trying to handle the animal. For that reason, some old-time horsemen would smear an aromatic fluid on their hands when dealing with a difficult horse. Horses also become nervous at the smell of blood. (Well, so do I.)

… only a quarter of Americans can state two or more of the five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution? In case you were wondering, they are: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. That’s the good news. The bad news is, more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family in The Simpsons. (A matter of priorities, I would guess.)

… nightly screaming is a ritual at a school in Sweden? In one of the dormitory neighborhoods in Flogsta, Sweden, people throw open their windows at 10:00 and scream for a few minutes. Why? Nobody knows. Locals say it began as a stress relief during exams, and then it became a daily occurrence. (Screaming to relieve stress? I have to try that some time.)

… London’s famous Tower Clock is not called Big Ben? The actual “Big Ben” is the bell in the clock tower. The Tower Clock itself was unofficially called St. Stephen’s Tower until 2012, when the name was changed to Elizabeth Tower to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022).

… the Empire State Building in New York City has its own zip code? Though located in Manhattan’s 10001 zone, the building itself has the zip code of 10118. It received the special designation from the Post Office in 1980. (And well deserved, I say.)

… two popular films of the 1980s were born in a completely different film concept? Steven Spielberg (born 1946) wrote a movie concept in the late 1970s that he called Night Skies. It was intended to be a sequel to his 1977 hit, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but it was never made, as Spielberg reportedly lost interest in the idea of a sequel. The treatment did, however, lead Spielberg to create two very popular films – E.T. the Extraterrestrial in 1982, and Poltergeist, also in 1982. Both films contain elements from the prospective sequel treatment. (The best laid plans of mice and men …)

Now … you know!

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