VASELINE
Web Links:
For a list of uses for Vaseline, check out http://www.wackyuses.com/ jelly.html.
Additional Resources:
If you want to learn more about the history of Vaseline (and other related items) check out the great book Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things by Charles Panati (1987, New York: Harper and Row).
Two additional excellent sources are They All Laughed … by Ira Flatow (1993, New York: HarperPerennial, pages 152-55) and Why Didn’t I Think of That? by Allyn Freeman and Bob Golden (1997, New York: John Wiley ��t Sons, pages 78-82).
HEDY LAMARR
Web Links:
There is certainly no shortage of information available when dealing with a person as famous as Hedy Lamarr. The best Web resources are described below for your reference.
George Antheil’s son Chris Beaumont has prepared the most complete site on the patent, which can be found at “Secret Communications System: The Fascinating Story of the Lamarr/Antheil Spread-Spectrum Patent” at http://www.ncafe.com/chris/pat2/index.html.
There is an excellent summary of Hedy Lamarr’s life, career, and invention on the nicely designed Web site “Hommage a Hedy Lamarr,” which can be found at http://www.hedylamarr.at/indexe.html.
Karin Hanta has written an excellent story about Lamarr’s invention for the magazine Austria Kultur. The story “Beauty and the Brains” can be found on the Web at http://www.austriaculture.net/ AustrKult 161.975.html/BeautyBrain.html.
“Did You Know?” at http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/ didyouknow.l.html offers a short history on Lamarr’s invention. The story is a brief summary of the AP article from March 1997.
The “George Antheil Biography” at http://www.schirmer.com/ composers/antheil_bio.html offers a nice summary of his life and key works.
Additional Resources:
Space does not permit the listing of every source used in the preparation of this story. Below are the articles and books that were most helpful. Additional sources can easily be found by searching your local library.
Perhaps the best article on Lamarr’s invention can be found in the Spring 1997 issue of American Heritage of Invention ��t Technology. This cover story is titled “Advanced Weaponry of the Stars” and is written by Hans-Joachim Braun. The story can be found on pages 10-16.
There is an excellent article titled “1 Guess They Just Take and Forget about a Person,” which appears in the May 14, 1990, issue of Forbes magazine (pages 136-38). The story focuses on Ms. Lamarr’s invention and includes a short interview.
The short article “Hedy Lamarr Inventor” appeared in the October 1, 1941, issue of the New York Times (page 24, column 1).
The Chicago Tribune did a nice piece on her invention titled “Brainy Beauty” (March 31, 1997, section 5, page 1, column 2).
The October 9, 1993, issue of the Economist (volume 329, issue 7832, page 92) features a story titled “Spread Thin.” The article describes the link between Ms. Lamarr’s invention and Cincinnati Microwave’s efforts to produce frequency-hopping cordless telephones.
A very interesting article titled “Would You Believe 1 Was a Famous Star? It’s the Truth!” describes the rise and fall of Hedy Lamarr’s career. A photograph of her at age 54 is included. You can find this story in the August 23, 1970, issue of the New York Times (section 2, page 11, column 1).
The October 1, 1937, issue of the New York Times (page 18, column 7) has a short story titled “Actors and Singers Here on Normandie,” which describes the arrival of Hedy Kiesler in the United States and states that her new name will be … you guessed it .. . Hedy Lamarr. This story actually contradicts the blurb in her autobiography of how she got the name.
Of course, this list would be incomplete without the mention of her controversial autobiography, Ecstasy and Me (1966, New York: Bartholemew House). The book is currently out of print but many copies abound. (1 borrowed it from the public library.) The book is easy reading and holds together well for the first two thirds of its 300-plus pages (but makes no mention of her patent). This is a riches to rags tale and would better be titled “How to Blow 30 Million Bucks Without Trying.” There are many mentions of sexual encounters in this book (with both men and women), but names are changed to protect those involved. While not innocent in any sense of the word, the book is fairly mild when compared to what people read today.
Lastly, be sure to check out a copy of her patent, which can be found in many public and university libraries around the world.
THE ZIPPER
Web Links:
A brief biography on Judson can be found in the Inventor of the Week Archives at http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventors]-Q/ judson.html.
About.com offers an excellent overview of the zipper’s history. Includes a scan of the original zipper patent (http://inventors.tqn.com/ science/inventors/library/weekly/aa082497.htm).
Additional Resources:
The best source available is Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty by Robert Friedel (1994, New York: W. W. Norton). This book nicely traces the history of the zipper from its invention, through its perfection, to its modern use.
Be sure to check out pages 8-16 of the Summer 1994 issue of American Heritage of Invention and Technology for a detailed cover story on zippers titled “The History of the Zipper?” also written by Friedel.
NIKOLA TESLA
Web Links:
The Internet is filled with information on Nikola Tesla. Use your favorite search engine to find additional information on the man and his life. Here are a few of my favorites:
“Science Hobbyist” offers a Tesla page at http://www.eskimo.com/ -billb/tesla/tesla.html. Here you will find an excellent listing of links to other Tesla Web pages. A great place to start.
PBS has created an excellent Web site to accompany the TeslaMaster of Lightning documentary (http://www.pbs.org/tesla/).
Nikola Tesla once had a town and coal mine named after him. Dan Mosier, a Tesla historian, has done an excellent job of preparing the history of Tesla, California (http://cmug.com/’.minesroad/Tesla.html).
Additional Resources:
Be sure to read the excellent book Tesla: Man Out of Time by Margaret Cheney (1981, New York: Dell Publishing).
Barnes and Noble in New York published two books by Tesla himself. The first, My Inventions (1982), is a compilation of six articles written by Tesla for the magazine Electrical Experimenter in 1919. The second, The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla (1995), is a reprint of an 1893 book on Tesla’s landmark work and is very technical in nature.
PART 4: HMMM
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Web Links:
Nick Pahys Jr. runs the Presidential Museum in Hartsgrove, Ohio, and is the foremost expert on John Hanson. The museum’s Web site is located at http://www2.suite224.net/-pahysltd/.
“America’s First President-John Hanson” by Harry V. Martin is perhaps the most detailed summary of Hanson’s life on the Internet (http://www.sonic.net/sentinel/usa7.htmi).
Additional Resources:
1 was able to locate three old books on the man at the University of Albany Library:
John Hanson of Mulberry Grove by J. Bruce Kremer (1938, New York: A. ��t C. Boni).
John Hanson and the Inseparable Union; An Authentic Biography of a Revolutionary Leader, Patriot and Statesman by Jacob A. Nelson (1939, Boston: Meador Publishing).
John Hanson, Our First President by Seymour W. Smith (1932, New York: Brewer, Warren ��t Putnam).
EMPEROR NORTON 1
Web Links:
The Net is loaded with stories on Emperor Norton. Here are just a few:
“Emperor Norton” (http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/nort.html) offers a brief timeline of his life plus numerous links and images.
The site “Emperor Norton’s Archives” (http://www.notftisco.com/ nortoniana/) gives a great summary of his various proclamations plus links and additional Emperor Norton stories.
Additional Resources:
William Drury has written a great book on the emperor. It is titled Norton I, Emperor of the United States (1986, New York: Dodd, Mead). At 200-plus pages, this book is very well researched and is a pleasure to read.
The January 10, 1880, issue of the New York Times (page 5, column 2) contains Norton’s obituary. It’s hard to believe that he was so famous that he would command such a large article in a New York newspaper at that time.
Jed Stevenson’s “Coins” article in the December 9, 1990, issue of the New York Times (section 1, page 84, column 1) features a brief overview of Norton’s life plus a discussion of the value of his notes.
A large number of photographs of the emperor can be found in the book The Forgotten Characters of Old San Francisco by Robert Ernest Cowan, Anne Bancroft, and Addie L. Ballou (1964, Los Angeles: Ward Richie Press, originally published in 1938).
The February 1936 issue of Reader’s Digest (volume 28, pages 23-27) features a biography on Emperor Norton. Note: Some of this article’s information seems to differ from all the other sources used in the preparation of this story.
An excellent article titled “The Strange Story of Emperor Norton” by David Warren Ryder appears in the August 11, 1945, issue of the Saturday Evening Post (volume 218, page 35).
Another excellent article, “Emperor Norton I,” by Joan Parker, appears in the December 1976 issue of American Heritage magazine (pages 84-85).
PENNIES FOR COLLEGE
Web Links:
The Urban Legends Archive features a story titled “Cent to College” (http://snopes.com/college/records/cent.htm). This page presents much of the same information described in this story.
Additional Resources:
The original Bob Greene article “Mr. Hayes, Your Penny Is in the Mail” appeared in the September 6, 1987, issue of the Chicago Tribune (section 5, page 1, column 1).
Bob Greene’s follow-up story, “Ask and Ye Shall Receive, Indeed” can be found in the October 4, 1987, issue of the Chicago Tribune (section 5, page 1, column 1).
The October 26, 1987, issue of Jet magazine contains the article “Plea for Pennies Turns Up $14,000 for College Student Attending U. Of Illinois” (volume 73, number 5, page 24).
FU-GO
Web Links:
“Balloon Bomber” describes how a man named Yoshiji Ohsawa helped build the balloons while still a teenager in school. A description of the balloon bombing campaign can also be found here. “Balloon Bomber” is located at http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0298/bomb.htm.
The History House Web site has a two-part story on the Fu-Go project. The first part is titled “The Jet Stream Gets Drafted” and the second is “Balloons 11: The Winds of Fortune” (http://www.historyhouse.com).
Additional Resources:
Without a doubt, the best source available on the Fu-Go project is the book Japan’s World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America by Robert C. Mikesh (1973, Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press). This work is well researched and features a large number of photographs of the balloons, the Japanese launch sites, and the American recoveries.
The journal North Dakota History (vol. 64, no. 1, Winter 1997, pages 21-26) contains an excellent article titled “The Japanese Balloon Bomb Campaign in North Dakota.” This article has some excellent photographs and a detailed map of all the United States sightings. The journal can be ordered from the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
“The Year They Firebombed the West” by John McDowell is an excellent source on this subject. It appears in the May/June 1993 issue of American Forests (pages 22-23).
Another well-researched article titled “The Fu-Go Project” by Carmine A. Prioli was featured in the April/May issue of American Heritage magazine (volume 33, number 3, pages 88-92).
The History Channel occasionally broadcasts two different shows on the Fu-Go campaign. The first-“Secrets of WWII-Japan’s Last Secret Weapon”-is the better of the two. The second-“In Search of History-U.S. Invaded”-devotes only one segment to the Fu-Go program.
BAT BOMBS
Web Links:
Good luck trying to find information on this unusual project on the Internet. Bits and pieces of the story can be found, but little is worth looking at. There is a Dave Barry story from 1990 titled “It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s-Trout” floating around the Net, but it is difficult to locate. This story contains a reprint of a story titled “The Bat Bombers” by C. V. Glines, which had originally appeared in the October 1990 issue of Air Force magazine.
Additional Resources:
The most complete work on this topic is the book Bat Bomb: World War II’s Other Secret Weapon by Jack Couffer (1992, Austin: University of Texas Press). When 1 say complete, 1 mean complete. At nearly 250 pages, this book chronicles the whole project from start to finish as seen through the eyes of the author, who just happened to be one of the members of the team that developed the bombs.
1 first read about this story in an article titled “Bat’s Away!” by Joe Michael Feist, which appeared in the April/May 1982 issue of American Heritage magazine (volume 33, number 3, pages 92-94).
Although short on content, the article “incendiary Bats” from the February 16, 1948, issue of Life magazine (volume 24, number 7, pages 45-48) features five excellent photographs from the project.
PART 5: INCREDIBLE STORIES OF SURVIVAL
THE TITANIC
Web Links:
The transcript of the NOVA episode “Titanic’s Lost Sister” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2402titanic.html) describes the search for the Britannic. An interview with a survivor of the lifeboat tragedy is documented, along with a description of Violet Jessop’s ordeal.
Use your favorite search engine to find out general information on the Titanic (there is no shortage of Web sites), Olympic, and Britannic.
Additional Resources:
if you would like more information on this story, then the best source is from Violet herself. Check out the book Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Jessop Who Survived both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters by Violet Jessop and edited by John Maxtone-Graham (1997, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Sheridan House). This manuscript was written in 1934 and documents both disasters. Note that this is an autobiography, so only a third of the book is devoted to the disasters. If you are looking for details from an actual survivor, this is the place to look.
POON L1M
Web Links:
Sorry, but no detailed information about Poon Lim could be located on the Web.
Additional Resources:
Ruthanne Lum McCann has written an entire book on Poon Lim’s ordeal titled Sole Survivor (1985, various publishers). The author considers this book to be a fictional re-creation, although the actual events have not been changed.
The great article “Chinese Will Get High British Honor” can be found on page 6 of the Saturday, July 17, 1943, issue of the New York Times.
A second New York Times article “132-Day Drift Described” can be found in the Tuesday, May 25, 1943, issue on page 12.
The initial report of his rescue, announced by the British Parliament, can be found in a three-paragraph article titled “Alone on a Raft for 130 Days” on page 4 of the Monday, April 19, 1943, issue of The Times (London).
MOUNT PELEE
Web Links:
Several nice photographs of the eruption can be seen at http:// volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_mt_pelee.html.
The United States Geological Survey has put together the short summary “1902 Eruption of Mont Pelee, West Indies” at http:// vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Westlndies/Pelee/description_1902_ eruption.html.
Additional Resources:
The most complete summary o
f the eruption can be found in the book The Day the World Ended by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts (1969, New York: Stein and Day). At nearly 300 pages, this work thoroughly examines all of the events that took place leading up to the deadly eruption.
1 first came across this story in the book Volcanoes by Peter Francis (1976, New York: Penguin Books, pages 81-93).
Volcanoes of the Earth by Fred M. Bullard (1984, Austin: University of Texas Press, pages 119-34) offers an excellent historical review of eruption.
A. L. Koster, the first man to photograph the disaster, describes his experience in the article “City of the Dead,” which appeared in the October 1956 issue of Natural History magazine (pages 412-15). This article includes ten photographs, including one of Ciparis, although the author is one of the few to claim that the prisoner never had a death sentence.
The August 1961 issue of American Heritage magazine contains the excellent story “Prelude to Doomsday” by Lately Thomas. It includes the same picture of Ciparis as the Natural History article above, except that the caption gives his name as Ludger Sylbaris. (He is referred to as Raoul Sarteret in a few other other works.)
Earthquakes and Volcanoes by John Gribbin (1978, New York: Bison Books) contains lots of great photos of the volcano’s aftermath.
For some fascinating reports on the story, check out the many articles that appeared in the New York Times starting on May 9, 1902, and running for several weeks after.
PART 6: UNBELIEVABLE!
GADSBY
Web Links:
A good summary of Wright’s efforts and other similar works can be found on the page titled “Reduced English” (http://www.lhup.edu/ ‘dsimanek/eprime.htm).
Additional Resources:
Basically, the only place to start researching this topic is by getting your hands on the actual book Gadsby: A Story of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter “E” by Ernest Vincent Wright (1939, Los Angeles: Wetzel Publishing). This is a tough book to find and is highly valued among book collectors. 1 was able to locate a copy in an out-of-state library through an interlibrary loan. 1 was put on a waiting list for several months before actually receiving it.
Einstein's Refrigerator: And Other Stories from the Flip Side of History Page 15
