A short summary can be found in the book The People’s Almanac #2 by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace (1978, New York: William Morrow, page 1230).
A three-paragraph story on this book can be found in the article titled “Letter `E’ Is Not Used in 50,110 Word Novel” which appeared in the March 24, 1937, issue of the New York Times (page 27, column 3).
A nice description of Wright’s novel can be found on page 219 of the book Reader’s Digest Facts and Fallacies (1988, Pleasantville, N.Y.: The Reader’s Digest Association).
NIAGARA FALLS-PART 1. PART 2
Web Links:
Can’t visit the falls? Then check out the live pictures on the “Niagara FallsCam Picture Page” at http://www.fallsview.com/ English pagesfallscam.shtm].
Be sure to check out December 3, 1997, Cool Fact of the Day at http://features.learningkingdom.com/fact/archive/ 1997/ 12/03.html for more on this story.
Additional Resources:
Where did 1 get this story? Check out the book Geology of our Romantic Niagara by A. H. Tiplin (1988, Niagara Falls, Canada: The Niagara Falls Heritage Foundation, pages 149-50).
Another source is the book Niagara: A History of the Falls by Pierre Berton. Starting on page 56, there is a great summary of the bridge/kite story, which includes a discussion of the falls running dry (1992, New York: Kodansha America).
A brief summary of this can be found in the book Water Over the Falls: 101 of the Most Memorable Events at Niagara Falls by Paul Gromosiak (1996, Western New York Wares). Oddly, this strange event is considered to be the fiftieth most memorable event and can be found on pages 41-42. Personally,1 would think that it should be number one. But then, 1 didn’t write the book.
A special thanks to the librarians at the Buffalo Public Library who helped me locate two great articles on this subject. The first is titled “Remarkable Phenomenon” and appears in the March 31, 1848, issue of the Buffalo Morning Express (volume 3, number 683, page 2, column 3). The second is “Wonderful Fall of Water,” which can be found in the April 5, 1848, issue of the Buffalo Daily Courier (volume 14, number 81, page 3, column 1).
THE AL-KUWAIT
Web Links:
A brief summary of this story can be found on the Timelab 2000 Web site (http://www.smash.com/seg/timelab/stories/099donald.html). Perhaps you have seen the accompanying television segment: “Donald Duck Saves the Day” on the History Channel? The segment is only about one minute long, but does feature actual footage from the event.
Additional Resources:
The best summary of this event can be found in the book The 20th Century by David Wallechinsky (1995, New York: Little, Brown, page 585).
Check out the article “Transport News: Plan by Harlee” in the New York Times (March 8, 1965, page 58, column 1). Several paragraphs on this topic can be found here, although Donald Duck is never mentioned.
A brief article titled “Plastic Bubbles Help Refloat Capsized Ship” appears in the April 1965 issue of Popular Science magazine (pages 118-19). Two frames of the actual Donald Duck comic and four photographs of the actual salvage operation are presented.
THE BABY DERBY
Web Links:
An excellent detailed summary of the whole derby can be found on the Urban Legends Reference Pages at http://www.snopes.com/ pregnant/babyrace.htm.
Additional Resources:
The most complete reference available on this topic is the book The Great Stork Derby by Mark M. Orkin (1981, Don Mills, Ont.: General Publishing). This 300-plus page book is filled with information on Millar, the contestants, and the endless court cases.
Check out Panati’s Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody by Charles Panati (1989, New York: Harper and Row). This story is included in both the text version and on the audiocassette.
The October 20, 1934, issue of Newsweek features an excellent article titled “Baby Race: Toronto Mothers Compete for $500,000 Prize,” which details this strange competition. Three photographs are included. The article can be found on page 21.
A second Newsweek article, “Canada: $500,000 Practical Joke Breeds a Baby Marathon,” appeared in the October 31, 1936, issue on pages 16-17. Several paragraphs from Millar’s will are quoted here. In addition, the lives of each of the winners is described in detail.
Over twenty articles were printed in the New York Times during the final years of this competition. Only the most significant are listed below:
The September 8, 1935, article “$500,000 Carried by Toronto Stork” appears in section 2 (page 1, column 2). This provides a nice summary of Millar’s will and the baby race.
On February 13, 1938 (section 2, page 2, column 2), an article titled “Four Mothers of Nine Win Shares in $500,000 Stork Derby Cash” details the winners of the race. The article also describes the two other women who were disqualified.
“Stork Derby Prize Awarded 4 Women” appeared in the March 20, 1938, New York Times on page 20, column 3. This article presents the final outcome of the contest after all the legal challenges were resolved.
Table of Contents
niaoara falls-part 2
INTRODUCTION
part 1: you’ue got to be kidding! .
He really was a chicken running around with his head cut off
You can really earn a living releasing foul-smelling gas!
But where was Langley?
Possibly history’s most bizarre murder scheme
The feathers will be flying!
Up, up, and away in my beautiful lawn chair
part 2: oops!
History’s stickiest disaster
Watch out for the Leaning Tower of Citibank
And away goes the lake down the drain!
Don’t wish for too much of a good thing
part 3: inuentiue genius
What’s the scoop?
He really did design modern iceboxes
Whatchamacallit?
It was one big secret
It’s yummy for your tummy!
Not exactly your typical nerdy inventor with a pocket protector
Hey! Your fly is open!
He makes Thomas Edison look like a dummy
part 4: hmmm
He was really the ninth president of the United States!
The U.S.A:s first and only emperor
A college education for just pennies
The strangest weapon of World War 11
The other top-secret weapon
part 5: incredible stories of survival .
The curse of Violet Jessop
How did he manage to survive?
How an election killed the entire electorate
part 6: unbelievable!
An E-less novel
The day the falls actually went dry
An unusual contest
How Donald Duck helped save the day
How many babies can a woman have in ten years?
REFERENCES
Einstein's Refrigerator: And Other Stories from the Flip Side of History Page 16
