This week, Tidbits has “s’more” than enough facts about one of our favorite treats – the marshmallow! • Did you know that marshmallows grow on trees? Well, sort of, anyway. There really is a marshmallow plant found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It’s a beautiful flowering plant that’s covered in white flowers, but it’s the roots and sap that provide the real benefit. For centuries, dating back to Ancient Egypt and Greece, people used these parts of the marshmallow plant for its therapeutic properties — to heal wounds, to soothe throat inflammation, and relieve coughs. The sap […]
Random Tidbits
THE HINDENBURG
It was floating over Manhattan just minutes before it burst into flames and crashed to the ground. This week, Tidbits focuses on the Hindenburg, the massive airship that met a fiery end 87 years ago this week. • Construction began on the Hindenburg in 1931 by the German-based Zeppelin Company. Some of the airship’s parts were salvaged from a British airship that had crashed in October, 1930. • The airship was named for the late Paul von Hindenburg, who had been Germany’s president from 1925 to 1934. The Nazis had wanted to name the ship after Hitler, but […]
Cops & Donuts
• The New York Times once said, “No profession is as closely identified with food as police work is with doughnuts.” The correlation between doughnuts and cops began long ago. What started as a simple convenience grew into a symbiotic relationship. Here’s the story of how that happened. • Often, police are on duty overnight while most citizens are asleep and nearly all businesses are closed. Nighttime food options were limited in the days before gas station convenience stores became common. All-night restaurants and fast food joints such as Denny’s, IHOP, McDonalds, and Taco Bell were not yet on the […]
Presidential Pets
• Thirty-sixth U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson came under fire in 1964 for his treatment of his pair of beagles, Him and Her. When LBJ was photographed lifting Him up by his ears, the Humane Society of Texas publicly denounced Johnson, calling for an apology. The President issued a statement, defending Him’s yelps as “a sound of joy.” Her died later that year after swallowing a rock, and Him perished two years later after being hit by an executive chauffeur. • As First Daughter Chelsea Clinton left her piano lesson in 1991, a cat leaped into her arms, […]
Asbestos
• Asbestos was once known as the “miracle mineral.” It’s a type of silicate composed of hair-like fibers. It can be woven into cloth or mixed with other substances to strengthen them and imbue fireproof properties. • Asbestos is not only flame-resistant but also resistant to chemicals. Flexible fibers make it easy to work with, and its insulating properties are unsurpassed. When twisted into a wick, the wax burns but leaves the wick untouched. This led to its name, as “asbestos” comes from the Greek word meaning “inextinguishable.” • The first use of asbestos dates back 4,500 years, when potters […]
Teflon
Every cook loves non-stick cookware! This week, in commemoration National Teflon Day on April 6, Tidbits offers the history of this breakthrough material, considered the most slippery material in existence. • In 1938, 27-year-old research chemist Roy Plunkett was working at the DuPont research laboratory in Edison, New Jersey. Plunkett had been assigned with the task of developing an alternative to existing fluorocarbon-based refrigerants, working with gases related to the Freon refrigerant. He and his assistant had produced 100 lbs. of tetrafluoroethylene during their experiments, and needed a way to store it. The TFE was placed in small cylinders and […]
The First Waterpark
• Bob Byers and his wife Dolores bought 320 acres of desert land in California’s Mojave Desert in 1953. The land was barely suitable for cattle ranching and alfalfa farming. Bob Byers drew water from the underground aquifer for his cattle and crops. • Byers lost 50 acres of their property when I-15 was completed, connecting Los Angeles to Las Vegas and bringing much traffic. Then, in 1963, cattle prices bottomed out. • Bob Byers created an artificial lake from springs in the area, so his family members could swim. Then he wondered if he could make a little money […]
Great Wall of China
Travel with Tidbits to China this week as we explore the longest man-made structure in the world. • In the Chinese language, the term for the Wall, “Wanli Changcheng,” literally translates “The Long Wall of 10,000 Miles.” • Construction began in 770 B.C. for border defense and continued for hundreds of years, with the last construction taking place in 1878 during the Qing Dynasty. Although more than 20 Chinese dynasties worked on the construction between the 7th century B.C. and the 19th century, the best-known sections were built during the Ming Dynasty, between 1368 and 1644, a […]
World’s first central air
• Charles Gilbert Gates had two main claims to fame. First, he was the son of oil tycoon and shipping magnate John Warne Gates; second, he built the world’s first residence that boasted central air conditioning. He died before he ever got to flip the air conditioning “ON.” • To tell the story of Charles Gates and his air-conditioned mansion, let’s start with the source of his money: his father, John Gates. • John Gates started his rise to riches as a salesman for a company that sold newly-invented barbed wire. He thought the cattle ranches of Texas would offer […]
LEGOS
This week, Tidbits stacks up the facts on the favorite creative toy of millions, Lego bricks. • In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen was the 41-year-old owner of a woodworking shop in Denmark, a carpenter specializing in furniture making. That year, because his furniture business was in a slump, Christiansen made the decision to expand into the production of wooden toys, including pull-along animals, yo-yos, and trucks. It wasn’t enough to keep him from bankruptcy, but a bail-out loan from his siblings allowed him to keep the company afloat. • Christiansen chose to focus strictly on toys, and in […]