Tommy Contest Page 5
of the River Region
June 18, 2019 Published by PTK Corp.
The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read® To place an Ad, call: (334) 452-9296 TIDBITS® TAKES A
BATH by Janet Spencer Come along with Tidbits as we take a bath! BATHS THROUGH HISTORY • The oldest bathtub ever discovered was made from fired clay found in the Bronze Age ruins of the palace of Knossos on Crete. It dates to 1500 B.C. It sat next to one of the oldest water-flushed toilets ever found. The tub was filled and emptied by hand, having no drain. • The Romans developed bathing as a central social habit around 300 B.C. By 500 A.D., Rome had around 900 public baths. • The baths of Caracalla in Rome, built in 212 A.D., held 1,600 bathers at a time and covered 33 acres. The complex included hot, cold, and warm baths, as well as steam rooms, shops, and a library. They remained in use until an army severed the water supply in 537 A.D. • When the Black Plague wiped out much of Europe’s population in the mid-1300s, bathing fell out of favor because people believed that bathing helped spread the disease. • Franklin Pierce, the 14th U.S. President (18531857), was the first to have a tub installed in the White House. • William Howard Taft was the heaviest U.S. president at 332 pounds. Early in his administration he became stuck in the White House bathtub, and subsequently had a larger one installed. • Around the year 250 B.C. in ancient Syracuse, King Hiero wanted to have his old gold crown melted and made into a new crown. However, he feared the jeweler would cut the pure gold with less expensive silver. The crown would still look the (Continued next page)
Vol 8 Issue 25 shannon@riverregiontidbits.com
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Tidbits® of the River Region (Front page continued)
1. Is the book of Leviticus in the Old or New Testament or neither? 2. From John 3, what does Jesus say that everyone practicing evil hates? The light, Truth, The Lord, Believers 3. Who found an Ethiopian eunuch sitting in a chariot reading the words of Esaias (Isaiah)? Ahaz, Philip, Jotham, Uzziah 4. From Joshua 2, where did Rahab hide Israelite spies? Under table, In cave, On roof, With oxen 5. What did Jesus send into a herd of swine? Unclean spirits, Justice, Breath of life, Mighty wind 6. Who was the father of Solomon? Nathan, Uriah, Judas, David Visit Wilson Casey’s new Trivia Fan Site at www.patreon.com/triviaguy. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
same, but the jeweler would be stealing the royal gold. Hiero asked Greek scientist Archimedes for help. • Archimedes pondered the question. Then he decided to take a bath. As he got into the overfilled tub, some water splashed on the floor. That’s when he realized that a body immersed in fluid loses weight equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces— an important law of physics. He knew that by weighing the amount of water displaced by the crown both before and after it was re-worked, he could tell if the gold had been adulterated. He became so excited that he allegedly rushed naked into the streets of Syracuse, Sicily, shouting “Eureka!” which means “I have found it!” The crown was weighed, the jeweler did indeed steal some gold— and he paid for it with his life. • On December 28, 1917, H.L. Mencken published a fictitious history of the bathtub in the “New York Evening Mail.” The story told all about how the tub was unknown in America until 1842 when a Cincinnati grain dealer brought one back from Europe. However, doctors said that bathing was a health hazard and legislators passed laws against it. The bathtub did not gain acceptance until Pres. Millard Fillmore supposedly ordered one installed in the White House. • For years, Mencken watched in awe as his totally fabricated story about bathtubs became part of accepted American history. In 1926, he revealed the story to be a hoax which he published only to lighten things up during the war. People refused to believe the truth, and his history of bathtubs even appeared in the “Dictionary of American History” written in 1970. • Eccentric artist Salvador Dali was invited by a store on 5th Avenue in New York City to design their window display. Dali’s subsequent creation was titled “Night and Day” and featured many unusual pieces. A bed covered with black sheets stood for night; the canopy over the bed was a buffalo with a bloody pigeon in its mouth; and a mannequin lay on the bed covered in cobwebs with its head propped up on fake burning coals. Day was represented by an ermine-lined bathtub filled with water. A mannequin in a gorgeous ballgown was stepping into the tub while looking into a mirror held by two arms sprouting from the floor. Dali set up this whole display, then left for the night. But while he was gone, an employee who thought the display could be improved upon changed the whole set around. The bed was removed, the decor changed, and the mannequin repositioned. Dali was furious. He stormed into the store and in protest tried to overturn the tub of water. But he slipped and both he and the bathtub crashed through the plate glass window, landing on the sidewalk. Dali was arrested but given a suspended sentence. He got front page coverage for weeks. TRUE TUB FACTS • Edmond Rostand was a French writer who hated to be interrupted while he was working, but he did not like to turn his friends away because he was writing. So he spent much of his time writing while in the bathtub— and turned away his friends because he was taking a bath. In 1898 he published “Cyrano de Bergerac.” • When the script called for actress Claudette Colbert to take a bath in 400 gallons of milk in the 1932 film “The Sign of the Cross,” she agreed to do the scene. Unfortunately the scene took a week (Continued next page)
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to complete and by the end of the week, the 400 gallons of milk had gone sour. • A friend gave writer Dorothy Parker a small alligator. She put it into the bathtub until she could figure out what to do with it, then left for an appointment. When she returned, she found this note from the maid: “I have resigned. I refuse to work in a house where there is an alligator in the bathtub. I would have told you this before, but I did not think the matter would ever come up.” • During the bombing of London in World War II, a young lady was taking a bath when her home was hit by a bomb. The bathtub was thrown in the air and came down upside-down with the girl underneath it. The tub sheltered her from the collapsing rubble. Rescuers were very surprised to find a naked girl unharmed under the bathtub. • Mark Twain often told folks that he was one of a set of identical twins. No one could tell them apart because they were so similar. One day in the bathtub one of the twins drowned, but no one ever knew which twin it was. Twain would continue, “That was the tragedy. Everyone thought I was the one that lived, but I wasn’t. It was my brother who lived. I was the one that was drowned!” • After the movie “Psycho” was released, a man wrote to Alfred Hitchcock and complained that because she had seen the film, his wife refused to bathe or shower. He wanted suggestions as to what he could do. Hitchcock replied, “Sir, have you ever considered sending your wife to the dry cleaner?” • The 1929 German comic opera “Neues vam Tage” (“News of the Day”) by Paul Hindemith included a scene in which a lady sang an aria sitting (apparently) naked in a bathtub, surrounded by cotton soap suds. This scene proved so offensive that chancellor Adolf Hitler left the theater in disgust, while other members of his party referred to the work as an example of “degenerate art” and to its creator as a “cultural bolshevik.”
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Tidbits® of the River Region
REMARKABLE PEOPLE:
ELMER McCURDY • Elmer McCurdy was born in Maine in 1880. As a young adult, he travelled the country picking up odd jobs, working mostly in mining and plumbing. • In 1911, McCurdy decided to rob a train in Oklahoma after hearing that it was carrying a safe containing $4,000. He and two buddies successfully stopped the train and found the safe. Because McCurdy had worked in mining, he had access to nitroglycerin and he used it to blow open the safe. However, he miscalculated the amount needed and ended up destroying not only the safe but also all the paper money inside it. The three men made off with about $450 in silver coins which were largely fused together in the blast. • Next McCurdy and his gang decided to rob a bank in Kansas by tunneling into a wall at night and placing a nitroglycerin charge next to the vault. Once again the blast was badly bungled, destroying the interior of the bank but failing to blow open the vault. The team made off with some loose change before escaping. Undeterred, the three men decided to rob another Oklahoma train carrying a $400,000 payment destined for the Osage Indian Nation. Unfortunately they accidently held up the wrong train, stopping a passenger train by mistake. They made off with $46 robbed from the passengers and some whisky. They retreated to a nearby ranch to hide out and consume the whiskey. • By now there was a price on McCurdy’s head, with a $2000 reward offered for his capture. The local sheriff and his posse tracked McCurdy to the ranch and surrounded it. McCurdy was so drunk that he was unable to put up much of a fight, and died with a single bullet wound to his chest. He was 30 years old when he died in 1911. • McCurdy’s body was taken to the Johnson Funeral Home, where Joseph Johnson (Continued next page)
Outstanding Warrants:
Joseph, Shtiegra DOB: 03/13/1991 Black/Female 5’3” 155 lbs Hair: Black Eyes: Brown
Wanted for: Theft By Fraudulent Leasing
by Samantha Weaver * It was noted 20th-century American playwright Arthur Miller who made the following sage observation: “Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.” * When creating its cocoon, the silkworm spins a continuous thread more than a thousand yards long, or 12,000 times the length of its own body. To accomplish a comparable feat, a 6-foot-tall man would have to spin a thread that stretched unbroken for 15 miles. * You may be surprised to learn that the onion is actually a lily, botanically speaking. * In 2016, Michigan State University received a delivery of inedible mayonnaise -- the mayo had been frozen and thawed during transit, spoiling all 10,000 pounds of the condiment. Instead of just throwing it out, MSU decided to put the bad mayo to good use. The campus already had an anaerobic digester -- a device that decomposes organic waste and converts it to methane -- so they poured in all 500 2.5-gallon tubs. * Guinness, that notoriously dark and bitter brew, contains fewer calories that skim milk or orange juice. Stout for breakfast, anyone? * If someone were to ask you to name the sunniest spot on Earth, you might be tempted to answer “the Sahara Desert” or some other such exotic place. You would be wrong, though; that distinction belongs to a town right here in America. Out of the possible 4,456 daylight hours each year, the sun shines for an average of 4,050 in Yuma, Arizona. That means that there’s cloud cover or rain for only about 10 percent of the time there. *** Thought for the Day: “Whatever a man prays for, he prays for a miracle. Every prayer reduces itself to this: Great God, grant that twice two be not four.” -- Ivan Turgenev (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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embalmed him using arsenic, a preservative used whenever it was likely that it would take a long time for a body to be buried. Johnson was unwilling to undertake the extra cost of burying the body so he waited for someone to claim the corpse. No one ever did. To recoup the cost of the embalming, he propped McCurdy up in a coffin in the back room, and then charged 25 cents admission to see “The Bandit Who Wouldn’t Give Up.” • Five years later, two men showed up at Johnson’s funeral parlor, claiming that they were McCurdy’s brothers. They took the corpse with them, promising a proper burial for their long-lost brother. However, they weren’t actually McCurdy’s brothers at all. They ran a carnival and were looking for a good side-show attraction. McCurdy’s corpse travelled with this carnival until 1922, when the carnival was sold to a new owner. • McCurdy’s body then spent the next six years traveling among a display of wax replicas of famous outlaws. Next it was passed around various other attractions. It appeared as a prop in a movie; it was part of a wax museum display; it was shown in an amusement park; and then it appeared in a funhouse attraction. • In 1976, the production crew of the TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man” was filming scenes for an episode called “Carnival of Spies” inside the funhouse when a production assistant moved what he thought was a wax mannequin out of the way. The mannequin’s arm broke off, exposing human bones. Police were called. Detectives worked hard to identify the remains, now thoroughly mummified. Once his history had been traced, McCurdy was buried properly in Guthrie, Oklahoma, under two feet of concrete to ensure his wandering days were done, some 66 years after his death.
By Chris Richcreek
1. Name the last Cy Young Award winner to also be on a World Series-winning team in the same year. 2. Who was the first Texas Ranger to win the A.L. MVP Award? 3. When was the last time before 2017 that the University of Georgia’s football team won an SEC championship? 4. Who was the last player before New Orleans’ Anthony Davis in 2016 to start a season with back-to-back games of 40 or more points? 5. Name the center in the Buffalo Sabres’ famed “French Connection” line of the 1970s. 6. Chevrolet drivers have won seven consecutive poles at NASCAR’s Daytona 500. Who was the first of the seven to do it? 7. How many pro bouts did Hall of Fame boxer Sugar Ray Leonard win before suffering his first defeat? (c) 2019 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Tara White Please call 334-452-9296 within 7 days of this issue to claim your prize!
Tommy Count ______ This week’s winner receives a
$25 Dollar Gift Certificate from
Farmers Market Cafe Register to win by sending an email to entertommycontest@gmail.com or USPS to PTK Corp., PO Box 264, Wetumpka, AL 36092 with the following information: 1) Your name (first and last), and, 2) the number of times you find Tommy in the ads in the paper. From the correct entries a winner will be selected. You must be 18 years of age to qualify. The gift certificates will range in value from $25 to $100 each week. Entries must be received by midnight each Friday evening. Last Week’s Ads where 1. Zap Pest Control, p.4
Tommy was hiding:
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TidbitsÂŽ of the River Region
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THE ICE BALLOON
BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS:
1) Old; 2) The light; 3) Philip; 4) On roof; 5) Unclean spirits; 6) David
1. Randy Johnson, with Arizona in 2001. 2. Outfielder Jeff Burroughs, in 1974. 3. It was 2005. 4. Michael Jordan did it in 1986. 5. Gilbert Perreault. 6. Danica Patrick, in 2013. 7. He had 27 pro victories.
• In 1897, Sweden was falling far behind in the race to explore the North Pole. A man named S. A. Andrée set out to remedy that. Andrée worked as an engineer in Sweden’s patent office and had developed an interest in hydrogen balloons. He proposed that he head up an official expedition to fly over the North Pole in a hydrogen balloon, mapping and photographing the route, before landing in Russia or Canada. Enthusiasm for the project ran high and the government pledged support and funding. He chose as his travel companions a meteorological researcher, and a physics and chemistry student who was also a photographer. None of the three team members had any training for surviving in extreme conditions. • One of the main problems presented was how to steer a balloon. Andrée devised a series of ropes that would drag on the pack ice, supposedly providing a rudimentary rudder. He failed to do much testing of this theory. A second issue was ensuring that the hydrogen would not escape from the balloon, because there was no way to replenish it once the balloon was launched. Andrée pointed at balloons constructed in Europe that had held their hydrogen for up to a year without deflating, but no hydrogen balloon had ever been tested in Arctic conditions before. • Andrée ordered a specially constructed balloon, built to be able to carry a crew of three plus three tons of supplies, and designed to stay aloft for up to 30 days. The balloon was named “Örnen” meaning “Eagle.” • When it was delivered, it was found to be leakier than expected, with hydrogen escaping through over 8 million stitching holes used to join the fabric together. There was no effective way of sealing holes or seams that would endure freezing temperatures. Andrée, now pressured by huge media attention, ignored the warning signs. • Amid fanfare, the Eagle was launched on July 11, 1897, and encountered problems immediately. The overloaded balloon nearly crashed into the sea. When the drag ropes caught on the ice, they were ripped from their moorings and fell. Relieved of the weight, the balloon rose too high as it drifted out of sight. • The balloon became sodden with rain and ice and crashed two days later, 65 miles from where it had launched. It landed on pack ice softly enough that all supplies remained intact. The team tried to sledge and boat to an emergency supply depot that had been arranged in advance, but the ice floe carried them away from land faster than they could travel towards it. While stranded, they kept meticulous diaries and took photos. • They camped on the ice until October 2nd, when the ice began to break up. They loaded supplies into their small boat and barely made it to a remote Arctic island called Kvitøya, meaning White Island. Although they still had food and supplies, the three men perished within days. For the next 33 years, no one knew what had become of them. • In 1930, a Norwegian sealing ship sailed up to White Island and dropped anchor. Although the island was populated with walruses and seals, ships had previously avoided landing there because it was persistently surrounded by thick pack ice and fog. But the summer of 1930 had been warmer than normal, leaving the island approachable. The ship was short on fresh water. The sailors that were dispatched to find water were surprised to discover an upside-down boat, covered in ice. Inside the boat was all manner of equipment. Nearby were three scattered skeletons. Later exploration yielded the diaries and the photographs of the doomed expedition. The Eagle had been found. Their diaries and photographs told the tale of a voyage that started in hubris and ended in disaster.
* On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire becomes the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby making the document the law of the land. Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut were the first to sign. * On June 22, 1937, in Chicago’s Comiskey Park, Joe Louis wins the world heavyweight boxing title when he knocks out Jim Braddock in the eighth-round. Louis was the first black heavyweight champ since Jack Johnson, who lost the title in 1915. * On June 20, 1947, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, who brought organized crime to the West Coast, is killed in a hail of gunfire at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Siegel got his start in Brooklyn, where he terrorized peddlers and collected protection money in the 1930s. * On June 23, 1959, after nine years in prison, Klaus Fuchs, the German-born Los Alamos scientist whose espionage helped the USSR build its first atomic and hydrogen bombs, is released from a British prison. * On June 18, 1966, Gen. William Westmoreland, senior U.S. military commander in Vietnam, requests an additional 111,588 troops for the war in 1967, bringing the total to 542,588. * On June 19, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court rules against Curt Flood in Flood v. Kuhn, denying him free agency as a baseball player. He was trying to break the reserve clause that tied players to one team. Three years later an arbitrator ruled in favor of free agency, but it was too late for Flood, who never played baseball again. * On June 17, 1994, “O.J.” Simpson, a former football player suspected of a double murder, flees along I-405 in Los Angeles in a white Ford Bronco with police in pursuit. News helicopters followed from above, and millions watched on television. Simpson was arrested at home an hour later. (c) 2019 Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Slow Cooker Perfect for Weekend Brunch When the weekend rolls around, we’re a brunch bunch in our family. Just say the word, and it translates to “relaxing.” Brunch isn’t too early, so we have time to read the paper and do a run, and not too late so the day is taken away. Best of all, it’s an occasion for good food and connecting with friends and family. For a main dish, here’s a slow cooker brunch egg casserole you can serve without having to think too much about the details, and you won’t be heating up your oven on a hot day. Assemble the ingredients early in the morning (or the night before and refrigerate), turn the slow cooker switch to high for about three hours, and it’s ready to serve as is, or with your favorite toppings. Like classic baked egg dishes, this recipe uses the basics -- eggs, milk and cheese. But instead of adding bread cubes, this combo is layered with shredded hash brown potatoes. SLOW COOKER EGG CASSEROLE 12 eggs 1 cup whole milk 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black or white pepper 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard 1 20-ounce package fresh shredded hash browns (in the refrigerated section of your grocery store) or frozen 1/2 pound cooked ham, cut in pieces, or substitute cooked bacon cut in pieces 1/2 cup red bell pepper chopped 1/2 cup green onions, chopped 3 cups cheddar cheese shredded, or Mexican fourcheese blend, shredded 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or rosemary, chopped for garnish (optional) Toppings such as salsa, sour cream, sliced avocado (optional) 1. Grease a 6-7 quart slow cooker. In a large bowl whisk the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and dry mustard. Set aside. 2. Distribute one-half of the hash browns evenly over the bottom of slow cooker. 3. Layer with half of the ham or bacon, red pepper, onions and one cup of the cheese. Repeat layers, ending with two cups cheese on top. 4. Pour egg mixture evenly over the layered casserole. (Assemble the night before, if you prefer, and refrigerate.) 5. Cook on high for three hours or until eggs are set and thoroughly cooked, and edges begin to brown. 6. Sprinkle thyme or rosemary on top for garnish and serve directly from the slow cooker. Set out small bowls of toppings, if you wish. Makes 8 servings. NOTE: Depending on the brand or age of your slow cooker, temperatures and cook time may vary. *** Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.” (c) 2019 Donna Erickson Distributed by King Features Synd.
Tidbits® of the River Region
1. Elton John is said to be the top-selling British solo artist of all time worldwide. Who is No. 2? 2. “The Fool on the Hill” was released on which Beatles album? 3. True or false? “Love Child” by Diana Ross & The Supremes was released by Ross and Supremes singers Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong. 4. What was the Doors’ first No. 1 single? 5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “I’ll bring fires in the winters, You’ll send showers in the springs, We’ll fly through the falls and summers with love on our wings.” Answers 1. Cliff Richard. But in the U.K. alone, Richard is No. 1. His debut single was “Move It” in 1958. 2. “Magical Mystery Tour,” in 1967. 3. False. It was recorded by Ross and The Andantes, female backup session singers for a number of artists. Quite a few Supremes songs were released with The Andantes doing the singing. 4. “Light My Fire,” in 1967. It was the first single from Elektra Records to reach No. 1 and sold more than a million copies. 5. “Longer,” by Dan Fogelberg in 1979. It reached No. 2 on the charts, behind “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen. “Longer” was used in Nissan Gloria sedan ads in 1983. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.