Juan Peron's Hands
While serving his third, non-consecutive term as President of Argentina, Juan Peron died on July 1, 1974 at age 78. His rule had been controversial, with many adoring him and others reviling him. After his death, his body was injected with formaldehyde and interred at La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires. In 1987, grave robbers opened up Peron's coffin, cut off his hands and stole them, along with his sword and cap. The robbers then sent a ransom letter asking for $8 million to return the hands. Once the desecration was discovered, Peron's body was sealed behind a bulletproof plate and 12 heavy-duty locks. On October 17, 2006, Peron's body was moved to a mausoleum at Peron's country home in San Vicente, just outside of Buenes Aires. The grave robbers have never been found.
Catch-18
Joseph Heller's famous novel, Catch-22, was first published in 1961. Set in World War II, the book is a comic satirical novel about bureaucracy. The phrase "Catch 22" in the novel is used to denote the vicious circle of military bureaucracy. The term "Catch 22" has made it into mainstream usage to mean any two choices that are mutually dependent (for example, which came first: the chicken or the egg?).
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However, the term we now know as "Catch 22" was almost "Catch 18" for Heller had originally chosen <i>Catch-18</i> as the title of the book. Unfortunately for Heller, Leon Uris published his <i>Mila 18</i> novel just before Heller's book was to be published. Heller's publisher didn't think it would be good to have two books out at the same time with "18" in the title. Attempting to come up with another name, Heller and his publisher considered Catch-11, Catch-17, and Catch-14 before deciding on the title we all know, Catch-22.
Insulin Discovered in 1922
Medical researcher Frederick Banting and research assistant Charles Best studied the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas of dogs at the University of Toronto. Banting believed that he could find a cure for the "sugar disease" (diabetes) in the pancreas. In 1921, they isolated insulin and successfully tested in on diabetic dogs, lowering the dogs' blood sugar level. Researcher John Macleod and chemist James Collip then began to help prepare insulin for human use. On January 11, 1922, Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old boy who was dying of diabetes, was given the first human experimental dose of insulin. The insulin saved his life. In 1923, Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work on discovering insulin. What was once a death sentence, people now diagnosed with diabetes can live long lives thanks to the work of these men.
Why Is Roosevelt on the Dime?
In 1921, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with a bout of polio that left him partially paralyzed, there were no organizations to lend support. Although Roosevelt had the money for the very best treatments for himself, he realized that there were thousands of others who did not. Also, at the time, there was no known cure for polio. In 1938, President Roosevelt helped establish the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (which later became known as the March of Dimes). This foundation was created to help care for polio patients and to help fund research to find a cure. Funding from the March of Dimes helped Jonas Salk discover a vaccine for polio.
Soon after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in 1945, the public started sending letters to the United States Treasury Department requesting that Roosevelt's portrait be placed on a coin. The dime seemed the most appropriate coin because of Roosevelt's ties to the March of Dimes. The new dime was released to the public on Roosevelt's birthday, January 30, 1946.
The Nickname "Tin Lizzie"
Priced so that the average American could afford it, <a href="http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/p/henryford.htm">Henry Ford</a> sold his Model T from 1908 until 1927. Many also may know the Model T by its nickname, the "Tin Lizzie." But how did the Model T get its nickname?
In the early 1900s, car dealers would try to create publicity for their new automobiles by hosting car races. In 1922, a championship race was held in Pikes Peak, Colorado. Entered as one of the contestants was Noel Bullock and his Model T, named "Old Liz." Since Old Liz looked the worse for wear (it was unpainted and lacked a hood), many spectators compared Old Liz to a tin can. By the start of the race, the car had the new nickame of "Tin Lizzie." To everyone's surprise, Tin Lizzie won the race.
Having beaten even the most expensive other cars available at the time, Tin Lizzie proved both the durability and speed of the Model T. The surprise win of Tin Lizzie was reported in newspapers across the country, leading to the use of the nickname "Tin Lizzie" for all Model T cars.
Hoover Flags
When the U.S. stock market crashed in 1929, President Herbert Hoover attempted to stop the U.S. economy from spiraling into what has become known as the Great Depression. Although President Hoover took action, most people agree that it just wasn't enough. Upset at Hoover, people began to give items that represented the economic crisis negative nicknames. For instance, shanty towns became known as "Hoovervilles." "Hoover blankets" were newspapers that homeless people used to protect themselves from the cold. "Hoover flags" were pants pockets that had been turned inside out, symbolizing a lack of money. "Hoover wagons" were old cars pulled by horses since their owners could no longer pay for gas.
The First Dot Com
Half a century ago, no one in the world would have had a personal computer of their own and most would not even have been able to describe a computer to you. Now, in the 21st century, we live in a world filled with dot-somethings. We have .com extensions on website addresses for companies and .edu extensions for schools. We have URL extensions for nearly every country (such as .ls for Lesotho) and newer extensions such as .nom for personal websites and .travel for travel-related websites.
Surrounded by dot extensions, have you ever stopped to wonder what website was the very first to be a dot-com? That honor was claimed on March 15, 1985, when Symbolics.com registered their domain name.
