Useless Information Podcast

Part 2 of my interview with John Murphy. Here we discuss John's involvement with inventor Dean Kamen (of the Segway fame) and their work to establish the FIRST Robotics competition that now involves tens of thousands of students worldwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The parents of 21-year-old Linda Marie Ault were in a panic when their daughter didn't return home after attending a Friday night dance. They searched everywhere for her, but were unsuccessful.  When Linda returned home the next morning, her parents were furious with what she had done and came up with a punishment that they thought would teach her a valuable lesson. Everything went horribly wrong....

Bonus episode is an interview with John Murphy. His dad was a member of the Salem Trade School, which was the subject of Useless Information Podcast #90 in January 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fun story from the 1940's about a man named Harry H. Heim who converted a defunct mill town into the ultimate Christmas wonderland. Also, learn about the most performed Christmas song, a girl who became very ill after an older student told her that Santa Claus didn't exist, a person who mailed 50 empty Christmas envelopes, and what happened when Denny;s decided to close their restaurants for the f...

In 1957, three Chicago aluminum awning salesmen decided to quit their jobs and sail to Africa to join in on the lucrative illegal diamond trade. They were in for a wild ride, along with a very big surprise waiting for them at the end.  Also, learn about Thomas "Tough Tommy" Holden. Three critical reviews of popular musical acts from the 1970's are featured: Carole King, The Carpenters, and an incr...

Long forgotten headline story about a family who lost everything in the Great Kansas flood of 1951. Yet, all was not as it seemed...  Also learn about what a Lucy Stoner is, a man who used handcuffs to hitchhike, twins who were hitchhiking around the world, and a father and son who were reunited through hitchhiking. Retrosponsor: Mahdeen Shampoo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

During the late 1800's and early 1900's, people around the United States gathered to watch two trains being smashed together.  As a PR stunt, W.G. Crush organized one of these crashes for the Kay Railroad near West, Texas. More than 20,000 spectators were in the audience when it all went horribly wrong.  Also learn about the first state to adopt Labor Day as an official holiday, a 6-year-old who p...

Pearl River, Louisiana resident Effie Crawford made the most startling discovery on November 11, 1936. Moving through the brush near her home she spotted a large dog carrying an unusual package in its mouth. She grabbed the bundle and opened it to find that it contained a newborn baby. Also learn the difference between a tree and a shrub, a town that hoarded shiny 1902 pennies, a man kept alive as...

The world's fastest bicyclist in the 1890's was Charles Minthorp Murphy and he was certain that there was no locomotive on Earth that could go faster than he could. To prove this, Murphy set a goal to ride one-mile in one-minute, a speed that few locomotives could achieve back then. It was the classic battle of man vs. machine. Also learn about the most popular song ever on Billboard's Hot 100 cha...

John Cleves Symmes was a popular lecturer back in the 1820's. Not only did Symmes believe that Newton got the concept of gravity totally wrong, he proposed that the Earth had a hollow interior and that one could enter this subterranean world via large holes at each of our poles. Symmes attracted a large number of supporters and his planned voyage to the North Pole was, at one point, debated and vo...

Pennsylvania resident Jacob Silverman made national headlines back in 1922 for the crime of owning a dog named Dick within the commonwealth.  The law at the time required that Dick be killed simply because he was owned by Jacob. Could something be done to save Dick's life? Also learn about the only movie on the Internet Database website not rated on a scale of 1 to 10, a London woman who fed wild...

Bonus episode that includes an interview that I did back in 2014 with Lene Bech Sillesen and a recording of the NBC live news report when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1948, Dorothy Lawlor decided to take an ad out in the Newsday newspaper seeking a husband in exchange for $10,000. Within twenty-four hours she became a media sensation. Did she really marry one of these men?  The answer may surprise you.  Includes an interview with her granddaughter.  Also learn the original color of Muppet Oscar the Grouch, a 74-year-old man who advertised for his third wife,...

In the late 1950's and early 1960's, Anthony "Tino" De Angelis ran a global salad oil empire. Find out how Tino grew his business so quickly, his shocking downfall, how JFK’s assassination ties into the story, and the way that one of the world's richest men today made a good chunk of change off of everyone else’s misfortune.  Also learn about the original name for the game Twister, a doctor or str...

When author Robert Louis Stevenson learned that young Vermont native Annie Ide hated her Christmas birthday, he decided to deed his own birthday to her. Listen to this episode to learn how she celebrated her new birthday and what happened after she died. Also learn about when the first Christmas card was printed, a man who got a living doll for Christmas, a boy who tried to emulate Santa, and a re...

 In May of 1929, Old Orchard Beach in Maine was the site for an airplane race that pitted the smaller, more nimble American Green Flash against larger, more powerful French Yellow Bird. Anticipation mounted for weeks as the two planes attempted to get off the ground. Also, learn about the world's first airline, a man who clung to the fuselage of an airplane, a man sucked into a jet engine, and an...

When the S.E. Massengill Co. introduced its Elixir Sulfanilamide to the market in September 1937, there was no law in the United States requiring pharmaceutical companies to test their medicines for toxicity. In just the short time that this elixir produced, it took the lives of more than 100 people, many of whom were young children. Also learn about the world's most popular medicine, how the next...

During desperate times some people are forced to do desperate things. The trick is to not get caught. Let's just say that Maybelle Trow Knox was not very good at that last part. Also learn the real name of Scooby Doo's best friend Shaggy, how Scooby Doo got his name, a teacher who used an electric chair to punish students, a girl too afraid to show her report card, and a boy who placed his loose t...

The Great Depression was an awful time for farmers in Iowa.  It culminated with the near hanging of a judge in Le Mars. It just happens that the farm involved was owned by the T.M. Zink estate, the same man who left his savings for the establishment of a womanless library.  Also learn about the only planet in our solar system where its day is longer that its year and three unusual stories involvin...

The first of a 3-part series on Le Mars, Iowa from the 1930's. Le Mars was thrust into the national spotlight by the actions of just one man: a successful lawyer named T.M. Zink, who left nearly his entire estate for the establishment of a very unusual library. Listen to this podcast to determine whether Zink was truly mad or simply playing a good practical joke on the world.  Also learn about a m...

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was one of the first female doctors in the United States and is the only woman to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, until the government rescinded her award. Also learn about a woman who accidentally served her husband dog food for breakfast, three children found locked in a tool box, who CBS wanted to replace Rod Serling on the Twilight Zone with plus the titl...

Between 1942 and 1943 Ralph Marshall Wilby appeared to pull off what appeared to be the perfect crime. An incredible story that has many elements of an international thriller: deception, false identities, international kidnapping, and the drop dead gorgeous woman who brought his capture.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 5, 2000, Ines Ramirez Perez went into labor but was unable to get any medical care to help with the delivery. In a panic, Ines concluded that she had no other option than to deliver the baby herself.  She used an ordinary kitchen knife to perform a cesarean on herself. Find out what happened afterward and stories of other self-cesareans.  Also, learn about a toy made from Zectron, a man w...

Back in 1911, Wilkes-Barre, PA resident John Jay "Butch" McDevitt won the Democratic Primary for county treasurer. The only problem was that the Democratic Committee didn't want McDevitt on the ballot. Listen to this story to find out how the party got rid of him and how he capitalized on this for the rest of his life. Also, learn about three animals involved in politics and the first time that th...

The Halloween episode. Learn about a reputable California dentist named William Shyne who supposedly gave the children of his neighborhood lollipops and laxative pills for Halloween. Also, learn about a woman arrested for dressing like a man, a man who was arrested after purchasing Halloween candy for his wife, the day Princess Margaret was caught smoking a cigarette, and the best-selling Hallowee...