People

Bizarre Fact #141:
Did you know...
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Bizarre Fact #142:
Did you know...
Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972), the mother of 12 children, had good reason to improve the efficiency and convenience of household items. A pioneer in ergonomics, Gilbreth patented many devices, including an electric food mixer, and the trash can with step-on lid-opener that can be found in most households today.

Bizarre Fact #143:
Did you know...
Madame Alexander dolls were the creation of Beatrice Alexander Behrman, the daughter of Russian immigrants. Mrs. Behrman, whose father operated New York's first doll "hospital," started making dolls in 1923, and her creations soon became famous for their molded heads and limbs, lifelike eyes, rooted hair and elaborate costumes. Mrs. Behrman sold the company to several New York investors in 1988, two years before she died at age 95. But America's first and only remaining doll manufacturer has not compromised her high standard of quality and unique craftsmanship. Today, most of the company's manufacturing is still done in Harlem, New York, and more than 500,000 dolls a year are sold.

Bizarre Fact #144:
Did you know...
Maximum tunnel depth below ground level is 221ft (67.4m)

Bizarre Fact #145:
Did you know...
Maximum tunnel depth below mean sea level is 70ft (21.3m)

Bizarre Fact #146:
Did you know...
Naugahyde, plastic "leather" was created in Naugatuck, Connecticut.

Bizarre Fact #147:
Did you know...
Noxema, the skin cream invented in 1914 by Baltimore pharmacist George Bunting, was originally sold as "Dr. Bunting's Sunburn Remedy." Mr. Bunting changed the name to Noxema after a customer enthusiastically told him the cream had "knocked out his eczema." Thus, the cream that "knocks eczema" became "Noxema".

Bizarre Fact #148:
Did you know...
On November 23, 1835, Henry Burden of Troy, New York, developed the first machine for manufacturing horseshoes. Burden later oversaw the production of most of the horseshoes used by the Union cavalry during the Civil War.

Bizarre Fact #149:
Did you know...
On the first neon sign, the word neon was spelled out in red by Dr. Perley G. Nutting, 15 years before neon signs became widely used commercially.

Bizarre Fact #150:
Did you know...
One of the first telephone answering machines was developed in Switzerland during the 1950's. It took three days to install.