Miss Bombsight

In 1944, U.S. airmen selected Kathleen O'Malley as "the girl we'd most like to see in our bombsight."

Being in the bombsight doesn't sound like a good thing.

Kathleen O'Malley's IMDB page. Her earliest credited role was in 1926 when she was thirteen months old. Her final one was in 1998. That's quite a career.

More info: wikipedia

Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Nov 24, 1944

Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 17, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests | Military | 1940s | Weapons

Miss New York Experience

This 1975 photo from JET magazine might represent a one-off title, because I can find no photos of other winners.

Arguably, to represent the true experience of NYC circa 1975, this charming young woman should have featured a much different, ah, seedier look.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 17, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests | Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues | Urban Life | 1970s

The Pepsi Navy

In 1989, Pepsi bought 17 submarines from the Soviet Union. This briefly put it in control of the seventh-largest fleet of attack submarines in the world.

Foreign Policy magazine delves into the history of this strange transaction, which has apparently risen to the status of urban legend in foreign policy circles. (The urban legend is that the deal briefly gave Pepsi the sixth-largest military fleet in the world — not true).

The gist of the story is that Pepsi had a long-standing relationship with the Soviet Union, having an exclusive deal to sell American soft drinks there. So when the Soviet Union was looking to sell some old submarines for scrap metal, Pepsi agreed to act as a middleman, passing the subs along to a Norwegian shipping firm. In return, Pepsi got expanded access to the Soviet market.

More details: foreignpolicy.com

Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 16, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Boats | Diplomacy and Foreign Relations | Soda, Pop, Soft Drinks and other Non-Alcoholic Beverages | 1980s

The Ring-O Pool Table

One hole only. Learn more here, at the site dedicated to the inventor, Irving Kaye.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 16, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics | Inventions | Sports | 1960s

Death by Gas-Lift Bed

Helen Davey recently died when her "Ottoman-styled gas-lift bed" collapsed on her neck and asphyxiated her.

I didn't know what a "gas-lift bed" was, so I googled it and found the video below. I agree with the coroner that the design of these beds seems dangerous.

We've previously posted about dangerous beds with the case of the man who was trapped for five days in a folding bed.

More info: cnn.com

Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 15, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Death | Furniture

Protose

Read more about this early meat substitute here.

Kellogg credited his interest in meat substitutes to Charles William Dabney, an agricultural chemist and the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. Dabney wrote to Kellogg on the subject around 1895.[16]: 119 

In 1896, Kellogg introduced but did not patent "Nuttose", the first commercially produced alternative to meat. Nuttose was made primarily from peanuts and resembled "cold roast mutton".[42]: 6  By seasoning or marinating, Nuttose could be made to taste like fried chicken or barbeque. Served with mashed potatoes and vegetables, it could mimic a traditional American meal.[69]

On March 19, 1901, Kellogg was granted the first United States Patent for a "vegetable substitute for meat", for a blend of nuts and grain cereals called "Protose". In applying for US patent 670283A, John Harvey Kellogg, "Vegetable-food Compound", issued June 8, 1899, Kellogg described Protose as a product "which shall possess equal or greater nutritive value in equal or more available form... By proper regulation of the temperature and proportions of the ingredients, various meat-like flavors are developed, which give the finished product very characteristic properties."[42]: 6 [70] Nuttose and Protose were the first of many meat alternatives.[69]

Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 15, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Food | Imitations, Forgeries, Rip-offs and Faux | Inventions | 1900s

Science Fair Heart Transplant

March 1968: Robert McDavid, a junior at Schulte High School in Terre Haute, Indiana, performed a heart transplant on a live rabbit for his science fair project. School administrators had approved his project. In fact, they applauded it as highly topical since the first successful human heart transplantation had been performed just the year before by the South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard.

After performing the operation, McDavid measured the length of time that the rabbit's body functioned with the new organ. He later exhibited the results of his project at the Regional Science Fair of Indiana State University and received an award for creativity in his field.

Questioned by reporters, McDavid revealed that he had prepared for the procedure by first conducting a number of practice operations, including skin grafts and bone section transplants on chickens. He said that he had also read a number of books about transplants and had conducted interviews with several physicians.

I haven't been able to track down if McDavid went on to become a surgeon.

Terre Haute Tribune - Mar 17, 1968

Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 14, 2024 - Comments (4)
Category: School | Science | Surgery

Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 58

Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 14, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Art | Retail Establishments | 1920s

Thickest Tongue

Ambra Collina of Italy recently earned a Guinness World Record for having the thickest tongue.

I've never seen anyone be able to thicken their tongue like she does. It's definitely not an ability I possess. No matter how hard I try, my tongue remains the same circumference. Is this some unique, bizarro talent she possesses, or are many people able to thicken their tongue?

More info: upi.com

Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 13, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Body | World Records

Telephone Muffler

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 13, 2024 - Comments (3)
Category: Inventions | Telephones | 1910s