Bob and Marcia discuss various trivia and historical facts. They reveal that Pat Nixon was the first First Lady with a graduate degree, followed by Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Jill Biden. They also discuss Robert Watson, an inventor of radar who regretted his work after being caught speeding by radar. They explore the demographics of the last white majority in the U.S., which is the millennial generation. They delve into the origins of words like “whiskey” and “gymnasium,” and the historical significance of Carter Lake, Iowa, which is surrounded by Nebraska. They also touch on the development of American Sign Language by Plains Indians and the invention of Band-Aids by Earl Dixon.
Outline
First Lady with a Graduate Degree
- Marcia Smith asks who was the first First Lady to hold a graduate degree.
- Bob Smith speculates it might be Jill Biden or Hillary Clinton.
- Marcia Smith reveals that Pat Nixon was the first, having a master’s from the University of Southern California.
- Marcia lists other First Ladies with graduate degrees: Laura Bush (master’s in library science), Hillary Clinton (Yale Law School), Michelle Obama (Princeton and Harvard Law School), and Jill Biden (doctorate in education).
Inventor of Radar Regretting His Work
- Bob Smith asks why one of the inventors of radar regretted his work.
- Marcia Smith mentions it wasn’t due to World War II or atomic bomb concerns.
- Bob Smith reveals the inventor was Robert Watson, who regretted his work after being caught speeding by a radar officer.
- Watson reportedly told the officer, “If I had known what you were going to do with it, I would never have invented it.”
Last White Majority Generation in the U.S.
- Marcia Smith asks which generation is the last white majority in the U.S.
- Bob Smith initially guesses Baby Boomers, but Marcia Smith reveals it’s Millennials (ages 25 to 40).
- Marcia explains that Millennials are the last generation to be a white majority in the U.S.
- Bob Smith and Marcia discuss the changing demographics and the impact on the country.
Alcohol Drink with a Specific Name
- Bob Smith asks what alcohol drink’s name means “water of life.”
- Marcia Smith guesses whiskey, and Bob Smith confirms it comes from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic.
- Bob Smith shares his first experience with whiskey and its appeal over the years.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the origins and meaning of the word “whiskey.”
American Group Developing Sign Language in the 16th Century
- Bob Smith asks which American group developed sign language in the 16th century.
- Marcia Smith reveals it was the Plains Indians, including tribes like Navajo, Cree, and Crow.
- Marcia explains that the sign language allowed different tribes to communicate and trade.
- Bob Smith and Marcia discuss the early development of sign language and its significance.
Fitness World Word Meaning “Exercise Naked”
- Bob Smith asks what word in the fitness world means “exercise naked.”
- Marcia Smith guesses gymnasium, and Bob Smith confirms it comes from the Greek word “gymnos” meaning naked.
- Bob Smith explains the ancient Greeks exercised and competed naked, leading to the word gymnasium.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the origins and meaning of the word gymnasium.
Geographical Puzzle: Upper Peninsula of Michigan
- Bob Smith asks which state has part of it missing regularly from maps.
- Marcia Smith answers the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
- Bob Smith and Marcia discuss the historical and geographical reasons for its omission.
- They mention the US Census Bureau’s mistake in 2021 and the political chicanery behind its inclusion in Michigan.
Country Covered in 80% Mountains
- Bob Smith asks which country is covered in 80% mountains.
- Marcia Smith guesses Nepal, but Bob Smith reveals it’s Japan.
- Bob Smith and Marcia discuss the surprising fact that Japan is mostly mountainous.
- They share their amazement at the geographical detail.
Red-Haired People and Pain Tolerance
- Bob Smith asks what color-haired people have a higher pain level tolerance.
- Marcia Smith guesses red-haired people, and Bob Smith confirms it.
- Bob Smith explains a study by the National Institute of Health showing red-haired people perceive pain differently.
- They discuss the potential for developing better pain medications based on this genetic trait.
Inventor of Band-Aids and His Wife’s Inspiration
- Bob Smith asks about the inventor of Band-Aids and his wife’s inspiration.
- Marcia Smith reveals the inventor was Earl Dixon, who developed the bandage for his wife Josephine.
- Bob Smith explains how Dixon’s company, Johnson and Johnson, commercialized the bandage after initial struggles.
- They discuss the marketing success of Band-Aids, including the Boy Scouts’ role in promoting them.
German Chocolate Cake Misconception
- Bob Smith asks how German chocolate cake got its name.
- Marcia Smith reveals the cake is named after the chocolate, not the country.
- Bob Smith explains that the recipe comes from Dallas, Texas, and was named by Mrs. George Clay.
- They discuss the history and popularity of German chocolate cake, including its coconut content.
Presidential Years with Three Presidents
- Marcia Smith asks about the years with three presidents in office.
- Bob Smith identifies 1841 and 1881 as the years with three presidents due to deaths and assassinations.
- They discuss the presidents involved: William Henry Harrison, Martin Van Buren, and James Garfield.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith reflect on the unique historical events of these years.
I Love Lucy Filming Challenge
- Bob Smith asks about a city ordinance that almost prevented the filming of the first I Love Lucy episode.
- Marcia Smith reveals the ordinance required separate restrooms for men and women.
- Bob Smith explains how Lucille Ball offered her dressing room restroom for women in the audience.
- They discuss the creative solution and the significance of the Desilu Playhouse studio.
Longest Highway in America
- Bob Smith asks about the longest highway in America.
- Marcia Smith reveals it is U.S. Highway 20, which runs from Boston, Massachusetts to Astoria, Oregon.
- Bob Smith and Marcia discuss the length and significance of U.S. Highway 20.
- They reflect on the marvel of the American highway system and its historical context.
Sesame Street Character Origins
- Bob Smith asks about the origins of Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street.
- Marcia Smith reveals they were named after characters in It’s a Wonderful Life.
- Bob Smith explains that Bert was a cab driver, and Ernie was a cop, both friends of Jimmy Stewart’s character.
- They discuss the connection between Sesame Street and It’s a Wonderful Life.
Zodiac Sign with the Fewest Babies Born
- Bob Smith asks about the zodiac sign with the fewest babies born.
- Marcia Smith reveals it is Aquarius, which covers the period from January 20 to February 18.
- Bob Smith and Marcia discuss the reasons for the low birth rates during this period.
- They reflect on the most common and rarest birth dates, including holidays like Christmas and the Fourth of July.
City Surrounded by Another State
- Bob Smith asks about a city totally surrounded by another state.
- Marcia Smith guesses Washington, D.C., but Bob Smith reveals it is Carter Lake, Iowa.
- Bob Smith explains the historical and geographical reasons for Carter Lake’s unique location.
- They discuss the irregular border and the Supreme Court ruling that made Carter Lake part of Iowa.
Thoughts on Money and Wealth
- Marcia Smith shares a quote by Will Rogers about money and material possessions.
- Bob Smith agrees with the sentiment and shares another quote by Epictetus on wealth.
- Marcia Smith shares her favorite quote by Malcolm Forbes about making money through kindness to wealthy relatives.
- They reflect on the importance of values and perspective in managing wealth and material possessions.
Marcia Smith 0:00
Who was the first First Lady to hold a graduate degree?
Bob Smith 0:04
Ah, good question. And why did one of the inventors of radar regret his work? Answers to those and other questions coming up in this episode of the off ramp with Bob and
Marcia Smith 0:15
Marcia Smith. You Music.
Bob Smith 0:32
Welcome to the off ramp, a chance to slow down, steer clear of crazy and take a side road to sanity with some fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia. First first lady with a graduate degree? Hmm, gee. You know, I think first first lady with a college education alone would be an interesting question, but
Marcia Smith 0:52
it is. But that’s another question. Okay?
Bob Smith 0:54
Is it somebody recently, in our last 50 years, or was it is okay? Would that be Jill Biden. She’s a teacher. I know, yeah,
Marcia Smith 1:03
but there was somebody before her, okay, yeah,
Bob Smith 1:06
let me, let me guess. Would it be Hillary Clinton?
Marcia Smith 1:09
She’s not the first, okay, who was the first? Pat Nixon? Oh, no kidding, yeah.
Bob Smith 1:13
So she had a master’s, yeah?
Marcia Smith 1:15
She graduated from the University of Southern California, and she went on to become a teacher. I didn’t know that. And the other ones to hold graduate degrees following her were Laura Bush. She had a master’s in library science from University of Austin. She became a librarian. Hillary Clinton, graduate of Yale Law School and became a lawyer. Michelle Obama, degrees from Princeton and Harvard Law School, and she practiced law after graduation. And finally, Jill Biden, she holds a doctorate degree in education, and she taught higher levels of education after graduation. Wow. She
Speaker 1 1:52
had the highest degree of all there, yeah, the doctorate in education. Okay, well, that’s good. Well, Marshall, how did one of the inventors of radar regret his work. I found this the other day. It was kind of a fun factoid on britannica.com say the beginning again. Why did one of the inventors of radar regret his work? What made him regret his work? Now we’re not talking about Oppenheimer and worries about, oh, I invented the atomic bomb. It’s not that.
Marcia Smith 2:18
And it wasn’t he didn’t worry because of World War Two, I don’t know
Speaker 1 2:23
Well, Robert Watson. What was his name? Watson? What? Watson? What? And he was one of the English inventors who dramatically improved radar during World War Two. After the war, he moved to Canada, and according to britannica.com One day, he was caught speeding by a police officer
Marcia Smith 2:40
with a radar? Yes, he lived to see the problem with his invention when stopped
Bob Smith 2:45
Watson, what reportedly told the officer radar, had I known what you were going to do with it, I would never have
Marcia Smith 2:52
invented it. That’s very funny. I wonder if he really said that to the officer. Well,
Bob Smith 2:55
as said, reportedly told the officer, so who knows, but that was definitely the gist of how he was thinking at that point, like, what the hell that’s funny.
Marcia Smith 3:04
Use that
Bob Smith 3:05
against me. Okay, here’s
Marcia Smith 3:07
one that’ll noodle your brain. Okay, what generation is the last white majority in the United States? I’ll give you the four generations around now, and you pick there’s the millennials, Gen Y, they’re ages 25 to 40 there’s Gen Z, ages nine to 24 Gen X, 41 to 56 and the boomers, if, if you’re a boomer, stand up,
Bob Smith 3:35
if you can.
Marcia Smith 3:38
It’s not that bad. Yeah, 57 to 75
Bob Smith 3:41
those are the ages you’re talking about. Yeah.
Marcia Smith 3:43
So which one of those four generations is the last white majority in the United States? I
Bob Smith 3:49
would say it’s the boomers. I would say the boomers was the last white majority in the United States. No, what’s the answer? Is it millennials? Yeah,
Marcia Smith 3:56
oh yeah. 25 to 40 year olds, they’re the last kids. So that’s our kids. They’re 25 to 40. Well,
Bob Smith 4:05
the world is changing. It certainly is okay. Marcia, what alcohol drink? Let’s think about alcohol now. Okay, okay. I like that lilt in your voice when I said that, I don’t Okay, sure. Okay. What alcohol drinks? Name means water of life, Water of Life, water of life. This goes back to its original Gaelic and Scottish name. That’s your hint.
Marcia Smith 4:29
Then it would be like whiskey. That’s what it is.
Bob Smith 4:32
Whiskey, whether it’s spelled whiskey with a k, e, y or a s, k, y, the word comes from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic, which means water of life. Now the first time I tasted whiskey, I wouldn’t have thought Water of Life.
Marcia Smith 4:45
No, I wouldn’t have thought that one come right to mind. But certainly gotten better over the years for us. Yes,
Bob Smith 4:50
yes, there’s certain amount of appeal to it. This is
Marcia Smith 4:55
curious. Bob, what American group in the 16th century developed? Sign Language American
Bob Smith 5:01
group in the 16th century. Yeah. Well, that was pretty early. That would be the 1500s had to be the American Indian.
Unknown Speaker 5:07
That’s a good deduction. Is it?
Bob Smith 5:10
What tribe would that be? Do you have a tribe for that? Is it? I have a group like Cherokee or somebody, it’s a group Algonquin,
Marcia Smith 5:17
in the 1520s dozens of plain Indian tribes that included Navajo, Cree and Crow, they created their own sign language. Different parts of the world were starting to develop it, but these guys really worked on it and allowed the different tribes to communicate with each other, because none of them spoke the same language, okay, and they wanted to trade with each other, so they developed all this hand signals, and this sign language remains one of the world’s oldest and most widespread, the Plains Indians. I had
Bob Smith 5:49
no idea in 1520 Good lord, that’s how was somebody there to write this down in 1520 that they left a little everything plaque somewhere.
Marcia Smith 5:58
They left a little hand sign on the on a cave wall.
Bob Smith 6:01
I’ll admit that. I agree. That’s probably what happened. But how did they know it was 1520 Was there anybody here to look at that? You know, I don’t know Bob. Well, here’s a word question. What word in the fitness world means to exercise naked? Oh, naked. Okay. It’s a word school children use every day, really? We should ban it. Then, if it means naked,
Marcia Smith 6:26
oh, golly, you got me. There.
Bob Smith 6:28
It is the old Greek word gymnasium. Really? Gymnasium? Really? Yeah, the word gymnasium can be traced back to the Greek word gymnasium, meaning to exercise naked. Who knew that’s what it means. Tell the schools today change clothes when you go to the gym. You usually don’t get rid of them. But yes, that’s what it meant. And if you go back even further, the word gymnos, G, y, M, N, O, S, that means naked. Ancient Greeks would not wear clothes while there were training or competing, as britannica.com says, the Greeks were basically getting buff in the buff. So the word gymnasium means to exercise naked. I like that. Let’s go to the gym. Then let’s go more often. You
Marcia Smith 7:10
really want your naughty bits jumping around at the gym? No, I
Bob Smith 7:13
don’t think some other people have might be fun to watch. Okay, Marcia, I have another question for you. This is geographical. What state has part of it missing regularly from maps.
Marcia Smith 7:22
Oh, that would be the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. That’s exactly right. Yeah, that was a big joke up there.
Bob Smith 7:28
Even the US Census Bureau has made that mistake. Yeah, we had
Marcia Smith 7:31
a big map of that mistake on the wall in the newsroom in 2021
Bob Smith 7:36
the Census Bureau released a map of states losing seats in Congress due to shrinking population, and they omitted the Upper Peninsula. So it not only lost seats, it lost a whole part of its territory, and
Marcia Smith 7:47
often it is attached to Wisconsin instead. That’s right, that’s the other weirdness of it
Bob Smith 7:52
well, and it is physically attached to Wisconsin, I know. So why isn’t it part of Wisconsin, when geographically, it’s the very top of our state?
Marcia Smith 8:00
I don’t know. Didn’t what the President’s negotiated out with some bargain. Now it
Bob Smith 8:05
was in 1837, there was a land dispute, and Congress settled it. Congress, in its wisdom, gave the upper peninsula to the new state of Michigan, rather than Wisconsin, to which it had been attached. Wisconsin had just become a territory the year before. So there was some political chicanery there. But if you look at the map, the land mass, that whole thing just juts out from our state of Wisconsin. Yeah, it makes no sense. Let’s get it back. Come on. But that’s a problem a lot of times with the TV maps, weather maps, it doesn’t show, yeah, doesn’t show the Upper Peninsula. It’s bizarre. It’s the only state that loses almost a third of itself.
Marcia Smith 8:41
It’s not even a third up there. Okay, Bob, oh, come on. What country is covered in 80% mountains?
Bob Smith 8:50
What country is 80% mountains? Nepal? No, no, is it? Is it one of those countries in the Himalayas, 80% mountains. Yeah. Where is this country?
Marcia Smith 9:04
Japan? Oh, really,
Bob Smith 9:05
Japan is 80 80% mountains. I never would have thought that.
Marcia Smith 9:09
I know that’s why I ask, okay, another one, what color haired people have a higher pain level tolerance than other
Bob Smith 9:17
people? What color haired people can’t take more pain, yeah? Okay, well, it’s not white haired people. That’s what I am these days. Would it be red haired people? Yeah?
Marcia Smith 9:27
What made you say?
Speaker 1 9:29
I don’t know. They seem fierce. Do they? Well, fierce in battle, fierce in temperament. You know, red haired people have a reputation for flying off the handle and being angry, and I would assume they can take more pain than the rest of us. Did
Marcia Smith 9:40
you ever meet my mother? She seems so nice. Yeah, you didn’t know her when she had bright red hair. That’s true. But anyway, a study conducted by the National Institute of Health showed that red haired people have a greater tolerance because they perceive pain differently than the rest of us. They have certain genetics that science. This, believe may help them develop better pain meds in the future. Oh, really, yeah, they just have so red
Bob Smith 10:05
haired people are going to help us with medicine. Yeah, they’re so helpful, aren’t they, those red haired people? Okay, Marcia, you may be familiar. This is one of those. Why didn’t I think of that story, the story of a housewife who was prone to cutting herself. She inspired her husband to invent something to help. What was it? A band aid. The band aid, that’s right, the inventor was Earl Dixon. He was a cotton buyer for Johnson and Johnson, the medical health care firm, and in 1917 he married Josephine Francis Knight, and within a few years, he found himself bandaging the frequent cuts or burns she suffered. Some have even suggested she was a bit clumsy. That might be but to help his wife when he wasn’t home, Earl decided to cut up a number of pieces of sterile gauze his company made and place them at intervals on surgical tape to stop the bleeding, so she could cut these things, these pre prepared wound dressings that she could cut to size when he wasn’t around. So he told his bosses about this invention, and they were so impressed, they decided to commercialize it. But sales for band aids weren’t very good the first year. Do you know why they didn’t advertise? No, that wasn’t it. Why? Probably because the bandages were clumsy themselves. The original sizes were 18 inches wide, two and a half inches long, not too easy to help yourself with those you know, the company only made $3,000 on the product in the first year. Could easily have given up on them, but it soon adopted the standard three inch by three quarters of an inch size, and that’s what everybody grew up with. Yeah, that new size, plus another innovation, a red thread. Do you remember that a red thread which, when pulled easily opened each package, you could pull that, open it up and take the bandage out and put it on yourself, even
Marcia Smith 11:49
if you were bleeding. That’s right. Deal with it. How
Bob Smith 11:51
were the Boy Scouts instrumental in band aids? Success?
Marcia Smith 11:55
Gee Whiz. Bob, I don’t know. Did they have a Boy Scout patch, if you could pass the
Bob Smith 12:04
band aid test. No, okay, it was a marketing idea Johnson. And Johnson decided, let’s give these to Boy Scout troops across the country. They gave them a bunch of free bandages, and so then scouts took them out on their camp outs, and then when they got hurt, they would, you know, use them. And did they do before? They just had all kinds of wound dressing like everybody else. But this was like TV dinners. It was automatically a easier thing to do. So the scouts would come home and mom and dad would look at this, and boy, it made him very popular. You
Marcia Smith 12:32
know, that makes sense. Then the kid comes home with band aids, and then the parents see it for the first time, right? A good marketing idea.
Bob Smith 12:39
So what happened to the inventor Earl Dixon?
Marcia Smith 12:41
I don’t know. Did he graduate from Johnson? Johnson as a VP. He was
Bob Smith 12:46
made a VP. He had a promotion. Yeah, that’s a stab in the dark. That’s really good, too. Yes, he went from a cotton buyer to a vice president, and he was a vice president when he retired in 1957 so he had almost 30 years with that company as a vice president. Well, I
Marcia Smith 13:02
hope he got a whopping pension.
Bob Smith 13:04
I hope so too. Well. And here’s one more footnote. 12 years later, his invention made it to the moon with the US astronauts, because band aids were part of Apollo 11’s first aid kit, and all told, more than 100 billion band aids have been sold. Some interesting stuff. That’s from a book called The Great Inventions we take for granted. Well,
Marcia Smith 13:23
here’s an obvious question, or is it? How did German? How did German chocolate cake get its name? Well,
Bob Smith 13:31
because it’s made out of chocolate and it’s German. No,
Marcia Smith 13:35
what’s German? The cake? The cake is German. Yeah, it’s a German recipe. Exactly. Wrong. What? Actually, the recipe comes to us from Dallas, Texas. Bob, I didn’t know that. And back in 1852 American Baker Samuel German developed a type of dark chocolate called Baker’s German sweet chocolate, and it was named in his honor, and in 1957 a recipe for her German chocolate cake appeared in the Dallas Morning News, created by Mrs. George clay, a homemaker from Dallas, Texas, whose recipe used the baking chocolate introduced 105 years prior to her recipe, and she named it the German chocolate cake. Oh, no kidding, after the chocolate,
Bob Smith 14:23
I know I’ve heard of baker’s chocolate. Yeah, I didn’t know that was the original German. I like
Marcia Smith 14:27
German. Oh, who doesn’t like the coconut, right? Isn’t that the chocolate and the coconut? I don’t know about that. Yeah, it’s very tasty. Okay, I think it’s time for a break, Bob, I
Bob Smith 14:37
think you’re right. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith, will be back in just a moment.
Speaker 1 14:44
We’re back. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. We do this each week for the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and its internet radio station. And after that, it goes on podcast platforms throughout the world. Marcia, what is your next question today?
Marcia Smith 14:59
Okay? You. Yes, I have a presidential question for Mr. History, okay,
Bob Smith 15:02
let me see if I can find him. Mr. History, Mr. History. Mick
Marcia Smith 15:07
history, Hello, here I am. Okay. Mr. History, in presidential politics, what do 1841 and 1881 have in common? Well, they’re 40 years apart, that’s right, but they share a unique distinction in the land of presidential
Bob Smith 15:25
lore, hmm, okay, 1841 that might have been the first year we had a president from the interior of the country, you know, crossing the Appalachians and the Midwest, and then he promptly died. I think that was our fellow from Indiana. What was his name? Oh, yeah, that was Harrison. William Henry Harrison, yeah, yeah. He was only president for a month because he gave a speech in the rain and he died. So that would be the first that’d be 1840 I think that was that election, 1880 that’s when the President would have taken office. Was 1881 from the 1880 election. Would that have been? Was that his grandson?
Marcia Smith 16:04
No, okay, all right, those two years each had three presidents in one year. Oh, really? Because of a death? Yeah. Oh, no kidding. I think they were assassinations, weren’t they? No, no,
Bob Smith 16:14
the first one was exactly what I said, yeah, the he got the cold and he died. He died, so then his Vice President had to take over. 1841 was Martin Van Buren. So then 1881 must have been the assassination of Garfield.
Marcia Smith 16:27
Then yeah, because Rutherford B Hayes brought in the year Garfield got elected, died, and then Chester A Arthur took over. Oh, Vice President. Well,
Bob Smith 16:37
I had the right guys. Yeah, one of the right guys.
Marcia Smith 16:40
Anyway, just of those two years had three presidents in office. Wow. Okay, all
Speaker 1 16:44
right, Marsh, I have a couple fun TV questions going back to TV when we were growing up. This is one I haven’t ever heard of, and I’ve read a lot about I Love Lucy. And there have been, you know, documentaries and that film that came out a year or so ago about I Love Lucy, a city ordinance almost prevented the filming of the first I Love Lucy episode in the early 1950s Did you know that? What was that a city ordinance almost prevented the filming of the first I Love Lucy episode in Los Angeles?
Marcia Smith 17:14
I can’t think what that would be. It would be an
Speaker 1 17:17
ordinance requiring a restroom for men and for women, one of each in a studio where an audience would be watching filming. Well, what did they have before? Well, they had a TV studio with just a restroom, oh, it’s for both, yeah, for anybody. Then they brought in the audience to watch this, yeah. And at the last minute, just before they were shooting this, a Los Angeles city inspector told Desi Arnaz, you can’t go on because there’s no women’s restroom here. Well, we have a restroom over there. You only sex restroom over there? No, no, they can’t do that. So what happened? How did they fix that?
Marcia Smith 17:55
Well, you got me that somebody ran out and got a porta pot for the men. Well, no,
Bob Smith 17:58
this is great. Lucille Ball offered the restroom in her dressing room for the women in the audience that first night of shooting. Oh, that’s excellent. Isn’t that interesting? Yes, that comes from the story of, I Love Lucy by Bart Andrews, a book that I read years ago, and I just found the notes for it. I had never heard of that story. Yeah, me either. But they, you know, this was a TV studio where they never brought an audience in before in Los Angeles. Okay,
Marcia Smith 18:21
wow. All right, quickly. Bob, what’s the longest highway in America? The longest
Bob Smith 18:27
highway in America is, yep, the See, what’s the name of the Pan American highway goes from Canada all the way to the bottom of the South American
Marcia Smith 18:36
continent? Yeah. No, in America,
Bob Smith 18:38
this is a, oh, you must mean the United States. Okay, it’s highway 80. I think it’s I 80. Interstate 80. No east to west, no. Interstate 90, no. Interstate 20, yes, okay, it’s not interstate 20, it’s highway 20. It’s us, highway
Marcia Smith 18:53
20, correct, it’s highway 20. It’s 3365 miles long, and it runs through 12 states. It runs from Boston, Massachusetts to Astoria, Oregon.
Bob Smith 19:05
I knew it was one of those. I thought it was the freeways, but it wasn’t. So, yeah, those are all horizontal, east to west highways.
Marcia Smith 19:13
I thought route 66 was going to be the longest, but not at all. No,
Bob Smith 19:17
because it only started in like St Louis and then or Chicago. Started in Chicago and went to Los Angeles, these go from coast to coast. Yeah, yeah. How many miles again? 3003 65 3365 miles of paved highway. Now that’s a marvel, when you think about it, even today. I mean, a lot of countries don’t have good highway systems. We have like three there that we can mention that go coast to coast that way.
Marcia Smith 19:42
Yeah, yeah. So if your boss says, go out and fix the potholes on 20, Harvey, you’re going to be a while, yeah. All right, I have a gift for you. Bob, okay, in
Bob Smith 19:55
Sesame Street. Yes. Who were good buddies? Bert and Ernie, named after. After they were named after the two of the characters in It’s a Wonderful Life. One was a cab driver and who was the other guy? They were both friends of Jimmy store, his buddies. It’s a double gift. He needed their help, and he’d say Bert, Ernie. And yeah, they actually called their names.
Marcia Smith 20:19
Ernie was the cab driver. And what did Bert do? Oh,
Bob Smith 20:23
he was the cop, that’s right, and that was Ward bond. Yes,
Marcia Smith 20:27
Ernie was the cab driver with the heart of gold. Everybody in that movie had a heart of gold, and it’s one of our all time favorites. Oh, we love that. Don’t we own it. Love it. Watch it.
Bob Smith 20:37
Getting back to that thing, I just found another note on that where they did the first I Love Lucy episode that was called the Desilu Playhouse. That’s what they named that studio. And it was also where Shirley Temple did her first film in 1931 it was originally called stage two when General Service studios built it for silent films in the 1920s and I Love Lucy, renovated it by putting $25,000 to put in a sprinkler system for safety of the live audience, but they forgot to put an extra restroom in. That’s funny. Oh, my goodness.
Marcia Smith 21:09
All right, how long Bob, how long does it take solid food to travel from your mouth to your stomach?
Bob Smith 21:15
What? How long does it take solid food to travel from your mouth to your stomach? Okay, okay, okay. It drops down through gravity. It goes down, going down. Okay, I’ll say about 30 seconds. No, I’ll say 15 seconds. Half, right? Seven, seven seconds. And it goes through the pyloric valve and everything else to get down there,
Marcia Smith 21:37
you want to name where it’s the pyloric valve, yeah. And what else? It just gets to the stomach. What’s your next question?
Bob Smith 21:44
My next question is not about that. Okay, this man’s real name was Harold J Smith. He was a TV star, Uncle Harry. He made a name for himself. He was a Canadian. He was a lacrosse player and an amateur boxer before he did films and TV. But you would never think that was his real name? He was one half of a very popular Western duo on television. We’re going all the way back to the 1950s who was Harold J Smith? Was it the Lone Ranger? No, it wasn’t the Lone Ranger. It was tonto. Oh, no, yeah. Jay silver heels, yeah, he was, that’s how he was known professionally, yes. J silver heels, he was known professionally. He was born on the sixth nation Indian reservation to a mohawk chief in 1919, but his real name, his legal name, was not an Indian name. It was Harold J Smith. I’ll be done. He adopted the name of silver heels later in life. Well, which
Marcia Smith 22:41
is a cool name? Yeah, much better than Smith. No, Smith is a great name.
Bob Smith 22:44
There’s nothing wrong. I’d
Marcia Smith 22:45
love to be Mrs. Silver heels.
Bob Smith 22:51
It would be more interesting, that’s for sure. And Bob silver heels does have a certain ring to it. Why don’t we just adopt that we go to court and do that? You know? Yeah, our kids would be upset. Silver heels. What’s wrong with you guys?
Marcia Smith 23:05
Bob? What zodiac sign has the fewest babies born in it?
Bob Smith 23:10
The zodiac sign with the fewest babies born in it? Yeah, you
Marcia Smith 23:14
don’t really probably know your Zodiac. No, I don’t. So just give me a month. You think where the fewest people are?
Bob Smith 23:20
I’ll say, Pisces. That’s not a month, but that’s a name of a sign. I’ll say, That’s me. I know that’s when fewer babies are born than any other time of the year. Oh, that’s why you’re so rare, honey. Such a good recovery.
Marcia Smith 23:31
Okay, there. Now it’s Aquarius. Is the most uncommon zodiac sign, really. And that’s people born between January 20 and February 18. That’s the fewest people born in that period. I wonder why that is because people are busy doing other things then and having babies. Well,
Bob Smith 23:49
nine months before that is when they’re busy or not, I
Marcia Smith 23:52
know, and it’s hot summer, so you know, they’re not getting down to business. The most common birth dates now, here you go. Are between September 9 through the 20th. And that’s one of our kids right there. Yeah, that’s right. And the rarest birthdays are 1225, 1224, January one and
Bob Smith 24:13
the Fourth of July. Well, thank God, because those would be terrible times to be born anyway. Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 24:22
that’s the rarest birthdays are those four holidays, which I find curious, because I just guess moms felt like doing other things on those days, and they didn’t focus on the job at hand again,
Bob Smith 24:33
we’re talking nine months before that date. Yeah, okay, but
Marcia Smith 24:37
still, they’re very rare.
Bob Smith 24:39
Another city question here for okay, what state has a city totally surrounded by another state? I never heard of this, and I don’t expect you to get the answer, all right, but you can give me some suggestions where you think it might be, what state has a city totally surrounded by another state?
Marcia Smith 24:57
Washington, DC, no, that’s
Bob Smith 24:59
not a state. Marcia.
Unknown Speaker 25:00
It’s a city.
Bob Smith 25:01
It’s a city surrounded by other states. Yes, this is a state that has a city totally surrounded by another state. It’s an anomaly. Tell
Marcia Smith 25:09
me that just okay, doesn’t make sense. It’s
Bob Smith 25:11
the city of Carter Lake, Iowa. Oh, I told you, you wouldn’t know this. Carter Lake, Iowa is surrounded by Nebraska. You want to know how that is? Sure it’s the only city that’s located west of the Missouri River, and it’s bordered on three sides by Nebraska and on one side by the Missouri River. So how did that come about? The irregular border is the result of an 1877 flood that changed the course of the Missouri River, causing an Oxbow. That’s the horseshoe shaped bend that makes that totally surrounded by Nebraska. Oh no, Iowa and Nebraska got into a heated battle about who should own that space, and the US Supreme Court ruled it part of Iowa in 1892 however, Carter Lake didn’t become its own town until 1930 after it seceded from Council Bluffs Iowa.
Unknown Speaker 26:01
I see, so this,
Bob Smith 26:05
so the supreme court awarded it to Iowa. I see, even though it’s surrounded by Nebraska, I’m sure everybody in that area of the country knows about Yeah, you don’t, and you make fun of it. No, I wasn’t making fun. Yes, you were my you were making front of our Nebraska friends and their friends in Iowa. We haven’t lived in Iowa, and I can’t believe you’d treat our Iowa friends not
Marcia Smith 26:23
I do not do that. I make fun of people on the coasts, but not in the middle of the country. Okay, all right, I couldn’t decide between these three quotes, so I’m going to use all three of them real quick. It’s always our thoughts for the day. It’s correct. It’s about money. Bob, okay, this is Will Rogers, too many people spend money they earn to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.
Unknown Speaker 26:49
Okay, that’s good old Will Rogers. That
Bob Smith 26:51
wisdom just is lives on as true, doesn’t it? It’s always true.
Marcia Smith 26:55
This is epitas. Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
Bob Smith 27:02
Okay, I agree with that. Yeah, me too. You’re a wealthy person. If you don’t really need anything, we’re going
Marcia Smith 27:07
out with my favorite from Malcolm Forbes. Did we meet him?
Bob Smith 27:10
Met one of his sons. Oh, okay, yeah.
Marcia Smith 27:13
And he said I made my money the old fashioned way. I was very nice to a wealthy relative right before he died.
Bob Smith 27:22
Dear god, okay, well, that’s blatantly honest there. Well, let’s be honest with you. We hope you come back and join us again next week, when we do more of this kind of fun stuff, fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia. I’m Bob Smith, I’m Marcia Smith, join us again next time when we return with more on the off ramp. The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio online and the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, the.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
