Weekend Open Thread

… cigarette health warnings have been around for a long time? In 1965, legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) required cigarette makers to put health warnings on their packaging. At first, the warnings were relatively mild – “The Surgeon General has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health.” By the early years of the 21st Century, however, the warnings were much more explicit, and in some countries are accompanied by photographs of cancer-ridden lungs, diseased gums, etc. Additional trivia note: Cigarette advertising on radio and television in the U.S. came to an end on January 1, 1971. At 11:59 p.m. Eastern time, a commercial for Virginia Slims cigarettes aired on The Tonight Show – the last television ad for cigarettes in the United States. The ban was supposed to have started the day before, but the government gave the tobacco companies one more day – the day of the college football bowl games – to sell their wares. Two years before, in 1969, tobacco advertising was the single largest source of income for television, bringing in about ten percent of all advertising money.

… you can visit a kind of museum of Pez™? The popular candy dispensers can be found in the thousands at the Pez Visitors Center in Orange, Connecticut. The center also has much more Pez-related memorabilia such as vintage advertising posters. (How very s-pez-cial.)

… your finger may be home to millions of bacteria? Not just any finger, though. I mean a finger with a ring on it. Directly under the ring you may be providing a home to more bacteria than there are people on the continent of Europe. (So go wash your hands, already!)

… it actually is possible to see Russia from Alaska? Despite what a former governor of the state is alleged to have claimed, there’s only one place where it can be done. Two islands in the Bering Strait – Big Diomede and Little Diomede – are close enough that, given proper weather conditions, one can be seen from the other. Big Diomede belongs to Russia, while Little Diomede belongs to the United States. (You have to know just where to look.)

… the first law regarding marijuana in the American colonies required that it be grown? In 1619, a law was passed that required farmers in the American colonies to grow the hemp plant. Once harvested, the hemp was used to make clothing, sails, and rope. (How times have changed.)

… an area of Vermont has seen mysterious disappearances? Called the “Bennington Triangle,” the Glastenbury Mountain area of Bennington, Vermont, saw several unexplained disappearances between 1920 and 1950. Among those who vanished were a man who disappeared from a crowded bus, and a child who went missing from his family’s farm – without a trace. (Well, it is in Vermont, so …)

… the first Christmas postage stamp was issued in 1962? It was pretty simple design, too – just a wreath, a red ribbon, and two candles. The first-class stamp sold for four cents. (I don’t know which is more quaint – the stamp, or the price.)

Now … you know!