The “black box” on an airplane is really bright orange, so it can be found after a crash.

I am going to wear bright orange next time I fly.

I want them to find me, too.

In 1937, the Chelsea Baby Club in London introduced wire cages to hang out windows and provide babies with fresh air.

I will never join the Chelsea Baby Club.

Velcro was invented in 1941 by George de Mestral.  The name Velcro is a combination of the French words “velours” and “croché” (basically, “hooked velvet”). 

De Mestral’s hook-and-fastener idea was inspired by burrs that would get caught in his dog’s fur as they went on walks.

There truly is nothing more inspirational than a dog covered in burrs.

The plastic tips on the end of shoelaces are called aglets, from the Old French aiguillette, which is a diminutive form of the French word for needle.  Before the invention of buttons, aglets were very helpful in fastening clothes. 

Before the invention of buttons????

Buttons have been around for thousands and thousands of years, but apparently more for decoration than functionality.

Functional buttons used to close or fasten clothes first appeared in Germany in the 13th century.

When you start with an exciting fact about aglets and then move to buttons, you know it’s going to be a good day.  No ifs, Ags, or Butts. 

First (and worst) pun using “aglets” and “buttons.”

The bikini was invented in 1946.  I don’t really understand how it was “invented” in 1946.  Could no one honestly figure this one out on their own?  Anyway, the “inventor” named the swimsuit after Bikini Atoll, the site of nuclear weapon tests earlier the same year.  I was at the beach this weekend.  As great as bikinis can be, there really is a fine line between a swimsuit and a weapon of mass destruction.

Thomas Edison is credited for the use of “hello” as the standard telephone greeting.  However, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell suggested “ahoy” as the standard phone greeting. 

2 things: 

First, I am so sick of Thomas Edison inventing everything.  We get it… you are an inventor.

Secondly, I like the way this Alexander Graham Bell guy thinks.  I suggest we start saying “ahoy” again.  No matter how crappy the reason for calling someone is, you’ll automatically feel happier after the person answers with “ahoy.”

The first personal timepieces were introduced in 16th century Europe.  These “clock-watches” were about the size of a clock and usually worn on a chain around a person’s neck.  This is four hundred years more old school than Flavor Flav.