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“Make your life a mission, not an intermission.” —Arnold Glasow

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—MY TWO CENTS WORTH—

Good morning, Everyone—

On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean. One of the largest luxury ocean liners ever built, the disaster shocked the world.

Forty years ago, on Sept. 1, 1985, a team of scientists located the Titanic 12,500 feet beneath the ocean surface about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Although it was split in two, it was mostly intact. Here are 13 facts about the Titanic you may or may not know.

Many myths and conspiracy theories surrounded the sinking. Some attributed the disaster to a mummy’s curse. Another even suggested the ship never sank. Read about the craziest of those theories.

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—DISPATCHES FROM THE OLD WEST— 

(1) Today, a couple of Old West stories that are grounded in mystery and the bizarre. 

Some folks in New Mexico Territory blamed dirty money for the reason behind Arthur Manby’s wealth. One of the wealthiest men in the Southwest, Manby acquired his fortune as a mining promoter, made a lot of enemies along the way, and died a bizarre death. “MINES, MONEY, AND MADNESS.

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(2) This is one of my favorite mysteries, which includes a heavy dose of ghosts. In the 1860s, sightings of a ghost-like vessel on the Platte River in Wyoming were believed to portend death. “THE SHIP OF DEATH.”

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—DISPATCHES FROM HERE & THERE—  

(3) Remember pay phones—those boxy contraptions that required a quarter or more to connect with someone you’re calling? They’re back, but in a small way. Electrical engineer Ray Schlott has reintroduced them in the state of Vermont, specifically in the Green Mountain region. And, you don’t even need coins to make a call.

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(4) I didn’t realize that some national monuments include hidden details. For example, the World War II memorial in Washington features graffiti with the words “Kilroy was Here." 

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(5) Your computer keyboard can do a lot of things. Here is what every key on your computer does.

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(6) This story might be labeled a gift that keeps giving. In 1945, a listening device was hidden in a piece of artwork gifted to the US. It went undetected by US security for seven years.  

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(7) The Cambridge Dictionary added more than 6,000 new words this year. Among them: skibidi, tradwife, and inspo.

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(8) In Late August of 1835, the New York Sun published the first of six articles revealing the discovery of life on the moon. It became known as The Great Moon Hoax.

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“Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply 'must' do things.”  —Ray Bradbury

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