PEZ Dispenser History

Created as a peppermint candy in Vienna in 1927, PEZ, derived from the German word Pfefferminz (peppermint), is now a leader in "interactive candy." The name PEZ came from the German word pefferminz meaning peppermint. The took the first, middle, and last letter of the word to create PEZ (pefferminz). After the candy itself caught on, Oscar Uxa invented the famed PEZ dispenser in the 1950s, but he did not receive acclaim for his creation until heads were placed on top of the dispensers in 1955. Some of the earliest dispensers (Mickey Mouse, Santa Claus) can fetch up to $10,000 at auction. To date, more than 1,500 different dispensers have been created, and more than 3 billion PEZ candies are consumed each year in the U.S. alone.

Yo-Yo History

Though its history can be traced back to nearly 500 B.C., the yo-yo didn't find mainstream success until the late 1920s, when a young U.S. immigrant named Pedro Flores ignited an international craze. Born in the Philippines, Flores saw the toy's potential in the U.S. after remembering its Filipino popularity. (It had received the name yoyo there hundreds of years before.) While working as a bellboy, Flores founded the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company in 1928. After selling handmade yo-yos to children around Los Angeles, he was able to secure financing to open a factory. Within a year, the company was producing 300,000 yo-yos a day, and Flores' "Wonder Toy" achieved craze status in the U.S., with yo-yo contests popping up all over the country.

Bubble Solution History

     Seventeenth century Flemish painters show children blowing bubbles with clay pipes. Generations of 18th and 19th century mothers gave their children their leftover washing soap to blow bubbles.  At the beginning of the 20th century, street peddlers and pitchmen were among the first to sell bubbles as a toy.During the early 1940's, a chemical company, Chemtoy, which sold cleaning supplies, revolutionized the toy world by systematically bottling bubble solution.  Tootsietoy Company later acquired the small chemical company and put bubble solution into full retail distribution by the late 1940s. During the 1960s, bubbles became a symbol of peace and harmony to hippies and flower children and further popularized the sport of bubble blowing. In the 1970's, 80's and 90's, bubble making companies like Imperial, Wells and Pustifix came into being increasing world-wide sales of bottles of bubble solution to more than 200 million a year. Today, bubble solution is the best selling toy in the world!

Christmas Tree Worms

Christmas Tree Worms (Scientific name: Spirobranchus Giganteus) are small, tube-building  worms belonging to the family Serpulidae. These attractive corals come in a variety of colors ranging from yellow and orange to blue and white. They are widely distributed throughout the world’s tropical oceans. The worm’s multicolored spirals actually are highly derived respiratory structures. It lacks specialized appendages for movement or swimming and does not move outside it’s tube. They have two beautiful crowns which give them Christmas tree appearance and hence they got their name. These crowns are specialized mouth appendages of the worm. They are very sensitive to disturbances. Even a shadow causes an instant reaction. It’s tube is it’s home.

Light Bulb Sea Squirt

Light Bulb Sea Squirt (Scientific name: Clavelina Lepadiformis) is a colonial sea squirt. The transparent tunic of the worm shows the yellow or white internal organs. This gives them the glow of a light bulb and hence they got their name. They are mostly found along the Norwegian Coast. Their colonies can also be seen in the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and in the Mediterranean Sea. They sit together with a loose binding at the base. They are cylindrical and have a 4cm long elongation. They grow in late winters and reproduce in summers.

Comets

It is an icy body that releases gas or dust. They are often compared to dirty snowballs, though recent research has led some scientists to call them snowy dirtballs and contain dust, ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and more. It orbit the sun, but most are believed to inhabit in an area known as the Oort Cloud, far beyond the orbit of Pluto. Occasionally a comet streaks through the inner solar system; some do so regularly, some only once every few centuries.

Halley's Comet

Halley’s Comet is named after English astronomer Edmond Halley who first determined its period of orbit. It was the first comet to be recognized as having a periodic orbit.

COINS LEFT ON TOMBSTONES

While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.

These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.

A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the solider when he was killed.

According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.

In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.

Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.

The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire.

Did you know?

Face Illusions are ambiguous images which exploit similarities between two or more distinct images. They are also known as reversal images, puzzle images and perceptual rivalry.

Optical Illusions

Do you see it?