THE INVENTION OF PUFF PASTRY
In 1645 Gele, a rural French pastry cook’s apprentice, baked a loaf of bread for his sick father, who was under doctor’s orders to eat a lot of flour and butter. To make something special for him, Gele kneaded extra butter into the dough, then rolled it very thin and folded it over on itself into the shape of a loaf. He then baked it...and watched with surprise as it rose dramatically. Steam from the butter had become trapped in the folds, expanding and lifting the dough. The finished product was a light, flaky, and buttery bread that Gele called pate feuilletée, meaning “leaf-like pastry.” Gele took his invention to bakeries in both Paris and Florence, where it became famous, and from there spread all over the world. True puff pastry still uses no yeast, but rises simply via the steam it creates.
Scientists say: The higher your IQ, the more you dream.
WORLD’S FIRST RECIPE FOR GÜLLAC
Hu Szu-Hui was a chef and physician to the leaders of the Mongol Empire in China in the 1300s. His book of ancient Mongol cuisine includes the first-known recipe is for güllac: Place chopped nuts between many layers of paper-thin dough that have been soaked in sweetened milk, top with pomegranate seeds, and bake. If it sounds familiar, remove the pomegranate seeds and add honey, and you’ve got the classic Greek dessert known as baklava. In fact, many food historians actually call güllac “the original baklava.” (But don’t tell the Greeks that.) Interestingly, Hu Szu-Hui wasn’t a Mongol—he was a Turk, and güllac is still a popular treat in Turkey, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.
Sidenote: Dr. Hu’s book also includes recipes for bear soup (a cure for foot problems) and sheep’s heart (a cure for depression). And readers are warned against eating fish with eyelashes, which, according to Hu, are poisonous. (Fish don’t have eyelashes.)
THE RIDDLER
1. I penetrate your ear, but if you poke out my eye, I really smell. What word am I?
2. I have a head and a tail but no body in between. What am I?
3. What kind of running means you’ll be walking?
4. I have no mass and can’t be seen, but I make millions move every day, though few of them travel very far. What am I?
Answers:
1. The word “noise”—take out the “i” and you’re left with a nose, which really smells. 2. A coin. 3. Running out of gas. 4. Music, which makes people dance (moving without going anywhere).
In California, it’s illegal to shoot game from a moving vehicle, unless the target is a whale.
THE ORIGIN OF PARCHEESI
(A GAME OF COWRIES
AND INDIANS)
No, it’s not a game that Native Americans played. It’s a game that actual Indians from India played by rolling cowrie shells. And it was once the most popular board game in the U.S. (before Monopoly). Here’s the story.
CHECKERED PAST
If you were the Mogul Indian emperor Akbar I in 1590, you might be playing pachisi, a game very much like Parcheesi—except much larger. Instead of a table-friendly foldout board, you and your three opponents would be playing in the center of a large room, on a floor of inlaid red and white marble. And instead of dice, you’d be rolling six cowrie shells. Most significantly, instead of sitting at a table and moving pieces of colored plastic, you and your opponents would be sitting on a raised platform, moving 16 members of your harem dressed in the four classic colors of the board. But the goal back then was the same as in modern Parcheesi: to get all four of your pawns home.
A game that’s more than 400 years old may seem old, but even then it was considered ancient. Mogul-era historians claimed the games went much farther back, perhaps as early as the 4th century A.D., perhaps even farther. Some believe, for example, that a version of pachisi may have been the storied “game of dice” that started a war in 400 B.C. between princely cousins, as told in the ancient Sanskrit text Mahabharata.
Today, it is the “national game of India.”
IN CASE YOU’VE NEVER PLAYED
Parcheesi, and its forerunners and descendants, are “Cross and Circle” game in which the players’ pawns start in one place, travel around the outside of an X-shaped board and—unless blocked, sent back, or otherwise thwarted by the pawns of their competitors—eventually end up safe in a Home position in the center of the board (the place where Emperor Akbar and his opponents sat waiting for their harem girls). The competitor who gets all of their pawns home first is the winner.
Worldwide, Norwegians drink the most coffee and have the highest rate of anxiety disorders.
THE CURE FOR POST-WAR BOARDOM
In 1867, two years after the American Civil War ended, a New York game developer named John Hamilton adapted a version of the Indian game of pachisi. Historians are unclear how Hamilton found the game. Perhaps he was a world traveler, or maybe someone brought it to him from India. Either way, he copyrighted it as “Patcheesi,” adding a “t” and a double “e” to make sure Americans pronounced the name correctly (“Patcheasy”), instead of guessing (“peh-chizzy” or “pay-chai-see”). Keeping the unusual name turned out to be a smart marketing move: After decades of building a national identity and fighting numerous wars to keep it, Americans were ready to branch out and indulge themselves in this exotic “new” game from the mysterious East.
A year after Hamilton copyrighted Patcheesi and before any boards were printed or distributed, he sold the rights to the game. The buyer was a New York “fancy goods manufacturer” named Albert Swift, who in turn sold it to E. G. Selchow & Company (later renamed Selchow & Righter), which issued a yearly catalog of practical jokes, magic tricks, puzzles, and board games.
It was in those few years of going from owner to owner that Patcheesi’s “t” turned into an “r.” No one knows who changed the name or why, but in 1874 the newly-coined Parcheesi became a huge hit for Selchow & Righter. It sold several million copies and created a small industry of knockoffs. Until Monopoly became popular in the 1920s, Parcheesi was the game of choice.
A LUDO-CROSS CULTURAL ADAPTATION
Parcheesi didn’t catch on in England until several decades after it did in the United States—a curious fact considering that England colonized India in the 1850s and helped itself to the region’s tea, spices, textiles, ivory, and opium. It wasn’t until 1896, at the height of America’s Parcheesi craze, that the English finally adapted the game. Likely fearing lawsuits, this new version of Hamilton’s game was called Ludo (“I play” in Latin). The rules were altered slightly before the game was patented and spread throughout the British Empire (including to India).
Most common name for currencies worldwide: “dollar.” Second most common: “franc.”
As with Parcheesi in North America, Ludo became Great Britain’s dominant board game in the early 1900s. In fact, both versions are still popular in the 21st century.
CHEESI VARIATIONS
The popularity of Ludo in England brought even more imitators from all over the world. Of all the various non-Indian variations of pachisi, Hamilton’s Parcheesi is the closest to the original, but it has many cousins.
• Mensch Ärgere Dich Nicht. This German variation of Ludo, released in 1914, translates to “Don’t Get Angry, Man!” It differed in that players could not only could block their competitors but knock them all the way back to the start. This variation and its name spread through Croatia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Italy, and the Netherlands. An English-language variation hit the U.S. and Canada in the 1930s. You may know it better as...
• Sorry! Patented in England in 1929, Sorry! was released in the United States six years later by Parker Brothers, and became one of their best sellers. Replacing the dice with cards, the goal is the same—to get all four of your pawns Home before your opponents make you go back to Start.
• Uckers is a much more aggressive version of Ludo that was popular in the British Navy in the 1930s. Sometimes played in teams, you not only have to get all four of your pieces Home first, but you must do so before any of your opponents ge
t any of their pieces Home.
• Pachisi, Pachesi, Parchesi, and Game of India were all knockoffs with one purpose in mind: Create something as close to Parcheesi as possible without getting sued for copyright infringement. The first one was released in 1899 when a company called Chaffee & Selchow ripped off the Selchow & Righter game without even changing the name. A lawsuit was filed, but the case was dropped when it was revealed that the Selchow in the new company was the son of the original Selchow. Because he was still living at home with his parents, he agreed to pay a modest settlement. (No word on whether he was kicked out of the house.)
Jamestown, Virginia, was originally founded as a site for producing silk (1607).
• Pollyanna: A Milton Bradley product (as was the knock-off Game of India), Pollyanna was unique in that it may have been the first pop-culture version of a popular board game. Decorated with characters from the popular 1913 children’s book, Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter, this version of Parcheesi was the predecessor of modern crossover games such as Star Wars Monopoly and The Simpsons Clue.
• Clue isn’t based on Parcheesi, but the name of the game comes from Cluedo, invented in England as a way to pass the time during World War II bombing raids. The name of that game was modeled after Ludo. (If the Parker Brothers had followed that logic in America, the game might have been called Cluecheesi.)
• Petits Chevaux was a French copy of Parcheesi, but with a horse-racing motif.
• Aggravation. Released in 1962 and now sold by Parker Brothers, Aggravation differs from Parcheesi in that the board’s cross-shaped playing area was redesigned into an asterisk shape, meaning as many as six people can play. And instead of plastic pawns, players use marbles. The name comes from the fact that it’s very aggravating when an opponent lands on your marble and sends you back to Start...again.
• Wa Hoo. This 1960s variation mistook the game’s Indian origin as American Indian, hence the pictures of teepees and warriors all over the board.
SHELL GAME
If you want to play Parcheesi like the ancient Indians played pachisi, put the dice away and get six cowrie shells (available at any craft store). The rules: If your roll of the shells yields two to six openings facing upward, you move that many spaces. However, if your roll yields only one opening on top, you move 10, and if you roll no openings on top, you move 25. (Not coincidentally, pachisi means “25” in the Hindi language.) Or, if you really want to play the way the Indian noblemen did, get rid of the plastic pawns and get yourself a harem.
Oldest U.S. vice president: Truman’s running mate Alben Barkley—71 when he took office.
HERE COMES THE JUDGE
It’s their courtroom, and court is in session. The ruling: They can do whatever they want. Anything at all.
ARE WE BORING YOU?
At a 2009 sentencing hearing, Judge Daniel Rozak sentenced Jayson Mayfield of Joliet, Illinois, to two years’ probation for a felony drug charge. In other words, he basically got to walk away. His cousin didn’t. After the sentence was announced, Mayfield’s cousin, Clifton Williams, yawned loudly, angering Rozak, who then sentenced Williams to six months in jail for contempt of court, calling the yawn a “loud and boisterous” attempt at disruption. It wasn’t the first time Rozak issued an odd contempt-of-court charge. He’s also jailed people for their ringing cell phones and for uttering profanities. (Williams, by the way, only served three weeks for his infraction.)
MAKE SURE TO TAPE IT
Facing trial for his alleged role in a Canton, Ohio, Walmart robbery in 2010, Harry Brown became concerned that his courtappointed defense lawyer was unprepared and incompetent. So Brown began to shout out corrections and facts that he felt the lawyer was getting wrong. That upset Municipal Court Judge Stephen Belden, who warned Brown against further outbursts. Brown didn’t stop, so Belden ordered a deputy to shut him up...by putting duct tape over his mouth. That got Brown even angrier, so Judge Belden ultimately dismissed the hearing to another court. Brown says putting tape on his mouth was “disrespectful.”
PHONING IT IN
Aftab Ahmed was due in court in Suffolk, England, for sentencing on a charge relating to his bankruptcy, but he was late—he was stuck in a traffic jam and not going anywhere. So he called his lawyer, Kevin McCarthy, to explain the situation. McCarthy relayed the story to Judge Caroline Ludlow, who decided to continue with the case anyway because she had a full slate that day and couldn’t afford to wait any longer. And just like that, Judge Ludlow called Ahmed back and sentenced him—on his cell phone—to 140 hours of community service and a £750 fine.
Most states won in a presidential election: 49, by Richard Nixon (’72) & Ronald Reagan (’84).
WORK FASTER!
At your job, if you didn’t finish an important assignment on time, at the very worst, you’d probably get fired. Be glad you don’t work for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Circuit Court Judge Charles Greene. He gave his court reporter, Ann Margaret Smith, several months to type up a 1,500-page manuscript of a criminal trial that was needed for an appeal hearing. The deadline came and went, and Smith had completed only 400 pages of it. Judge Greene felt that this constituted obstruction of justice, so he had Smith jailed for contempt of court...because she didn’t finish typing up the transcript. The Judge threatened to keep Smith in jail until she finished the job, but when she argued that there were no facilities in the Fort Lauderdale jail to do that, he released her to house arrest until she finally finished.
NIAGARA FAILS
Judge Robert Restaino was hearing a docket of domestic violence cases in Niagara Falls, New York, in 2005 when a cell phone rang—a posted no-no in the courtroom. Restaino said, “Every single person in this courtroom is going to jail unless I get that instrument now.” But none of the 46 people present would admit to having the phone, so Restaino followed through on his threat: He directed police to take the entire crowd of defendants, witnessess, and observers to the Niagara City Jail. Thirty-two people posted bail and were released, while the other 14 were booked and jailed. After the local media found out about his rash decision, Restaino released the remaining prisoners and blamed his behavior on “stress.” Then the city of Niagara Falls gave Restaino time to relax...by removing him from his judge position.
“A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works.”
—Bill Vaughan
Studies show: Your favorite foods are likely foods your mother ate when you were in her womb.
HELEN KELLER:
VAUDEVILLE STAR
In 1919 Helen Keller was 39 years old and an international celebrity, but she was having trouble paying the bills. So she took her act on the road.
WHO WAS HELEN KELLER?
Born in Alabama in 1880, Helen Keller was a cheerful, bright baby who was just beginning to learn to talk. Then, at 19 months old, she contracted a high fever that left her blind, deaf, and unable to speak. All of a sudden, Helen’s normal development stopped and she became a “wild child”—she ate with her hands, threw food, and broke things. The Kellers’ relatives urged her affluent parents to send the little girl to an asylum, which was a too-common destination for deaf-blind people in those days. But Mrs. Keller knew that inside her angry daughter was an intelligent girl trying desperately to communicate.
So when Helen was six years old, her parents brought her to the famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who was trying to find a way to cure deafness. Bell was unable to help Helen but recommended the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. The school’s headmaster decided that Helen needed constant home care and sent a 20-year-old teacher named Anne Sullivan, a recent graduate of the school, who was herself partially blind. Sullivan had no experience with deaf-blind students, but after a rough start, she had a major breakthrough when she got Helen to understand the connection between actual water and the letters “w-a-t-e-r,” which Sullivan spelled using sign language in Helen’s hands.
AN UNLIKELY CELEBRITY
After
that, a whole new world opened up for Keller. Under Sullivan’s tutelage, she excelled at reading and writing, and in 1904 she became the first deaf-blind person in history to graduate from college. Keller had been famous since childhood thanks to a series of articles written about her by the headmaster at Perkins, but her celebrity skyrocketed after her first book, The Story of My Life, was published when she was 22 years old. Keller then became an advocate for the deaf-blind, as well as a political activist—touting socialism, worker’s rights, and pacifism. But she was most famous for simply being Helen Keller.
Of all the animal milk that humans drink, a donkey’s milk is the closest to human milk.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Starting in Keller’s teenage years, vaudeville promoters came calling. At Sullivan’s urging, Keller always politely declined, explaining that she made her living by writing books and giving formal lectures—not by appearing in front of rowdy crowds who paid a nickel each to gawk at (and heckle) jugglers, comedians, and singers, not to mention “freak” acts such as the dog-faced boy or the Siamese twins. Even though vaudeville shows were advertised as “family entertainment,” audiences could get out of hand.
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