Did a game show host almost miss the network debut of his show?

By JACK BAGLEY
didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com
Happy Birthday to the good old USA!
Friday of this week, our glorious nation celebrates its 249th birthday.  Well, not exactly a birthday, more of an anniversary – the marking of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which is pretty much accepted in the history books as the birthday of our country.
We still had a war to fight and win, and then there was the establishment of our form of government, then growth, expansion, and … whatever it is we have here today.
So happy birthday to the USA, and happy trivia to you! Enjoy this week’s selection, friends.
Did you know …
… the shortest place name in the world is only one letter? In France, there exists a town called “Y.” It is located in the department of Somme, France, in the northern part of the country. It’s not the only such place, either – 16 towns around the world use some form of “A” as their name. (Well, it does save paint on town limit signs.)
… the average life expectancy of a toilet is 50 years? (I’d toss a joke in at this point but I try to avoid bathroom humor.)
… Playboy magazine is published in Braille? The monthly men’s magazine has been published for the blind to read in Braille since 1970, but none of the photographs are included. (Sure they aren’t.)
… a stone would take more than an hour to fall from the surface of the Pacific Ocean to the bottom of the Mariana Trench? The deepest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench – just off the coast of the Philippines – is deeper than Mount Everest is high. The bottom of the Trench is 36,070 feet below sea level. (And dull. It is very, very dull down that far.)
… it’s considered rude in China to finish all the food in your meal? (Which, of course, makes you wonder why they give you so much.)
… old habits die hard? We’ve all heard that, of course, but let me give you a shining example of why that is a true statement. An old habit almost ruined the new-network premiere of a popular television game show. On September 9, 1963, The Price is Right began its two-year run on ABC. (This was the original version of the show, of course, not the one that began in 1972 and is still running today.) Missing and unaccounted for as the clock ticked down to air time was the host, Bill Cullen (1920-1990). Where was Bill? Trying as hard as he could to get to the ABC studios on time. Cullen had, out of habit, gone to the NBC studios in another part of New York, since that was where the show had been since its beginning in 1956. Cullen made it to the studio just in time to go on the air, as even with video tape, the timing of when the show had to start was vital. Additional trivia note: Cullen was the first choice to host The Price is Right for its 1972 return, but the revised formatting of the show required the host to walk across the stage numerous times, and that was deemed too demanding for him. Cullen had been a victim of polio while a child, and for the rest of his life he walked with a noticeable limp, which was usually kept off-camera. The producers then chose Bob Barker (1923-2023) to emcee the show, with Dennis James (1917-1997) hosting the syndicated nighttime version. (I liked Bill’s style, but you have to admire Bob’s longevity.)
… the record rainfall in one day was over six feet? The island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean recorded 74 inches of rain – 6.17 feet – in a 24-hour period in March of 1952. (They used to write songs about rainy days like that.)
… an estimated one million dogs in the United States have been named as the primary beneficiary in their owners’ wills? (Woof.)
… we are currently in an ice age? Geologists tell us that ice ages include periods that are both cold and warm, and at the present time we’re in a relatively warm span known as an “interglacial period.” The warmest part of that period was between 1890 and 1945, and since then we’ve started slowly getting colder again. (That explains a lot, physically and politically.)
… from 1991 to 2000, about 90% of the world’s LSD was produced by two men? William Leonard Pickard (born 1945) used a renovated Atlas missile silo in Kansas to store the laboratory in which he and his partner, Clyde Apperson (born 1955), ran the largest production of lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. They were caught in 2000 when they were pulled over while driving a rental truck that had the bulk of their lab in it. The arrest of Pickard and Apperson led to a 90% drop in the availability of the drug in the U.S. for the next two years. Pickard received two life prison sentences for his work; Apperson got 30 years with no parole.
… Mississippi once had to deal with a phantom barber? In Pascagoula, Mississippi, in 1942, an unknown individual would break into peoples’ homes in the night and cut their hair. Never apprehended, he became known as the Phantom Barber. The intruder caused no injuries and did little property damage; he just sliced open window screens, opened the windows, and sneaked inside to do his tonsorial art. A “copycat” burglar broke into a home and, using the modus operandi of the Phantom Barber, assaulted a couple with an iron pipe, and the Barber’s snippings stopped afterward, but residents still don’t believe the Phantom Barber was ever captured. (After all this time, he probably won’t be, either.)
… rabbits have a nearly 360˚ panoramic vision? The only spot a rabbit cannot see is directly in front of their noses. That’s their only blind spot; they can see anything sneaking up behind them. (Which helps them out a lot.)
Now … you know!
Copyright © 2025 Jack Bagley