Optimism: On the 10,000th try there was light.

I've seen this billboard from the Foundation For a Better Life, an organization that I find vaguely suspicious for no discernible reason. This billboard is historically inaccurate, or at least misleading. It implies that it took Thomas Edison by himself 10,000 attempts before he made a working light bulb. If that were true, it would be stupid. Only an idiot would keep trying after 5,000 complete failures.

Incorrect implication the first: Edison didn't invent the light bulb. The light bulb was actually invented in 1802, decades before Edison was even born. It just wasn't a practical one. Just getting light out of an incandescent bulb wasn't hard. What was difficult was making it bright and durable.

Incorrect implication the second: Edison worked alone. Edison had an army of (underappreciated) assistants doing much of the work (as described in the biography The Wizard of Menlo Park). He also built on the work of others (as detailed in the afore-linked Wikipedia article), including the key innovations of the evacuated glass bulb and the carbon filament.

What Edison and his team of assistants managed to do in the late 1870s was to perfect the state of the art in electrical lighting. It was a valuable effort, but it isn't nearly the grand leap the billboard implies. I'm not even convinced they really did try 10,000 different types of filaments. Even a thousand seems unlikely, but I don't have a better number. Regardless, the billboard is deceptive.

A European Cold War

I discovered today that the country of Liechtenstein refuses to recognize the governments of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and vice versa, because of post-WWII era laws and the confiscation of property belonging to the former Prince of Liechtenstein due to his links with Nazi Germany. When I was thinking about countries not recognized by other countries, I was thinking Israel or Abkhazia or Taiwan, not civilized Europe.

Test Your Knowledge: Napoleon

When and where was Napoleon's final battlefield defeat?

Syria in the Gulf War

Syria had 14,500 troops in Operation Desert Storm. Theirs was the 6th largest contingent. All this time I had thought that Syria and Iraq were pals. I've had the wrong idea for 17 years.

Longfellow was sloppy

"Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of William Dawes."

Nope. Doesn't rhyme. What about...

"Of the midnight ride of Samuel Prescott."

Doh. Ok, how about:

"Of the midnight ride of Israel Bissell."

Ok, last try:

"Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere."

There we go. All done.