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SAFETY FIRST

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  The name Walter Hunt has been lost to history but he invented three important and useful things in use even today. Yet he never achieved credit or reaped the millions of dollars these items could have earned him. Walter Hunt was born in upstate New York and became a Mason by trade. He had a knack for creating and invented several useful items - including a prototype fountain pen. He attained patents for his inventions, but often sold them when he needed money. He innovated the repeating rifle but lacked the means to mass produce them so he sold the patent to Winchester and Hunt's repeating format revolutionized rifles, but Winchester earned the fame and money. Hunt then transformed sewing pins. He added a spring to the end of a pin, then connected a second metal piece with a cap. The coil help the pin move into the cap. Hunt patented the device, but sold the patent to WR Grace and Company for $400 - to pay off a $15 debt. Safety pins netted the WR Grace Company millions of dollar
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INNOVATION NOVEMBER

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November celebrates innovators :  An inventor who sold his patents and lost out on fame and wealth  A lady who changed sales and food storage  A French creator invents the movie camera and hops a train but never hops off
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SHE HAD AN AXE TO GRIND

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  "Andrew Borden is now dead,  Lizzie hit him on the head.  Up in heaven he will sing,  On the gallows she will swing." That is the lesser known second verse of the famous rhyme "Lizzie Borden took an axe..." that most people know even if they don't fully know Lizzie Borden's story. The murders of Andrew and Abbey Borden, possibly at the hands of Andrew's daughter Lizzie certainly were a subject of fascination in 1892, but Lizzie Borden has become an absolute legend. Her story is intriguing - why would a spoiled daughter of privilege take a hatchet (not an axe) and give her stepmother 17 (not 40), and her father 11 (not 41) whacks? If Lizzie Borden did it at all. Andrew Borden was Fall River, Massachusetts' foremost property developer. He made his fortune manufacturing caskets (oh the irony - was he buried in a casket his company had made?) He bought commercial properties then developed them into successful businesses. He made a fortune of $300,000.
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SAY CHEESE (CLOTH) !

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  Witches come in many forms - old crones, green skinned neophytes, bubbly 1960s housewives, sisters unlucky in love, and middle-aged Scottish ladies. That last one really isn't typical, yet Helen Duncan was tried as a witch... in 1944. Born in Callendar in 1897 Helen Duncan was a psychic medium tried for witchcraft. Helen often gave prophecies as a child. In 1916 she met Henry Duncan, who supported her in her paranormal efforts. The two married and had six children. In 1926 Helen became a physical medium. In physical mediumship spirits manifest themselves in a physical way. A spirit manipulates the medium corporally, as in automatic writing, or putting their words into the medium's mind to be spoken. Helen would spit up ectoplasm which was supposed to be the after effects, and proof, of Helen having spirits enter her body. Helen had a spirit guide named Peggy who assisted her during seances. In November of 1941 Helen connected with a soldier aboard the HMS Barham. That soldier
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LIKE A VIRGIN

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  Ladies have accomplished many things in history, some great and long-lasting, others just unique. A 17th century Countess may have been the world's first lady serial killer, and is credited as being the most prolific serial killer ever - body count : 650. But did Elizabeth Bathory really slaughter virgins to bathe in their blood, or was that way back in the day anti-feminist propaganda? Erzabet Bathori was born into a very politically well connected family in 1650. She was well educated, even by today's standards. She learned languages, literature, science and math. Her parents were wealthy and owned a great deal of land.  When she was 10 Elizabeth's father died and at age 11 she became betrothed and was sent to live with her future husband's family. She and her husband married when he was 15. They were given a castle as a wedding gift - you know, cause blenders are so over gifted. Elizabeth and her husband had five children - mostly sons. Her husband died in 1604 le
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LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN

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  Two women traveling in Paris in 1901 saw many sites - The Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe. Surely they ate baguettes, brie, and eclairs and perhaps bought themselves new chapeaux. But they also traveled back in time - okay not exactly, but something similar. They saw an imprint of the past, kind of like how when exposed to bright light you can see an after image. Only this after image lasted longer than a few seconds, and featured other people, including Marie Antoinette. Let's go back to 1672. King Louis XV built Le Petite Trianon on the grounds of Versailles as a gift for his mistress - a high class shag shack if there ever was one. Louis XVI gave Le Petite Trianon to Marie Antoinette, and she decided to make the grounds of working farm. Gardeners grew vegetables, and servants tended to farm animals. In the Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette , the queen and her baby daughter feed a lamb - Marie Antoinette in her Cottage Core era. Marie Antoinette used Le Petite Trianon as her hom
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SPOOOOOKY LADIES-TOBER II - GHOSTLY, GHASTLY, WITCHY AND BITCHY

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   Ghostly - two school teachers met Marie Antoinette...118 years after she died Ghastly - splish splash she was takin' a bath... in the blood of virgins Witchy - a woman tried for witchcraft...in 1944 Bitchy - Lizzie Borden took an ax ... or did she? Yeah, she probably did  
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