Episode #626

News Items

    Science or Fiction

    • Item #1 Science

      Mark Twain’s first success as a writer was his 1865 short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. However, the story was not his own creation. An acquaintance in a bar told him the story and he adapted it into the famous short story.

    • Item #2 Fiction

      Mark Twain kept both cats and dogs as pets. He loved cats, but he did not care much for dogs. At one point his family had three pet collies which he named Belzebub, Pestilence, and Blatherskite.

    • Item #3 Science

      Mark Twain and his wife Olivia slepped in their bed in reverse with their heads and the foot of the bed and their feet at the head of the bed, and they slept in a propped up position because they believed it was healthier than sleeping lying down.

    Skeptical Quote of the Week.