Charles Reichblum, nicknamed "Dr. Knowledge," has gathered a world of fascinating facts and stories that serve as a source for his Knowledge in a Nutshell book series. In the first half of the program, he shared little-known facts about the history of the United States. Reichblum said the he began his interest in strange facts while working at a radio station as a teenager when he learned that three of the first five presidents (Jefferson, Adams, and Monroe) died on the same date - July 4th, with Jefferson and Adams actually passing on the same day in 1826. He revealed that the third Vice President, Aaron Burr, shot and killed Founding Father Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel and was actually "under indictment for murder" while he was in office.
Reichblum also discussed the origins of the hot dog and its strange name. He recounted the story of a vendor at a New York City baseball game in 1900 who was looking for a way to sell hot food. A newspaper cartoonist saw the strange food for sale and thought the sausages in buns looked like dachshunds. Since he didn’t know how to spell the breed name, he shortened it to "hot dog" and an American icon was born. The worst disaster in terms of loss of life was the 1900 Galveston hurricane, which killed approximately 10,000 people. Reichblum said that the count was difficult because many of the bodies "were washed into the Gulf of Mexico" and there was no way to tell how severe the storm would be (and to prepare) with the technology at the time.
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Open Lines occupied the latter half. Paul in Massachusetts called to recount the story of the Rosenbergs, who were executed for treason against the United States in 1953. He said he knew an FBI agent that was present before their execution and that "J. Edgar Hoover was on the other end of the phone" waiting for their confessions and would have reversed their death penalty convictions. Blair in Arizona told of his research into preventing Alzheimer’s disease and his idea that there is "a psychological aspect to it" that causes unreleased emotions to lead to the condition. Nadine from Ohio told George she saw a shadow of something that "looked like a praying mantis" in a hallway in her home late at night when she was 2 or 3 years old. Kevin in Indiana told the story of a cat that disappeared from his house and showed up four days later "under the dining room table eating a slice of pizza."
Michael in North Carolina asked George what growing up in the 1960s was like. "Tumultuous," said George, but added that the space program and the moon landing happened at that time as well. Christopher called from Iowa to continue reporting on the saga of his "succubus" encounters, an entity which he said "helps me out at times." Kerrick in Texas tweeted a question for George, asking what he would have as his last meal if he knew he was going to die. "Nothing!" he answered. Bob in California recalled his work as a video and audio specialist for the Mutual UFO Network in Southern California during the 20th century and how he met "met a who’s who in the field" of UFO research. In the last half hour, an encore broadcast interview with Mary Ann Winkowski featured discussion about communications with ghosts.
News segment guests: Charles R. Smith, Peter Davenport, Tim Binnall