Things I learned lately 12 Aug

• The Pony Express (a speedy horse-based mail delivery service that linked California to the Midwestern United States) only operated for 18 months before it was superseded by the first transcontinental telegraph system.
• Potato chip bags are filled with nitrogen gas to prevent spoilage and soggy chips. The extra air also helps protect the chips from being damaged by rough handling during the shipping process.
• Roughly 9000 Boeing 737 aircraft have been built since 1967.
• Aboard the International Space Station, astronauts wear clothing until it is too dirty to wear any more, then shoot it out into space to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
• In the original script for National Lampoon’s Vacation starring Chevy Chase, the family never make it to Walley World, instead confronting Roy Walley at his house. It didn’t test very well, so they rewrote the ending and cast John Candy as the security guard that Clark takes hostage so they could ride the rides.
• The Washington Monument was not built at the original proposed location, at the intersection of a straight line from the middle of the White House and a straight line from the middle of the Capitol building. The ground wouldn’t support the weight. So it was offset slightly and the Jefferson Pier Stone was placed there instead.