Question: There are hundreds of kinds of Typefaces in lettering- Geneva, Times, Baskerville, Caslon, Old English. So what makes the typeface Helvetica so important that NY's Museum of Modern Art had a special display about it?

Answer to yesterday’s question below- why is a toilet called a can?
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History for 2/6/2008
Birthdays: Christopher Marlowe, Eva Braun, Ronald Reagan, Francois Truffaut, Zsa Zsa Gabor is 91, Babe Ruth, Elias Disney- Walt’s dad, Bob Marley, Rip Torn is 77, Queen Anne Ist of England, Aaron Burr, screenwriter Robert Townsend, Tom Brokaw, Mike Maltese, cinematographer Haskel Wexler, Axel Rose, Patrick McKnee- Mr Steed of the Avengers, Natalie Cole is 53, Kathy Najimy is 51

1481- The first public burnings of heretics by the Spanish Inquisition. Six men and women were marched out to a public square in Seville and burned at the stake. The executions soon took on a pageant like atmosphere and were called the Auto-da-fe’, an Act of Faith.

1778-The Kingdom of France signed an alliance with the rebellious North American colonies calling themselves the United States. Queen Marie Antoinette was charmed by the American ambassador Benjamin Franklin and called him 'Le Ambassadeur d'Electrique'. In the House of Commons Prime Minister Lord North had said that he doubted any European monarch would ever ally itself to the rebels: “For it would raise in America a new Empire dedicated to missionary it’s form of radical democracy around the world. “ German philosopher Goethe said: “We wish the Americans every success.”

1847- The Treaty of Waitangi- Britain settled New Zealand from the Maoris. Hobbits to follow….

1919- Because defeated Berlin was awash in communist and rightwing paramilitary mobs fighting in the streets, the German government moved to Weimar to write it's democratic constitution. Germany in between the wars was called the Weimar Republic.

1926- Georgia born former minstrel show hoofer Oliver Hardy signed a contract with the Hal Roach Studios to appear in short comedies, usually as a villain. Next year director Leo McCarey teamed the rotund Hardy with skinny Scottish comedian Stan Laurel and a legendary team was born- Laurel & Hardy.

1935- The board game Monopoly is announced by Parker Brothers. The prototype monopoly board was round oilcloth and had street names derived from Atlantic City NJ. It now is in the toy collection of Forbes Magazine in New York.

1935- BOXERS OR BRIEFS? Arthur Kneibler patented the men’s underwear brief. He got the idea looking at Frenchmen’s bathing suits on the Riviera and called them Jockey’s.

1937- John Steinbecks novel “Of Mice and Men” published. In a result Mr Steinbeck probably didn’t anticipate was the stereotype image of a mildly retarded man as the big dumb sidekick Lenny, cartoonists used so often. “Duh, tell me about da rabbits, George.”

1943-“GET ME GEISLER!” Actor Errol Flynn was acquitted of two counts of sex with adolescents, which even if it is consensual is still considered statutory rape. The two girls who brought the charges had actually tried this shakedown with other celebrities. They weren't exactly adolescents despite testifying in court with pigtails and a lollypop. Flynn hired lawyer to the stars Jerry Geisler and he slowly took the girls story apart. Geisler discovered one girl had a prior conviction for 'public lewdness' and the other had had an abortion which then was illegal. So Flynn got off- literally. Flynn had just finished a film called "Gentleman Jim" and at the end of the film when he says to Alexis Smith:"I never said I was a Gentleman." Peals of knowing laughter rang out from audiences. This is also the time the slang term for living it up was coined- to be “In Like Flynn”. Flynn’s limo soon sported the license plate- R U 18?


1952- King George VI died at 56 of lung cancer. Princess Elizabeth found herself queen at 27 years old.

1985- Steve Wozniak, the young engineer who started Apple Computer with Steve Jobs in his garage, resigned from the company. He’d rather be an engineer and teach children.

2007- KILLER ASTRONAUTS-Lisa Nowak, Space Shuttle commander, and mother of three, nicknamed RoboChick by the astronauts, was enamored of another astronaut on the program, William “Billy-O” Oefelein. Today Lisa shocked America by driving 900 miles from Texas to Orlando non-stop to threaten the life of her lovers’s new girlfriend. When arrested She wore a wig, a Huggies diaper to prevent having to pull over to use the restroom and was carrying handcuffs and duct tape. The incident spawned dozens of puns- Astro-Nut, Lust in Space,The 150 Mile High Club, etc.
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QUESTION” Why is The Can, another name for toilet?

Answer: German sailors on U-Boat submarines discovered that below 30 feet under water the water pressure was so great, the normal toilets were unusable. So they recycled large empty peaches and pears tin cans for ..uh,,,, you know what. So that’s when “using the can” entered normal parlance.

Ach Schweinhundt! Light some matches! Open ze vindow!"