Two Truths and a Time Lie 1–4

The lie is C: Velcro was invented by NASA for astronauts.

A · True. James Wright at General Electric produced the bouncing goo around 1943 while working on a rubber substitute. Source: The Strong National Museum of Play; Wikipedia, “Silly Putty”

B · True. Kutol sold it as a wallpaper cleaner before it was reinvented as a toy in the 1950s. Source: The Strong National Museum of Play

C · False. Swiss engineer George de Mestral invented it after noticing burrs stuck to his dog; he patented it in the 1950s. NASA only used it later. Source: Velcro Companies; National Inventors Hall of Fame

The lie is A: The first webcam was pointed at a fish tank.

A · False. It watched a coffee pot: the Trojan Room coffee pot at the University of Cambridge, from 1991, so people could see if there was coffee left. Source: Wikipedia, “Trojan Room coffee pot”

B · True. Shigetaka Kurita’s 176 emoji for NTT Docomo were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2016. Source: Museum of Modern Art

C · True. “Me at the zoo”, uploaded 23 April 2005, was filmed at the San Diego Zoo. Source: Wikipedia, “Me at the zoo”

The lie is B: Fortune cookies were invented in China.

A · True. Caesar Cardini is credited with creating it at his restaurant in Tijuana, in 1924. Source: Britannica; NPR

B · False. They most likely come from Japanese crackers and were popularized in California in the early 1900s. They are rare in China. Source: Smithsonian National Museum of American History

C · True. It is named after Samuel German, an American who developed a sweet baking chocolate in 1852. Source: Wikipedia, “German chocolate cake”; NPR

The lie is B: Scrabble was invented by a dictionary publisher.

A · True. Richard James was working with springs for ships in 1943 when one fell and “walked”. Source: Smithsonian Magazine

B · False. It was invented by Alfred Mosher Butts, an architect out of work during the Great Depression, in the 1930s. Source: Wikipedia, “Scrabble”

C · True. In the 1760s, London mapmaker John Spilsbury mounted maps on wood and cut them up along country borders. Source: Wikipedia, “Jigsaw puzzle”