Two Truths and a Time Lie 5–8

The lie is C: The barcode was inspired by the flag signals sailors use.

A · True. James Ritty, a saloon owner in Dayton, Ohio, patented it in 1879 for exactly that reason. Source: National Inventors Hall of Fame

B · True. It was founded on 8 February 1950 by Frank McNamara and Ralph Schneider. Source: Wikipedia, “Diners Club International”

C · False. It was inspired by Morse code: Joseph Woodland pulled his fingers through the sand on Miami Beach in the late 1940s and turned dots and dashes into lines. Source: Smithsonian Magazine

The lie is A: Oreo cookies were invented in England.

A · False. They were made by Nabisco in New York; the first Oreo was sold on 6 March 1912, to a grocer in Hoboken, New Jersey. Source: Wikipedia, “Oreo”

B · True. They began at the Casa de Fritos restaurant inside Disneyland in the early 1960s, made from leftover tortillas. Source: Wikipedia, “Doritos”

C · True. Frank Epperson patented his “Epsicle ice pop” in 1924; his children renamed it. Source: Wikipedia, “Popsicle (brand)”

The lie is C: The Etch A Sketch first went on sale in the 1980s.

A · True. Its first TV commercial aired on 30 April 1952. Source: Wikipedia, “Mr. Potato Head”

B · True. Alexey Pajitnov created it in Moscow in 1984. Source: Museum of Modern Art

C · False. It went on sale in 1960, in time for Christmas. Source: Wikipedia, “Etch A Sketch”

The lie is A: LEGO started out as a company making board games.

A · False. It started in the 1930s making wooden toys, such as pull-along ducks. Plastic bricks came in 1949. Source: Wikipedia, “History of Lego”

B · True. Binney & Smith sold the first box of eight for five cents. Source: Wikipedia, “Timeline of Crayola”

C · True. Lizzie Magie patented The Landlord’s Game in 1904 to teach the economic ideas of Henry George. Source: Wikipedia, “The Landlord’s Game”