AUGUST 29, 1932

Full News Archive

• Headline: London Optimism: Financial Revival in 1932. Impact: This financial revival sparked a wild investment frenzy, which eventually led to the invention of the bubble wrap as people needed something to pop when their stocks inevitably crashed.. Fact: Fun fact: People believed 'financial confidence' was a sustainable resource, just like clean air or a reliable WiFi connection..
• Headline: Phelps-Stokes Fund Supports Education Initiatives. Impact: The fund's efforts to promote education led to a future where every good idea had to be approved by a committee, creating the world's longest paperwork delay.. Fact: You'd think $1,250,000 would buy more than just a few fellowships, but apparently, that's just the going rate for bureaucratic progress!.
• Headline: Solar Activity and Sun-Spots Eruption. Impact: This spike in solar activity caused a global panic, leading to a trend where people believed they could communicate with the sun, giving rise to an entirely new religion.. Fact: Sunspots were once thought to be signs of solar flares, but really, they were just the sun's version of teenage acne..
• Headline: Radical Couplet Is Smeared on Grant's Tomb; Vandal's Red Paint Resists Cleaner's Efforts. Impact: This act of vandalism inspired a future generation of graffiti artists who believed they were the modern-day poets. Spoiler alert: they weren't.. Fact: Grant's Tomb is usually a solemn place, but apparently, it also doubles as a canvas for those with a flair for the dramatic..
• Headline: SMITH DECLINES BID TO MEET ROOSEVELT; Though Only Ten Miles Away, He Shuns Political Gathering at O'Connor Summer Home. VISITS HIS SON INSTEAD McCooey and Other Leaders Go -- Governor Discusses Party Finances With Traylor. SMITH DECLINES BID TO MEET ROOSEVELT. Impact: Smith's refusal to meet Roosevelt resulted in a series of political awkwardness that would eventually lead to the invention of the polite 'I’m busy' text message.. Fact: Declining invitations has been a political strategy since forever. Who knew the art of dodging a meet-up could be so powerful?.
• Headline: VOLCANIC ASH FALLS IN WESTERN ARGENTINA; Strange Atmospheric Disturbances Accompany Heavy Deposits -- Floods Laid to Dust.. Impact: This ash fall led to wildly unpredictable weather patterns, which eventually made local meteorologists the most confused individuals in the history of weather forecasting.. Fact: Volcanic ash: nature's way of reminding us that it can ruin a picnic and create floods simultaneously. Talk about multitasking!.
• Headline: NEW PEACE MOVE IN INDIA.; Member of Viceroy's Council on Way to Poona Presumably to Sea Gandhi.. Impact: This peace initiative inadvertently started a trend of political negotiations that would lead to countless invitations for tea that no one wanted to attend.. Fact: Peace talks are like family reunions: everyone shows up hoping for harmony, but there's always that one uncle who brings up politics..
• Headline: REV. F.H. SIMMONDS DISAPPEARS IN MAINE; White Plains Rector Sought for Hours Near Portland and Is Feared Drowned.. Impact: The mystery of Simmonds' disappearance led to a surge in amateur sleuthing, inspiring generations of detectives, both real and fictional, to hunt for clues in the most unlikely places.. Fact: Disappearing acts aren't just for magicians; sometimes, they happen in real life, and they’re just as dramatic but with fewer rabbits..