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In thinking through which classic to watch this holiday season, I landed on the Mario Puzo - Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece, The Godfather. That got me wondering about Corleone, Sicily and who that city was actually named after. Professor Enzo Tontodonato of St. Bonaventure University took me down a very unexpected path, to the life and times of a 15th century "family" man, named 3 Ball Bartolomeo Colleoni. 

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I got to thinking about who was the first person to jump from a ledge or flying machine using a parachute. I mean, who invented the first parachute, when was that, what were the circumstances – was it a thing of necessity in some horrible moment – and why would anyone ever want to step out of a flying machine or off a cliff when it’s hundreds, if not thousands of feet in the air using an untested accessory? There are a lot of people who own a piece of designing the first parachute, including Taccola, DaVinci, and a French fella named Andre-Jacques Garnerin.

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Who doesn't love a big juicy burger? But where did this glorious gastronomic culinary creation come from? Who invented it and how did they dream it up? And what about that go-to condiment mix of mayo and ketchup? Or how did Thousand Island Dressing land on a Big Mac? And what about McDonald's and Ronald McDonald? Doucette de la Croix, the Provost of the Culinary Arts University of America filled me in on all of this need to know history for every hamburger fan.

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There's a lot that's been uncovered about the first Thanksgiving. Based on the research of Dr. Louis Pazgassian, a professor of Colonial North American and U.S. History and chair of Georgetown University’s history department, we're sharing the totally true facts of the holiday's origin, including a cast that includes Squanto, Massasoit, William and Mary Brewster, Edward and Susan Winslow, and the unheralded hero of the day, Olaf Dijksgeffen. This stuff really happened... it's totally true.

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Super heroes are great, but it's the super villains who make those stories so compelling. Thinking about super villains brought me to the James Bond franchise from Ian Fleming, and specifically a villain who made his debut in Thunderball - Ernst Stavro Blofeld. So, where did the total truth of this villain's character come from? I did a deep dive and found the source, and some startling true facts about his progeny, who is making a name for himself in current times.

DISCLAIMER - Totally True Facts episodes are parodies. Let me say that again – parodies. Names have been changed in most cases to protect the innocent, though in others, the names of totally real people are used for the purpose of presenting the as mentioned parody. I hope that you’ll latch on to one of these facts and look up the totally, totally true facts on your own.

This episode brought to you by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing and Layerly

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Back in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico, a flying saucer crash landed in the desert. The Air Force secured the spacecraft as well as a handful of surviving aliens, including a petulant toddler alien, and the government decided to make the event a social experiment. Problem is, it became entangled with Bugsy Siegel, Roy Cohn and a mechanic who is now telling all. 

DISCLAIMER - Totally True Facts episodes are parodies. Let me say that again – parodies. Names have been changed in most cases to protect the innocent, though in others, the names of totally real people are used for the purpose of presenting the as mentioned parody. I hope that you’ll latch on to one of these facts and look up the totally, totally true facts on your own. 

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We're introducing a new series for You Don't Say... It's called Totally True Facts. 

One of the things that alternate facts have caused is a whole lot of unnecessary violence, strife and mischief. Alternate facts have made the world a very stressful and dangerous place. So I decided to create Totally True Facts. These vignettes will offer a grain of truth or reality about what actually happened either in current times or times gone by, but by and large I’m surrounding them with a mess of alternate facts that I hope at the very least will give you a reason to grin, if not have a laugh, and to just get away from the reality of an all too factually messed up world. These are parodies. Let me say that again – parodies. I will change names in most cases to protect the innocent, though in others, I will use the names of actual people, for the purpose of presenting the as mentioned parody. My hope is that you’ll latch on to one of these facts and look up the totally, totally true facts about it on your own. 

Our first installment of Totally True Facts presents the origin story of Chicago's Bubbly Creek and the ancestry of a guy named Jeff Chłapowski.

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All we need to do is to turn on the news and we see stories of septuagenarian and octogenarian politicians and judges whose time is well past. It’s like opening a dumpster and catching a good whiff of all the rot inside it. Term limits are long overdue, and in the 2024 presidential cycle, it's never been more clear that age limits also need to be imposed on our office holders. Here are some common sense ideas on how to change things, as well as some startling facts about the paychecks and pension plan for the lifetime appointees that sit as justices and judges in our courts. 

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I woke up, went off to the gym, then to work, like any other day. I imagine for a lady named Valsa Raju out in Yonkers, New York, her day started in an ordinary way. September 11, 2001 would not be just another day. I recently visited the 9/11 Memorial and it was as moving as you might expect. I met someone there. Someone who, I also imagine, was a lot like me, her name was Valsa Raju, and now I remember her every day.

Links

• The 9/11 Memorial & Museum

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When fire strikes, here's what you need to know...

My sister, Amy Wagner, lost her family home of nearly 30 years to a fire in the spring of 2020. She's sharing her story of loss, community support, and rebuilding, and how that experience drove her to pay it forward by founding The Wagner Family Fire Fund. The Fire Fund is a non-profit supporting families and individuals who lose their homes to fire.

Links 

• The Wagner Family Fire Fund
• Fundraiser - August 27, 2020 - The first anniversary of The Wagner Family Fire Fund
• Fundraiser - October 20, 2020 - The Texas Road House - A portion of sales will be donated when you mention The Wagner Family Fire Fund
• Legacy Box

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