- 8 months ago
This is Episode 10 of Retro News.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Retro News
00:19It's a blast from the past
00:21I'm Mark
00:23And I'm Kendall
00:24And this is Retro News
00:25The show that digs through the archives of news history
00:28To bring you the important
00:29And not so important stories
00:33Today, we'll see the fastest, highest, farthest
00:37And of course, best stories we've got
00:39You'll see two people shoot out of a can at the same time
00:43A wedding on a roller coaster
00:45And the world's biggest salad
00:47But first, let's take a look at one of the world's biggest bridge disasters
00:51This is a sight so amazing
00:54You have to see it to believe it
00:56In 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was built in Tacoma, Washington
01:01It was a suspension bridge that was held up by heavy cables connected to strategically placed towers
01:07The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the longest suspension bridge of its time in the United States
01:11It spanned nearly 6,000 feet from the city of Tacoma to Gig Harbor, Washington
01:17But disaster struck four months after the bridge was built
01:20As 40 mile per hour winds battered the bridge, it started to swing
01:24The bridge moved back and forth with waves from up to 28 feet high
01:28Anyone who was on the bridge quickly found a way off
01:31And it's a good thing
01:33The bridge collapsed
01:35And large chunks of concrete smashed into the water 190 feet below
01:39The bridge was rebuilt with a much better structural design
01:42And reopened in 1950
01:44Now 40 feet longer than the original, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is the fifth longest suspension bridge in the United States
01:50Now here are Brennan and Rachel with more innovations
01:53There are more than half a million bridges in the United States
01:58One of the most famous is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
02:02This giant suspension bridge crosses the opening where the Pacific Ocean meets the San Francisco Bay
02:10At the time, it had the longest span between towers of any suspension bridge around
02:15Construction started in 1933
02:19Four years later, on May 27, 1937
02:22The first pedestrians crossed the bridge on foot
02:25The next morning, vehicles started crossing the bridge
02:28After President Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington, D.C. to signal the go-ahead
02:32The bridge is nearly two miles long
02:36And sits 746 feet high above the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay
02:41Howard Hughes, one of the wealthiest people in the world
02:45Was a movie producer and a pilot
02:47He took a special interest in designing and building planes
02:51Here's one that made history
02:53On November 2, 1947
02:56The world's largest plane was ready for takeoff in Long Beach, California
03:00Aircraft enthusiast Howard Hughes built the monster
03:04That was nicknamed the Spruce Goose
03:07The goose had a 320-foot wingspan
03:10It's still the longest wingspan of any aircraft ever built
03:14The flying boat was 218 feet long
03:18Weighed 200 tons
03:20And cost 23 million dollars to make
03:23Because aluminum was rationed during the war when the plane was built
03:28Hughes built the plane out of wood
03:30Sections of the men were as high as a five-story building
03:34At a 95-mile-per-hour takeoff speed
03:43Hughes lifted the giant plane into the air over the choppy sea
03:47It flew 70 feet above the water for a mile
03:51This was the only time the plane was ever flown
03:54The giant is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation Museum near Portland, Oregon
04:00One of the most famous dams in the United States is the Grand Coulee Dam
04:06It sits on the Columbia River in Washington State
04:09This was the opening day of the Grand Coulee Dam
04:13Construction started in 1933 and was finished just before the start of World War II in 1941
04:19It was originally built for irrigation
04:21But as the need for electricity increased during the war, the Grand Coulee Dam would provide it
04:26Government and native officials were on hand to see the dam powered up for the first time
04:32The Grand Coulee Dam is the largest concrete dam in North America
04:36The height of the dam is about twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty
04:39Ocean liners are really big ships that take people on long trips across the sea
04:45The Titanic is probably the most famous, or infamous, ocean liner
04:51Another famous, luxurious liner was the SS Normandy
04:56The Normandy was the fastest sailing ocean liner of its time
05:01And could travel about 35 miles an hour
05:03Sadly, the Normandy had a short career
05:06As she was being converted to a wartime ship for World War II
05:10A spark from a welder's torch ignited a nearby stack of life jackets
05:15The ship was burned, capsized, and was destroyed
05:19We flew this story in for a special viewing
05:23You won't believe your flies
05:25I mean eyes
05:26Here's Ed Herlihy
05:27Dr. C.H. Kern, entomologist, places a drone fly before a special high-speed camera
05:33Which captures sequence of flight never before revealed
05:36The tests were conducted by the Sperry Gyroscope Company and the Museum of Natural History
05:40Revolving photo flash bulbs furnished split-second lighting for the tests
05:44Photographer Henry Lester perfected the lighting device and handled the delicate camera work
05:49Contact! And the four units reveal every detail to the synchronized lens
05:53Slow motion shows us what happened in that swift interval
05:56The fly's wings, moving at 18,000 beats per minute
06:00Are slowed down to exhibit an entirely new gyroscopic principle to aviation engineers
06:05And the same slow action shows the extraordinary movement of the lighting equipment which made the test possible
06:11Traveling at 50 miles per hour
06:133,000 exposures of 16-millimeter films were made in one second
06:18The drone fly was selected because it can remain almost stationary in flight
06:22For the test, it was held steady on a wax base
06:25An important detail revealed was the action of the halteres
06:29The piston-like rods immediately behind the wings
06:32Removal of these stabilizing members
06:34Causes the fly to rotate in flight and prevents its takeoff
06:38As the heat of the lamp melts the wax, the fly comes unstuck
06:42These are the finest pictures ever made of an insect in motion
06:45A marvel of modern science
06:47He was called the father of modern rocketry
06:55And thanks to Robert Goddard, we've reached far beyond the Earth and way out into space
06:59People thought his ideas were crazy
07:01But Goddard was just ahead of his time
07:04He dreamt about traveling to the moon back in 1919
07:06Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926
07:11It only went up 41 feet, but it showed that liquid rocket fuel was possible
07:16The Shasta Dam Beltway was built in 1938
07:20It was also called the Beltline
07:22The Beltline was a conveyor belt that stretched 9.6 miles from Redding, California to the Shasta Dam
07:28At the time, it was the world's longest conveyor belt
07:31It had 26 separate sections and crossed 5 creeks, 5 county roads, 1 state highway, the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the Sacramento River, twice
07:42The belt was used to move crushed rock from Redding to a mixing site near the Shasta Dam
07:47The rock was then mixed with cement to form the concrete that was used to build the dam
07:52Now, here's Professor Whatzit to tell us how the assembly line changed our world
07:56Hi, Professor
07:58Hi, Kendall
07:59Professor, what exactly is an assembly line?
08:02An assembly line is a building process where single parts are added in a specific order
08:07It's kind of like getting your lunch in the cafeteria
08:10Someone is assigned to put meat on your plate
08:12The next person puts on the vegetables
08:15The next, the bread
08:16And then the last person might put on the dessert
08:18Your lunch is built as the plate moves down the line
08:22At the end of the line, the lunches all look the same
08:25That's a moving assembly line
08:27Who came up with the idea?
08:29Henry Ford installed the world's first continuously moving assembly line on December 1, 1913
08:35What did he use it for?
08:37Ford wanted to make his cars affordable to more people
08:41To do this, he needed a faster way to build them
08:44He broke down the job of building a whole car into many small jobs
08:48Each worker performed just one of those jobs all day long
08:52As a person finished each job, the product was passed along to the next person
08:56Who did his job
08:57The parts kept moving down the line until the car was complete
09:01What made this innovation so great?
09:03Well, the assembly line really increased how fast things were built
09:07Cars could be produced in one-eighth the amount of time it took
09:10Before the assembly line was in place
09:12As a result, almost every family could afford a car
09:15Thanks, Professor
09:17Now, here's the retro quiz
09:24In 1941, Cuba hosted the world's biggest chess game
09:28It was so big, the challenger walked miles to complete the monster match
09:32How many miles did he walk?
09:34I'll be back with the answer and a look at this giant game later in the show
09:38About two million couples tie the knot each year in the U.S.
09:43That's a lot of I do's
09:45And a lot of cake, too
09:47Here's Brandy with a look at some of the most unusual weddings we've ever seen
09:52Some people say getting married is taking a big leap
09:56Well, this couple took the biggest leap ever
09:59We're gathered here today for the wedding of Marjorie Klinger and Donald Babcock
10:05Justice of the Peace Flanagan will do the honors
10:08But not in the church
10:10As you can see, the wedding party is boarding a plane
10:13Once the I do's are over, they'll really take the plunge
10:20Babcock is a professional, but his 18-year-old bride is making her first parachute drop
10:25Mrs. Babcock crazily jumped right out, but her parachute didn't open for 300 feet
10:34Her husband quickly caught up with her and they both floated down into the big field
10:41Now the jumpy couple is ready for anything
10:45In 1946, thousands showed up in Koshockton, Ohio to see a wedding no one could top
10:51A new high in weddings was reached by famous flagpole sitter Marshall Jacobs and Lonnie Kosmar
10:58Lonnie and Marshall, whose nickname was the Human Fly, tied the knot atop a 180-foot flagpole
11:06Friends, family, and a curious public got a worm's eye view of the novel ceremony
11:12At that crucial moment, the minister said the magic words into a microphone
11:15And history's first flagpole couple was husband and wife
11:20It sure tops any wedding we've seen
11:23Weddings usually just focus on two people
11:26But in China, when money was tight
11:29Many couples got married at the same time, in the same place
11:33Here's Ed Herlihy with a look
11:34Due to economic conditions, the government has issued new regulations providing for mass weddings
11:42These eliminate the necessity for holding individual wedding feasts and the spending of unnecessary funds
11:48At the ceremonial hall, 54 couples are united in the first of the group weddings held this year
11:54Also, as is the custom, they pose for wedding pictures
11:57And if they're all as cute as this
12:00Mama and Papa will have no trouble taking them out of the group
12:03Love will find a way
12:08They met at Palisades Park
12:10He proposed and she said yes
12:12It was a love made in heaven
12:14But there were a few...
12:16Ups and downs
12:18Cute couple
12:20But wait, that's a roller coaster
12:22They've got the whole wedding party in there
12:23This couple's taking the plunge
12:26Literally, at 50 miles an hour
12:29Hang on to your hats and veils
12:32The bride looks woozy, but she rises to the occasion
12:40Delivering the vows at death-defying speeds
12:43The daring reverend gets the job done
12:45And a kiss seals the deal
12:47There they are, husband and wife
12:50It looks like one tradition is still intact
12:56He didn't find Santa Claus, but Robert Perry did find the North Pole
13:03In April of 1909, Perry reached the top of the earth
13:07His assistant, Matthew Henson, went with him
13:10Some say Henson was the first man to actually reach the North Pole
13:14Henson kept going when Perry was slowed down by frostbite
13:17Perry joined Henson at the North Pole 30 hours later
13:21Our grandparents are probably in their 60s, 70s, maybe even 80s, right?
13:27Well, here's a father that's older than most of our grandfathers
13:32Here's a guy with a pretty big kick in his step
13:36This dancing dad has a lot to celebrate
13:39He made the news in 1938 when his wife gave birth to a bouncing baby boy
13:42The 8-pound tot was George Borman's 26th child
13:47Yes, I said 26
13:49George was 82 years old when this 26th babe was born
13:53Making him the oldest father of his time
13:56And probably the busiest
13:58Can you imagine what Father's Day must have looked like at his house?
14:02Now, the oldest father on record is an Australian mine worker named Les Colley
14:06In 1992, he became a father for the last time at age 93
14:17Eric Liddell was born in China to missionary parents
14:20But was actually Scottish
14:22In Scotland, he became a champion sprinter
14:25Earning him a place on Scotland's Olympic team in the summer of 1924
14:28At the Olympics in Paris, Eric was scheduled to run in the 100-yard dash
14:33And because the qualifying races were held on Sunday, he dropped out of that event
14:38Instead, Eric ran the 400-yard race, which he hadn't really trained for
14:42He finished way ahead of his competition and set a world record running the race in 47.6 seconds
14:49Eric said he won the gold medal because God was guiding him
14:52The movie Chariots of Fire is partly based on the story of Eric Liddell
14:56World record holder and Olympic champion
14:59Eric Liddell is this week's spiritual hero
15:02Did you know diamond is the hardest substance known to man?
15:08The only way to cut a diamond is with another diamond
15:11Here's a diamond so big, it'll knock your socks off
15:15Diamonds are a girl's best friend
15:16Especially if that diamond is the famous Vargas diamond
15:21This 726 carat monster was unearthed on August 13, 1938 in Brazil
15:28It was grabbed from the gravels of the San Antonio River
15:31The Vargas diamond is the world's third largest diamond
15:35A diamond that size is way too big to wear
15:39So diamond cutters carved the beauty into 29 separate stones
15:43Be careful!
15:44In 1941, baseball's Joe DiMaggio set a hitting record that still stands today
15:52The Yankee Clipper got at least one hit in 56 games in a row
15:56DiMaggio was named the league's most valuable player that year
16:00Now with more sports, here are Adriana and Michael
16:04A standard game of golf is 18 holes
16:07But we found a golf game in the archives that was much, much longer
16:11In August 1938, James Smith Farabee won a bet that would be remembered for years to come
16:19He set out on a course to play 144 holes of golf in one day
16:24That's a whole lot of swinging
16:26Farabee chipped away at his goal from sunup to sundown
16:29He only stopped to eat, drink, and of course, give some attention to his tired toes
16:33On the last putt of the day, on the 144th hole, the goal-minded golfer won a bet and set the record for the most holes of golf played on one day
16:43He walked away with $2,500 and a plantation in Virginia for his determination
16:49Dancing's fun, sure, but a month of the cha-cha would even wear Janet Jackson down
16:53The craze called marathon dancing was in full swing during the depression years
16:5840 couples started it, but only 16 couples were left after a month of dancing in this marathon in Chicago
17:05Many slept walked through their routines, relying solely on their partner to keep them in step
17:10After every hour of dancing, the couples got 15 minutes of rest
17:14They ate 7 meals a day and cooled up with a shower once a night
17:17To keep the contest hopping, sprints of two and a half hours without stopping were frequent
17:24Talk about a quick step
17:26Those sprints waltzed the weak and the weary out the door and shortened the contest by at least two weeks
17:32A doctor, dentist, and three registered nurses were among the chaperones of this dance
17:37The winners pocketed more than prestige, the contests usually had a cash prize for the winning team
17:42Here's a breakneck race around hairpin turns and up and down some of the most death-defying hills in southern France
17:53It's the Monaco Grand Prix, one of the world's oldest and most famous Formula One races
18:00It's held every year in the small country of Monaco on the southern coast of France
18:03There are 78 demanding laps in this 161 mile race which winds around the very narrow streets of the French Riviera
18:13In this 1932 race there was a bitter rivalry between two Italian drivers
18:19Rudolf Caracciola and Tazio Nuvolari
18:23Nuvolari won in his Alfa Romeo setting a new record of 3 hours, 22 minutes, and 25 seconds
18:30Now from the high mountains of France to the island nation of Japan
18:35Take a look at these gargantuan grapplers
18:38These battling behemoths faced off in June of 1934
18:42Tamanashiki, the number one wrestling champ, is all primed for a big victory here
18:47He aims to toss his challenger out of the ring or wreck the platform trying
18:52I'd like to see any wrestler give one of those boys an airplane spin
18:55But the game of the sumo wrestler is not the crush of the player, but to throw him out of the ring
19:05And the bout is on, two tons of straining and grunting
19:11In a championship sport that's survived for more than 300 years
19:14And craps, the champ spills the challenger out of the ring
19:24What a fall, there they go again
19:27And there's the second fall, but don't worry, they're not injured, those boys can take it
19:32A victory for Tama, the crowd's favorite
19:41And there's the wind-up, their way of taking a bow
19:45Mount Vesuvius is feeling hot, hot, hot
19:49It looks like this great fire giant is sizzling for another eruption
19:53As it belches smoke from its belly, it terrifies the Italians living below
19:58Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the European mainland
20:02And one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world
20:05It's erupted many times in recorded history
20:08Sometimes blanketing all of southern Europe in ashes
20:11Just east of the Italian city of Naples
20:13Mount Vesuvius is best known as the volcano that buried the Roman city of Pompeii in 79 AD
20:17Even though it's erupted a lot since then, there have been no eruptions since 1944
20:23And now here's Mark with more explosive facts about Mount Vesuvius
20:28On a sunny August day in 79 AD, more than 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius erupted in Italy
20:36Before people could run away, the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were covered in lava and ash
20:42Preserving that moment in time forever, like a three-dimensional snapshot
20:45When Pompeii was uncovered in 1748, archaeologists found skeletons of people at work and bread still in the ovens
20:55In 1934, the Italian government began to uncover Herculaneum
21:00They found beautiful works of art and tables set for a meal that never came
21:05There are some 2,000-year-old walnuts
21:10I'll bet they're pretty yummy
21:11That's the back of someone's silver mirror
21:16Important Roman citizens lived here, and their homes were decorated by some of the best craftsmen of the age
21:22What a peek into the past!
21:24And now here's Adriana with birthdays
21:26Make a wish and blow out the candles for these news makers who did things faster, farther, and higher than anyone else before them
21:34Charles Lindbergh, the first man to make a non-stop solo flight in an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean
21:40He flew the Spirit of St. Louis 3,600 miles from New York City to Paris in 1927
21:48It took him a little over 33 hours to complete the lonely journey
21:52The courageous aviator was born in February of 1902
21:56Sally Ride, born on May 26, 1951
22:00Was the first American woman in space and also the youngest astronaut to circle the Earth
22:05She joined NASA in 1977 and was part of the crew of the space shuttle Challenger twice
22:12Robert Wadlow was the tallest man ever recorded
22:16Born in February of 1918
22:19He was a normal-sized baby, but by the time he was 8, he was already 6 feet tall
22:24At 19, he broke all world-height records, measuring in at 8 feet 6 inches
22:28At the end of his life, which was sadly at the age of 22, the gentle giant was 8 feet 11 inches tall
22:39He may not have been the fastest man to swim the English Channel, but he was the first American to make it across
22:45Henry Sullivan took over 26 hours to swim the 21 miles from England to France in 1923
22:50The fastest American swimmer to do it so far is Chad Hunderby, who swam across in a little over 7 hours in 1994
23:01Here's something you don't see every day
23:04What are these girls up to?
23:06They're up to their knees in salad
23:085,000 heads of lettuce and 20 gallons of dressing are being mixed together to make the world's largest salad
23:14Everyone is pitching in to achieve this world record
23:18Toss another head of lettuce onto the pile, girls
23:21How will these 5,000 visitors eat this big salad?
23:24With a big fork, of course
23:26Yummy!
23:32Here's the answer to the retro quiz
23:34How many miles did the Challenger walk during the biggest chess match?
23:37Chess champion Francisco Planas played 613 opponents at once at this mammoth match
23:42He walked from game to game, logging 15 miles during the 16-hour tournament
23:48He won most of the matches
23:51The flying zucchinis are at it again
23:57This time, it's double the thrill
23:59Silvana Zucchini and her fiancé, Bob Desani, are shot out of a cannon together
24:04Ready, aim, fire!
24:07Love is in the air
24:08Cupid usually shoots an arrow to bring two people together
24:12This time, he brought out the big guns
24:14You got to love each other to do something like this
24:17The big caliber stunts set a new high in circus performance
24:20It's so spectacular, let's see it again
24:23There they go!
24:25Here's wishing them soft and happy landings
24:29They say everything's a walking distance if you have the time
24:31I guess that's what Larry Hightower thought when he started his walk around the world pushing a wheelbarrow
24:37Here he is, the man who's going to push a wheelbarrow around the world
24:42Right now, he's only got about 24,000 miles to go
24:46He set out from home on the 4th of July
24:48And he doesn't expect to be home again until 1958
24:51He's Larry Hightower, ex-cowboy, well in his 40s but young in ideas
25:02It took him only 6 days to push his wheelbarrow 112 miles
25:06And a lot of that was uphill
25:07It's hot work, Larry says, and here he cools off in the Cascade Mountains
25:18Oh, oh, those hot tootsies
25:20And think of his shoe bills around the world
25:23All in all, cold foot or hot foot, he'd better get moving
25:27He's only got 12 years to finish
25:31Now, here's Ed Hurley with a daunting, death-defying dive
25:35They call him P.J. Ringens
25:39And as old troopers go, P.J. goes up
25:42So our cameraman goes up, too, at Bellasades Park, New Jersey
25:45To film the bicycle dive of death
25:48It's a tense moment for cameraman and Mr. Ringens, too
25:55He's 150 feet, all of it up
25:58And he's 71 years old
26:00All set, here he goes
26:05Seeing is not always believing, so let's try it again
26:15It's a 100-foot jump over the heads of the spectators
26:18And there's only 4 feet of water in the tank
26:20Here it is in slow motion
26:22Yes, sir, that's P.J. Ringens
26:24And P.J. is ringin' wet
26:26That's our retro news report for this week
26:32Now here's the last laugh
26:33The last laugh
27:03Is what's going on with hesaces, really?
27:04Go to the next Halo
27:15We actually came together with a 70-year-old
27:16That
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