Offbeat Museums of America

I came across a list showing an interesting cross-section of weird and offbeat museums in America.  Since we are now into the summer travel and vacation season, if you find yourself in these cities, you might stop and check it out.

PHILADELPHIA PIZZA MUSEUM:

Pizza Brain is the world's first museum dedicated to pizza.  And guess what—it's also a restaurant serving (you guessed it) pizza.  It's the brain child of Brian Dwyer, the Guinness World Record holder of pizza memorabilia.  It is located in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood.

TENEMENT MUSEUM:

Located in the heart of New York City's Lower East Side, the Tenement Museum pays homage to New York's immigrants.  It traces the history of a single tenement building constructed in 1863 and located at 97 Orchard Street.  From the outside it doesn't look any different from any other building in the area, but inside is the story of the waves of immigrants arriving in the United States in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  The building was condemned in 1935, which is where the museum's focus ends.

NATIONAL BONSAI & PENJING MUSEUM:

Located in Washington D.C., the museum was created in 1976 by the Department of Agriculture as a result of Japan's Bicentennial gift to the U.S.  It now contains three pavilions—Chinese, Japanese, and North American—with approximately 150 living sculptures among viewing stones and strolling paths.  What makes this museum a special treat is its tranquility…a moment of Zen.

PSYCHIATRIC AND CRIME MUSEUMS:

There are several museums dedicated to this topic.  Our fascination with crime and forensics is obvious.  Just check out the number of televisions shows—both entertainment programs and documentaries—that deal with solving crime using forensics, all the cold cases that have been solved and wrongly convicted people released from prison since DNA became part of our reality.  Glore Psychiatric Museum located in St. Joseph, Missouri was once housed in State Lunatic Asylum No. 2.  Founded in 1903, the museum is a history of treatment of mental illness including treating patients possessed by witchcraft or demons.  The National Museum of Crime and Punishment is located in Washington D.C. and opened in 2008.  It contains artifacts and interactive exhibits including an FBI shooting range, high speed police chase simulator and various forensics techniques.  There are also historical exhibits, forensics workshops, and CSI summer camps for teens.

SPARK MUSEUM OF ELECTRICAL INVENTION:

Located in Bellingham, Washington, the museum has been around in various stages since 1985 and moved to its current home in 2001.  You'll find lots of gadgets and complicated objects that look like they came out of a steam punk scenario but in reality changed the course of history and modern life, items paying tribute to Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Enrico Marconi and Nikola Tesla.

THE NEON MUSEUM:

Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, the museum houses the neon signs no longer being used by casinos, chapels, restaurants and other businesses. Vegas' iconic art used to be sent to the scrap yard.  In 1996, the non-profit Neon Museum began preserving the city's legacy in a 3 acre lot referred to as Neon Boneyard.  At the moment, you must call ahead and make a reservation to visit the Neon Boneyard.  The museum has assembled an outdoor gallery along the east end of Fremont Street and is available free to the public 24 hours a day.

AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM:

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, this innovative museum houses such oddities as an enormous ball made out of more than 18,000 bras, a replica of the ill-fated Lusitania constructed of nearly 200,000 toothpicks, a floor mat created out of hundreds of toothbrushes, an extensive Pez collection, and sculptures made from Styrofoam cups.  In the spring the museum hosts the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race where entrants create wacky sculptures that travel on both land and sea on a 15 mile dash.

THE INTERNATIONAL UFO MUSEUM AND RESEARCH CENTER:

Located in Roswell, New Mexico (where else?), it is the result of the famous (or infamous) UFO crash in Roswell in 1947.  At first identified as a UFO by the Air Force, they quickly recanted and declared it a downed weather balloon thus beginning decades of cover-up accusations.  The furor finally died down until 1978 when a UFO researcher started interviewing locals who claimed to have seen the debris and said it was part of an extraterrestrial craft.  From that, the stories expanded and Roswell became the world's most famous UFO crash.

Other museums to get honorable mention are three Barbed Wire Museums—the Joseph F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center in DeKalb, Illinois; The Devil's Rope Museum on Route 66 in McLean, Texas; and the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum in LaCrosse, Kansas.  And final honorable mention goes to the Museum Of Bad Art in Dedham, MA, which houses…you guesses it…a collection of bad art.

Have you come across any odd or unusual museums in your travels?

8 SURPRISING HISTORICAL FACTS

These will forever change your concept of time.  This list puts historical moments into a time-line context that will surprise you when you discover which one of two happenings is older.  Most of them surprised me. :)  I did verify the founding date for Harvard and the date the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series, but I didn't verify anything on this list beyond that.

1)  Betty White Is Older Than Sliced Bread

1928 is the date when bread was first sold commercially as sliced rather than the traditional whole loaves.  Prior to that, bakers didn't believe that sliced bread could stay fresh.  Betty White was born in 1922, six years before the invention that became the benchmark for greatness with future inventions being heralded as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

2)  Harvard University was founded before calculus was invented

Originally called the New College, 1636 is the date for the founding of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher education in the new world—in an area that is now the United States of America.  It should also be noted that physicist, mathematician and astronomer Galileo was still alive during Harvard's early years.  He died in 1642.  The invention of calculus didn't come about until 1684 with Gottfried Leibniz's publication of Nova Methodus.

3)  The Ottoman Empire still existed when the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series

1908 is the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.  The Ottoman Empire, founded in the 13th century, came to an end in 1922 with Mehmed VI being the last sultan of the empire before the Turkish government abolished the sultanate and took governing control of the new republic.

4)  The Pyramids of Giza were built before wooly mammoths became extinct

It's believed that the last wooly mammoths died out approximately 1700B.C. on Russia's Wrangel Island.  The Pyramids of Giza, in Egypt, were built approximately 300 years earlier (about 4,000 years ago).  There are some claims that the pyramids might be even older than that.

5)  The fax machine is the same age as the Oregon Trail

1843 is the year Alexander Bain, a Scottish mechanic, invented the first fax machine.  The same year the Great Migration on the Oregon Trail began when a wagon train of approximately 1000 migrants attempted to travel west but probably died of dysentery along the way.

6)  Jewelry store Tiffany & Co. was founded before Italy was a country

1837 is the year Charles Tiffany and John Young founded Tiffany & Young which became Tiffany & Co. in 1853.  1861 is when General Giuseppe Garibaldi led a successful campaign to bring the various city-states together as one nation, although Rome held out for a number of years after that.  Macy's was founded in 1858, also prior to Italy becoming the nation we know today.

7)  France was still using the guillotine when the first Star Wars movie was released

1977 is the release date of the first of the Star Wars movies.  A few months later is when France conducted its last execution by guillotine.  The guillotine had been used in France for approximately 200 years.  And another French time line fact to boggle the mind:  1889 is the year of the Eiffel Tower, the same year Nintendo was founded (the company originally made playing cards) and Van Gogh painted The Starry Night.

8)  Two of President John Tyler's grandsons are still alive

1841 to 1845, John Tyler was America's tenth president.  And, surprisingly, two of his grandsons are still alive.  December 2013, both Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr., and Harrison Tyler, were only in their 80s…as verified by Snopes…and are still alive today.

And there you have it…a few surprising facts from history.

The History Of Father's Day

Sunday, June 21, 2015, is Father's Day.

Mother's Day was, indeed, the inspiration for Father's Day, but it was a long time before Father's Day became an official reality.  The governor of the state of Washington proclaimed the nation's first Father's Day on July 19, 1910.  It was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day an official holiday in 1914, that President Richard Nixon gave Father's Day its official federal holiday status.

The campaign to celebrate Father's Day did not meet with the same type of enthusiasm as Mother's Day.  One florist explained it as fathers not having the same sentimental appeal as mothers.  In 1909 a Spokane, Washington, woman who was one of six children raised by a widower was successful in establishing a day for male parents like Mothers enjoyed.  The state of Washington celebrated the nation's first statewide Father's Day on July 19, 1910.

The idea slowly spread.  In 1916 Woodrow Wilson honored the day.  President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father's Day, however many men continued to scoff at the idea claiming it was a sentimental attempt to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving and also claiming it was only a commercial gimmick to sell more products often paid for by the father himself.

In the 1920s and 1930s there was a movement to do away with both Mother's Day and Father's Day and create a Parent's Day in their place, their idea being that both parents should be loved and respected together.  The gathering enthusiasm for this idea was basically stamped out during the depression.  Struggling retailers and advertisers redoubled their efforts to make Father's Day a gift giving holiday for men.  With the onset of World War II advertisers set forth the argument that celebrating Father's Day was a way to honor American troops.  By the end of the war, Father's Day was a national institution but not yet an official holiday.

In 1972 Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father's Day a federal holiday.  It's estimated that there are more than 70 million fathers in the United States and that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father's Day gifts.

Who Almost Played The Role?

Casting for the lead role in a movie can be a lengthy process with many qualified candidates to sift through before making that final decision.  The choice of actor in a role can sometimes end up making the difference between a box office success and a mediocre film.

Through the decades there have been many starring roles that were almost cast with a different lead, possibly changing the audience response to the character and the movie.  In retrospect, trying to visualize someone else in the role sometimes leaves us scratching our heads and wondering what in the world they were thinking of with their first choice.

Here's a sample list of films and the stars that almost didn't get the role, some of the second choices earning an Oscar for their performances.

Pirates Of The Caribbean:  the role of Capt. Jack Sparrow in that first movie was originally intended for Jim Carrey, but when a scheduling conflict forced him to bow out the role went to Johnny Depp who put his own indelible stamp on the character in a series of successful Pirates Of The Caribbean films.

Drive:  Hugh Jackman was originally signed for the role that ended up being Ryan Gosling's.

Lord Of The Rings:  When Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf, it went to Sir Ian McKellen.

American Psycho:  It was originally Leonardo DiCaprio who was eventually replaced by Christian Bale.

Men In Black:  Chris O'Donnell was originally cast but due to the director's insistence Will Smith replaced him.

Basic Instinct:  Kelly McGillis was considered before the role went to Sharon Stone.

Dirty Dancing:  Val Kilmer was considered but the role eventually went to Patrick Swayze.

The Shining:  The iconic Jack Nicholson role almost went to Robin Williams.

Pretty Woman:  Molly Ringwald turned down the role that was a career maker for Julia Roberts.

Silence Of The Lambs:  Michelle Pfeiffer almost had the role that won Jodie Foster one of her Oscars.

Indiana Jones:  George Lucas was pushing for Tom Selleck but Steven Spielberg held out for Harrison Ford. And in addition to that, Tom Selleck but had done a pilot for Magnum P.I. and the network wouldn't let him out of the contract.

The Matrix:  Ewan McGregor was cast first, but turned down the role in favor of Star Wars Episode 1.

Gladiator:  Mel Gibson turned down the role that won an Oscar for Russell Crowe.

Titanic:  Matthew McConaughey was first choice, but the role ultimately went to Leonardo DiCaprio.

Forrest Gump:  John Travolta turned down the role that earned Tom Hanks one of his Oscars.

Chicago:  John Travolta also turned down the role of Billy Flynn with the role going to Richard Gere. (I saw an interview with John Travolta where he was asked why he turned down the role. He said he had seen the Broadway production and couldn't visualize how they could turn it into a good movie. He was then asked if he regretted that decision and he gave what I thought was a very gracious answer. To paraphrase, he said that the movie audience was treated to Richard Gere's excellent performance.)

Iron Man:  Tom Cruise turned down the role due to script issues. It was then offered to Robert Downey, Jr., along with Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3.

Rebel Without A Cause: Marlon Brando lost out to James Dean.

The Sound Of Music:  Mia Farrow lost out on the role of Liesl.

Superman:  Stockard Channing lost out to Margot Kidder for the Lois Lane role.

Star Wars:  Kurt Russell lost out to Harrison Ford for the role of Han Solo.

East Of Eden:  Paul Newman tested and was turned down for the role of James Dean's brother.  Joanne Woodward lost out on a role in the same movie.

Octopussy (James Bond):  James Brolin tested for the role of James Bond, then Roger Moore decided not to leave the 007 franchise.

Valley Of The Dolls:  Judy Garland was cast in the movie.  After production began, she was fired and replaced by Susan Hayward.  Interestingly—it was rumored that in her book, author Jacqueline Susann based the Patty Duke role in this film on Judy Garland's life.

Godfather:  Robert DeNiro tested for the role of Sonny (went to James Caan) and was considered for the role of Michael that went to Al Pacino who had dropped out of The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight to do the Michael role. DeNiro took the role in The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight that Pacino vacated.  In Godfather II, when Marlon Brando dropped out over salary disputes, the role of the young Vito went to DeNiro.

And now let's go back several decades to some movies from the 1940ish time frame.

The Wizard Of Oz:  MGM wanted to borrow Shirley Temple from 20^th Century Fox to play the role of Dorothy.  When that negotiation didn't work out, the role went to Judy Garland.

Robin Hood:  Jack L. Warner wanted James Cagney cast in the title role that went to Errol Flynn who seemed born to play the part.

Gone With The Wind:  Every leading actress in Hollywood (over thirty actresses including every top name) was tested for the coveted role of Scarlet O'Hara and all were rejected.  And when I say every leading actress, that's not an exaggeration. Even totally unlikely candidates were tested including Lucille Ball, Gloria Swanson, and even Mae West (who was 43 years old at the time which made her at least twenty years older than the Scarlett character). The movie had already started filming before a British actress named Vivien Leigh (married to Laurence Olivier at the time) was finally cast as Scarlet. A year after Gone With The Wind, Vivien Leigh tested for the lead role in Rebecca and lost out to Joan Fontaine who had tested and lost out on the role of Scarlet O'Hara.

The Maltese Falcon:  George Raft turned down the role of Sam Spade because he felt it was 'not an important film.'  To director John Huston's delight the role went to Humphrey Bogart.

Casablanca:  Ronald Reagan was first considered for the Humphrey Bogart role in one of the all time classic films.

Citizen Kane:  Orson Welles was turned down for a studio contract at Warner Bros.  So, he took a script he had co-written to RKO and made the film in which he starred and also directed, a film that is considered by many to be the finest film ever made.  And Orson Welles was only twenty-five years old at the time.

Quirky Questions Tourists Ask

It's the start of the summer tourist season (in the Northern Hemisphere). Some of us will be tourists and some of us will encounter tourists.  And tourists invariably ask questions.

At one time or another when we were in school, we've probably all heard a teacher say that there are no stupid questions in an attempt to get us to express our curiosity about something without being embarrassed.

However, as an adult that old adage doesn't apply to all situations.  The travel industry is filled with weird, quirky, and in some cases just plain stupid questions asked by tourists.  Here's a sampling of some from various sources.

Actual Questions Asked On Cruise Ships:

Does the crew sleep on board?

Is the island surrounded by water?

What happens to the ice sculptures after they melt?

What time is the 2 o'clock tour?

Can you see the equator from the deck?

I know that ships often serve smoked salmon, but I am a non-smoker.

Can the iced tea be served hot?

Will I get wet if I go snorkeling?

Should I put my luggage outside the cabin before or after I go to sleep?

Does the outside cabin mean it's outside the ship?

Where is the good shopping in Antarctica?

And cruise ships aren't the only place that tourists seem to have absurd questions.  Here are some actual questions received by Australians from foreigners, along with some well-deserved replies.

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? (question from the UK)

A:  We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q:  Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (question from USA)

A:  Depends how much you've been drinking.

Q:  I want to walk from Perth to Sydney—can I follow the railroad tracks? (question from Sweden)

A:  Sure, it's only 3000 miles, take lots of water.

Q:  Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay? (question from the UK)

A:  What did your last slave die of?

Q:  Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia? (question from USA)

A:  A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe.  Aus-tra-lia is the big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not…oh forget it.  Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night at Kings Cross.  Come naked.

Q:  Which direction is north in Australia? (question from USA)

A:  Face south and then turn 180 degrees.  Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q:  Can I wear high heels in Australia? (question from the UK)

A:  You're a British politician, right?

Q:  Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (question from Germany)

A:  No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers.  Milk is illegal.

Q:  Can you tell me the regions in Tasmania where the female population is smaller than the male population? (question from Italy)

A:  Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q:  Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (question from France)

A:  Only at Christmas.

The Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom put together an international list "of the most inexplicably simple queries fielded by tourism officials."

Are there any lakes in the Lake District?

Why on earth did they build Windsor Castle on the flight path for Heathrow?

Is Wales closed during the winter?

Why did they build so many ruined castles and abbeys in England?

Do you know of any undiscovered ruins?

And here are some tourist questions asked at Niagara Falls:

What time do the falls shut off?

How far into Canada do I have to go before we have to drive on the other side of the road?

How much does it cost to get into Canada and are children a different price?

And here are some goodies from Minnesota:

I'm coming in July and I want snowmobile rental information.

We want to tour the Edmund Fitzgerald. (the ship sank in Lake Superior during a storm in 1975)

One traveler asked to see the bridge in Minnesota with the arches.  She was shown various photos, none of which were the bridge she was looking for.  She finally identified a picture of the St. Louis Gateway Arch as the bridge she wanted to see.  She was given directions to Missouri.

And finally …these tidbits.

One tourist to Scotland asked what time they fed the Loch Ness Monster.  Another visitor to New York City thought they would end up in Holland if they drove through the Holland Tunnel.  A traveler in Miami asked a tourism official which beach was closest to the ocean.

So…I guess the bottom line is to maybe think about that question a second time before you actually ask it.   :)

MEMORIAL DAY: A Holiday With A Dual Distinction

The last Monday in May, this year falling on May 25^th, is Memorial Day in the United States—a holiday honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War but didn't become an official federal holiday until 1971.

In addition to being a day observed by many Americans visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings, and participating in patriotic parades, it's also considered the unofficial start of the summer season and vacation time.

The Civil War claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history. This required the establishment of the country's first national cemeteries. In the late 1860s, Americans in various small towns and large cities held springtime tributes to fallen soldiers by decorating their graves with flowers. On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan proclaimed May 30^th as Decoration Day, the date chosen because it was not the anniversary of any particular battle.

On the first Decoration Day, General Logan made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery where 5,000 participants decorated the graves of 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

Decoration Day originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But by the time the U.S. became involved in World War I, the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.

The name Decoration Day gradually changed over to Memorial Day during the ensuing years, but continued to be observed on May 30^th. In 1968, one hundred years after General Logan made his Decoration Day proclamation, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. This law also declared Memorial Day to be a federal holiday. The change went into effect in 1971.

In addition to nationwide parades and the decorating of graves and monuments, Memorial Day has come to hold a second distinction. It is also a time of many family gatherings which include backyard BBQs and picnics. With an official date of the last Monday in May, the holiday is considered the unofficial start of summer and the beginning of the vacation travel season in the Northern Hemisphere with the Labor Day holiday on the first Monday of September signaling the unofficial end of summer.

Many recreational boaters launch their boats on lakes and rivers over the Memorial Day weekend for the first outing of the summer. Tourist attractions gear up for the summer vacationers.

And a sure sign of the start of the summer season—all across the country gasoline prices go up in preparation of increased need!

STRANGEST THINGS THAT WASHED UP ON BEACHES

It's not unusual to see all sorts of things washed up on beaches around the world.  There's the natural things such as seaweed/kelp and sea shells, including all things native to the oceans such as dead sea animals of various sorts ranging from small creatures to the occasional large whale.

But things washed up on the beaches also includes strange and surprising items that are not normally associated with beaches. Most of this marine debris, such as plastic bags, bottles and cans are from land-based sources.  Some, however, is due to weather events such as hurricanes and tsunamis.  While some comes from vessels in storm-tossed seas. We have seen several very large and strange things washed up on the shores of western U.S. and Canada that arrived from Japan courtesy of the 2011 tsunami.

Here is a list I came across of unusual beach findings that didn't belong there.

In January 2012, huge shipping containers from a distressed cargo vessel washed up on one of New Zealand's most popular beaches. Up to 300 containers were reportedly tossed overboard when 6 meter (approximately 19.5 feet) waves struck the ship. People were warned against looting, but both locals and tourists flocked to the beaches to take photos of the giant containers.

A recurring washed-up-on-the-beach sensation appeared at Zandvoort, Netherlands in 2007, and Brighton Beach in England in 2008, and at Siesta Key Beach in Florida in 2011. And what was this surprise visitor to these shores?  It was a giant (8 feet tall) Lego man that weighed about 100 pounds and featured a bright green torso showing the message "No Real Than You Are."  The number 8 appeared on its back along with the words "Ego Leonard." The mystery was finally resolved when it was revealed that "Ego Leonard" was the alter ego of a Dutch artist.  The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office joined in the fun and issued a press release saying it had taken the giant Lego man "into protective custody." In response, numerous "Free Lego Man" Facebook pages and campaigns popped up on the Internet.

In September 2005, hundreds of giant squid washed up in Newport Beach. Calif. The creatures, believed to be Humboldt squid, normally reside in deep water.  It was rare for locals to encounter them on land or sea. Authorities said the squid might have been pursuing bait fish and gotten too close to shore. Other factors, such as warm ocean temperatures or record rainfall were also suspected.

In May 2012, dozens of fly swatters emblazoned with logos of collegiate and professional sports teams washed up on the beaches of Kodiak, Alaska. The fly swatters were originally believed to be debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami, but were eventually proven to have come from a shipping container that got loose from a ship carrying products from China. The container went overboard in dangerous weather in the Gulf of Alaska. Other sports-related items, such as Nerf balls and water bottles were also found on Kodiak's beaches.

In August 2010, hundreds of tea packets washed ashore in Rajbandar in the Raigad district, Maharashtra, India.  Nine containers from the cargo ship MSC Chitra spilled into the sea after the cargo ship suffered a collision with another ship.

In 2007, residents of the Dutch North Sea island of Terschelling, 70 miles north of Amsterdam, discovered thousands of bananas washed ashore after at least six containers of the fruit fell off a cargo ship in a storm and at least one of the containers broke open. Bunches of the still green bananas from Cuba also washed up on neighboring Amerland Island. It's not known exactly what happened to the beached bananas, but at the time residents suggested sending most of the fruit to local zoos.

In February 2006, also on the Netherlands' Terschelling Island, thousand of sneakers washed up on the beach when containers from the P&O Nedlloyd ship Mondriaan fell overboard in a storm. Residents of the island rushed to get the sneakers, searching for shoes in their size.  Other items washed up on the beach from those containers included children's toys and briefcases.

Perhaps one of the most famous container spills in history occurred in January 1992 when 28,000 rubber duck toys fell into the sea.  The incident inspired a book titled Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn. The great rubber ducky spill occurred when a shipping crate on a cargo ship headed to the U.S. from China fell overboard onto the Pacific Ocean during a stormy night. Some of the rubber ducks (nicknamed Friendly Floatees) have since washed up on the shores of Alaska, Hawaii, South America, Australia and the Pacific Northwest. Some have traveled 17,000 miles, floating over the site where the Titanic sank or spending years frozen in an Arctic ice pack. Some 2,000 of the rubber ducks are still circulating in the ocean and helping researchers chart ocean currents.

On January 26, 2011, a grand piano was found on a sandbar in Miami's Biscayne Bay (pictured above), mysteriously charred from being burned. Speculation about its origins included the idea that it was part of a music video production. It was later discovered that the piano was a junk art installation, the brainchild of a 16-year-old hoping to use the piece for a college application.