Poll Answer: How much did the first video recorder weigh?

It weighed as much as a small car: 1,466 lb

The video recording machine was invented by the Ampex corporation of California in 1956. The first video recorder, the Ampex VR1000, stood 3 ft 3 in (1,1 m) high [or more than 6ft when fully assembled].

Poll Answer: What is the most popular Christmas tree ornament in Japan?

It's the origami, or paper swan.  32% of you thought it was the candy cane.  Oh well  :-)

Poll Answer: Where was the first Christmas card created?

The first commercial Christmas and New Year’s card was designed in London, England in 1843 by John Callcott Horsley (1817 – 1903), a British narrative painter and a Royal Academician.

Horsley actually designed it in 1840, but it first went on sale only in 1843, when one thousand cards were offered for 1s each.

The card was controversial, for it showed a family raising their glasses to toast Christmas. Puritans immediately denounced it. The idea was a hit with others. Christmas card soon became very popular.

The First Christmas Card

Poll Answer: What was Eadweard Muybridge photographing when he developed a technique that became the basis for the movie camera?

In 1872, Californian governor Leland Stanford hired English photographer Eadweard Muybridge to capture the movement of horses. He wanted to prove a galloping horse always had at least one foot on the ground.

Muybridge set up 12 cameras at a Sacramento racetrack to photograph a galloping horse. He put the images on a rotating disc and shined a light through them. Not only did it prove that a galloping horse sometimes has all fours off the ground, but the photographic technique became the basis for the movie camera.

The 12 photos taken by Muybridge

Poll Results

Check back here every Sunday for answers to the weekly polls.  We might even give an explanation with a few more facts.  And one more thing.....  Expect to see giveaways and other rewards in future polls.

A Young Boy's Super Bowl

We just added a new family member. That's him showing off the Colts blue. See more pics

Win or Lose, both Super Bowl teams had a great run this year. It's also been a great run for my 8yo, who took an interest in football for the first time.

It started this Fall when he decided to play flag football for the Browns. Being named after the NFL franchise prompted his curiosity to find out more about pro team. In the process, he became a fan.

As with all football fans, even young ones, the camaraderie of sharing the emotions of competition is very special. In other words, when dad likes a different team it rubs off. And that's how a young boy also became a Colts fan.

Even though both his teams were on different paths this year, he watched every game he could. He traded cards with friends and amassed quite a collection for both teams. As the Colts flourished, so did his interest.

My son recently showed me a video of the Baltimore Colts playing in the Super Bowl (in 1969). It was ironic because my first exposure to football and the Colts was that year, when I was a young boy. I remember my boyhood hero, Johnny Unitas - the quarterback, leading them to victory. And when they got to the Super Bowl, I was ecstatic. Didn't matter that they lost...I was forever hooked. Football taught me a lot about life's lessons, and I was better for it.

My son and I will be cheering for our Colts in the Super Bowl. He doesn't know the lessons he's about to learn...its just a game for an 8 yo mind. Or maybe not!

Meet Ollie

This is our two month old baby