The Book of the Bizarre: Freaky Facts and Strange Stories (53 page)

The story: In 1941 the
Herald Tribune
, the
New York Post
, and a number of other New York papers began reporting the scores of a New Jersey football team called the Plainfield Teachers College Flying Figments as it battled teams like Harmony Teachers College and Appalachia Tech for a coveted invitation to the firstever Blackboard Bowl.

The reaction: As the season progressed and the Figments remained undefeated, interest in the small college powerhouse grew—and so did the press coverage. Several papers ran feature articles on Johnny Chung, the team's “stellar Chinese halfback who has accounted for 69 of Plainfield's 117 points.”

The truth: Plainfield, the Flying Figments, and its opponents were all invented by a handful of bored New York stockbrokers who were amazed that real teams from places like Slippery Rock got their scores into bigcity newspapers. Each Saturday, the brokers phoned in fake scores, then waited for them to appear in the Sunday papers. The hoax lasted nearly the entire season, until
Time
magazine got wind of it and decided to run a story.

THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST

A tourist visiting San Francisco in 1964 was involved in a minor cable car accident. As a result, she sued the city of San Francisco, claiming that the incident had turned her into a nymphomaniac. She won the case and received an award of $50,000.

NO POPPIES PLEASE

Opium was legal in the United States until 1942.

RELAXATION TECHNIQUES
CAN BE BAD FOR YOU

Don't fall asleep in the bathtub in Detroit. You could be arrested, because sleeping in bathtubs is illegal in the city.

THREE CHEERS

You need at least three people to make a legal riot.

LATE NIGHT PEANUTS

Buying peanuts after sundown in Alabama is illegal.

CEMETERY SPACE-SAVER