Stunning

the world had seen photos sent by phone. The same holds true for the boom in the travel trailer industry in the nineties. Many had already been there, seen that. This and many other examples is true because of the exploits of one Tom Swift, the heroic young adult prodigy created by writer and publisher Edwards Strada Meyer. In Tom Swift and his Photo Telephone, the idea of sending pictures

by telephone predates the actual invention by thirteen years. Similarly, Tom Swift and his Wizard Camera, featuring a portable movie camera, was eleven years ahead of its time. And one more for good measure, Tom Swift and his Diving Sea Copter, which sounds like science fiction today but came true with the creation of the Flying Submarine, produced by the Department of Defense four years after the book was published. Either Edward strada Meyer was actually a genius or he had

friends in all the right places. Whatever the case, reading any Tom Swift novel became like seeing the future, albeit in the hands of a stalwart sixteen year old hero. Strada Meyer modeled Tom Swift after some of the best inventors of the era, such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. And while some people may have seen Swift's toys and gadgets as outlandish, maybe even impossible, history shows us that

he was something of a visionary. In fact, more than a few scientists and engineers have cited Swift as an inspiration for their own works. But there is one Tom Swift invention that took a bit longer to formulate. When pressed with the imprisonment of his friends in the African Savannah, Swift unleashed his new gizmo, the electric Rifle. Never mind the fact that in this same book his airship is called the black Hawk, which is now a very recognizable

military helicopter. Name Tom's Electric Rifle is a Swiss army of lethal and non lethal tricks and widgets, It can shoot through walls without leaving a hole. It can stop a charging whale because apparently whales openly charged ships. And it could even simply light up the night with a hovering glowing ball to make it easier to see and

stop more rampaging animals in the dark. Given the implausibility of this rifle, though, it's understandable why some aspiring inventors may have simply picked up a different Tom Swift novel and tried that instead. Putting wheels on a home sure, portable cameras, that's easy. But creating an electric rifle that can stop a whale, oh, that's something else. Enter Jack Cover, a NASA contractor, scientist, and physicist. As a child, Cover, like so many of his peers, found inspiration in the

adventures and inventions of Tom Swift. For Cover, it was the electronic rifle that claimed his attention the most, and it quickly became the apple of his scientific eye. This apple, like many that fell from the Tom Swift tree, would revolutionize the world that landed in this time, the world of law enforcement, which hadn't seen this kind of innovation

since the introduction of fingerprinting in nineteen o two. In nineteen seventy, Cover developed the first working model, and by two thousand eleven it had made the rounds to more than fifteen thousand law enforcement agencies in the US. Of course, at some point in development, Cover had created a brand name for his product, as all good companies tend to do. He wanted to call it the Thomas a Swift Electronic Rifle, but that was a bit of a mouthful, so instead

he just went with the initials Taser. These days, when two people are at odds, they have a number of peaceful ways to handle their conflict. They could talk it out or go through a mediator to help them solve their problems. The fact is we've come a long way from the days when settling a grudgement walking to the middle of a field, taking ten paces and then firing a gun at the other person. But for hundreds of years,

duels were an everyday part of life. During the medieval era, nights, squires and other offended parties would take up swords against each other in battle for honor. The losing side was then executed if they didn't die during the fight. Later on, duels evolved they were seen as civilized. Yes, civilized outlets for aggrieved individuals so that they wouldn't make scenes in public. A showdown in a private location was preferred to a knockdown,

drag out fight in the middle of the street. Perhaps no duel is more famous than that one that occurred in July of eighteen o four between Alexander Hamilton's and Vice President Aaron Burr. Hamilton's was killed after throwing away his shot, a tragedy that changed the course of history. But there was another duel, albeit a less violent one, that should be equally as well known as the Hamilton's Bird duel. For one, it involved one of the greatest

authors who ever lived, Alexander Duma. Before he introduced us to the Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers, Duma worked as a magazine writer and playwright. He was eighteen twenty five, and the twenty three year old had recently arrived in Paris. He was dining out with his friends at the Palais Royal, a literal royal palace that had been built for a high ranking cardinal in the mid sixteen hundreds, and after the meal, Duma and his

companions headed to the cafe near the palace. He was considered a dandy at the time, and on this night he wore an outfit prized of a cloak and top boots, which were tall boots with heels that collecked when he walked. This apparently upset a soldier playing billiards nearby, who made a snide remark at Duma's expense. Alexander didn't take it well. He chose to retaliate by grabbing another queue and disrupting the arrangement of the balls on the table, ruining the

man's game. One thing led to another, and Duma and the other man agreed to a duel to be held on January five, a few days later. His friends didn't think it was a good idea, after all, he was a writer, not a fighter, but Duma wanted to establish himself as a romantic someone who took action and fought for what he believed in. Plus it would help him with his stories. He began practicing his shooting in preparation for the duel. He turned out to be a pretty

good shot too. On the day of the showdown, Duma arrived at the location before the soldier, who did not show up at all. The man had slept in, and so the face off was rescheduled for the following day. Oh and their choice of weapons changed too. No longer would they use guns, but swords instead. Duma had some skill as a fencer, but he was more comfortable with the pistol. The next day, both men came to a local quarry to carry out their duel. They hunted for

a long while looking for the right spot. It was freezing out and there was snow on the ground, making the scouting process difficult. Eventually they found a suitable location, but then came the problem of Duma's sword. He'd taken his father's sword, which was considerably shorter than the soldiers. He agreed to press on, though refusing to let anyone else handle it. Duma removed his coat at the soldier's request. He also took off his waistcoat and shirt underneath, as

well as his suspenders. That last item was probably a bad idea, though, as without them he couldn't keep his pants up. They fell around his ankles, eliciting laughter from the quarry workers standing by. Duma hoisted them back up and tied the suspenders around his waist like a belt. Angry and Humilia did he jabbed his sword into the man's shoulder. The soldier fell backward, startled by how cold the blade was against his skin in the winter air.

He held immediately and Duma was declared the victor. The fight lasted all of a few minutes, and nobody had died. The young author later used his experience as inspiration for key moments in his novels, such as The Three Musketeers. Of course, he was probably smart to leave out the part where his pants fell down and everyone else laughed. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet

of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.