Pup Mania!

     On September 30, a jogger was on the California coast when they heard a strange noise. Upon closer investigation, it was found to be an orphaned sea otter pup.  After waiting around for the mother, the pup was rescued and taken to the Cetacean InstituteMonterrey Bay Aquarium.  A month later, the pup was adopted out to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, an institution with plenty of experience in dealing with rescued sea otter pups. When the female pup arrived, she immediately became a star, captivating millions of online viewers with her cuteness, as well as drawing the attention of J.K. Rowling. After spending another month as the clincal-sounding Pup 681, Shedd decided to give her a name.  First off, they opened the vote up to their members, letting them choose between 5 names:

• Cali(for California)
• Ellie(for Elephant Seals, which inhabit the same area where the otter was found)
• Poppy(the State Flower of California)
• Ana(for Ano Nuevo State Park in the same area where she was found)
• Luna(for Half Moon Bay, which is where she was found)

     After several hundred votes from Shedd's members,(as well as an unexpected contribution from J.K. Rowling) the voting went nationwide thanks to a partnership between the Shedd and Good Morning America.  The voting closed on the 11th, and a live reveal was held in front of Shedd's sea otter habitat this past Friday. After a brief chat about sea otters given by the head of Shedd's Marine Mammals Department and an appearance by a giant sea otter mascot, the moment that America had been waiting for arrived when Shedd announced the winning name live on Good Morning America.  After 10,000 votes from the public and 9 days of wondering, Pup 681's name was revealed as...LUNA!  After a few more words and pictures of Luna frolicking around in the main habitat, the ceremony ended and Luna went back behind the scenes.  For those of you who didn't go to the party, your first chance to see Luna on exhibit will come sometime in the Spring of 2015.

Trivia Thursday: The Fire That Wasn't

     Okay folks, we're back with more trivia.  First off, here's the answer to last week's question:  The deadliest aviation accident on American soil was the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 on May 25, 1979.  Now as for our bonus questions, here are those answers:  The plane flew out of O'Hare International Airport, and it was piloted by Walter Lux.  Now, on to the next question:

Back on October 4, The Great Chicago Fire Festival was supposed to be a triumphant celebration of the city's rebirth from the Great Fire of 1871, except things didn't exactly go as planned.  What went wrong?

     We'll be back next week with the answer and another question.

Chicago Style Poles

     Life in a firehouse. You've got the ever present firefighters, the engines, the chili(of course the chili), and the fire pole(plus a few other things). Let's talk about that fire pole. Such a basic piece of fire technology, so simple in fact that it could have been in use when Marcus Crassus started running around Rome extorting people into paying for his services. However, it's not quite that old. Legend has it hat the first fire pole was used in Boston. I'm here to tell you that legend has it wrong.

     To get the story, we need to go back to 1878 Chicago. Seven years after the Great Chicago Fire, the city is still making its comeback, and is 15 years away from hosting the Columbian Exhibition. One day that year, Engine Company #21(an all-black fire unit) was responding to a call when fireman George Reid slid down from the third floor using a pole that was intended to help stock the loft with hay for the horses(this was 1878, how else do you expect the firefighters to get to the fire?). Captain David Kenyon saw the wisdom here and convinced the Chief to make the change. Initially, other fire departments looked at them like they were crazy and even started to ridicule their pole method. That all changed when Company #21 started consistently being the first on the scene to fires in the city, at which point they (I imagine somewhat sheepishly) picked up the trend.

     By the early 20th Century, the trend had caught on around the world. Today, fire poles are on the decline, (due to their many risks) with many new fire stations being built ranch-style. However, many historical multi-level houses still have them, a continuation of a 136 year old Chicago tradition.