The advice given to those affected by the potato blight bordered on the absurd. One scientist advised people to get hold of chloric acid and manganese dioxide. This mixture should have been been added to salt and applied to the diseased area of the potato.
1 Nevada is the only state that includes "none of the above" as a ballot option. But if "none" finishes No. 1, the second-highest vote-getter wins. 2 A high point for third parties was 1912, when Teddy Roosevelt tried to win a third term in the White House because he was disgruntled with his successor, William Howard Taft. Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party beat Taft but lost to Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt won 27 percent of the popular vote and got 88 electoral votes. 3 In 1967, the citizens of Picoaza, Ecuador, were treated to a series of advertisements with slogans such as "For Mayor: Honorable Pulvapies" and "Vote for any candidate, but if you want well-being and hygiene, vote for Pulvapies." The honorable Pulvapies was elected mayor by write-in votes, but could not take office. Why? Because Pulvapies was a foot powder.
