What famous scientist mistakenly thought he had discovered plutonium -- a decade before it was actually discovered?

TechTalk radio ep. 251 includes a host of Thanksgiving-esque tech tidbits and, sadly, a trivia question that perhaps on I find interesting: What famous scientist mistakenly thought he had discovered plutonium -- a decade before it was actually discovered?

If you're the kind of geek that gets off on the historical minutia surrounding elemental physics -- and you know who you are -- you'll also likely enjoy pointing out all the errors I make in my weekly radio factoid from last fall.

Truly Trivial: What US President tried to reschedule Thanksgiving, and why?

Image by Croixboy via Flickr

A short work week at NotebookReview -- including preparations for Black Friday -- means we're going back to the Geek Trivia well in lieu of a fresh Truly Trivial column, but it's a timely and popular retread. The key excerpt below explains.

Sales volume typically spikes on Black Friday, then plummets back down the following Monday. The sales trend then ramps back up as Christmas approaches, with the two Saturdays and two Sundays nearest to but before Christmas eventually overtaking Black Friday in sales volume. (December 23 is always a good bet to be near the top as well.) The last-minute shopper is a statistical -- and economically powerful -- reality.

Despite Black Friday's somewhat overstated reputation, one U.S. president so respected the economic power wielded by the Christmas shopping season that he tried to extend it a week -- by rescheduling Thanksgiving.

WHICH U.S. PRESIDENT WANTED TO RESCHEDULE THANKSGIVING TO ACCOMMODATE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING?

The full Q&A is here.

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