101 Things You Didn't Know About Columbus, Ohio: (But Are About to Find Out)

According to James Thurber, Columbus-born author and celebrated wit, "Columbus is a town in which almost anything is likely to happen, and in which almost everything has." To prove Thurber's point, your curious author has dug up bits of esoterica - odd, amusing, and little-known strands that make up the city's variegated fabric. You may live here, but how much do you really know about Columbus? Can you name your hometown football heroes, Playboy Magazine playmates, Pop Movement luminary, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, World War I flying ace, the local boxer who became heavyweight champion, or the local girl who became Miss America (twice!)? Who was the Columbus-born general the troops called "Old Iron Pants"? Or the local aviator who became the first woman to fly solo around the world? How did a border dispute lead to the greatest rivalry in college football? Where was the city's (and the world's) first service station? What in heaven's name was Abraham Lincoln's body doing here? Readers learn the answers to these intriguing questions and much, much more. Fascinating tangents and tidbits in purposely random sequence (with generous cross-references) create a ready-to-explore trail of knowledge about Columbus and its environs, informing and entertaining, correcting myths and misconceptions, mostly revealing a quaint, curious, and unexpected treasure trove that brings a culture and a place into sharp focus.