San Diegans awaken on the Friday morning of March 21, 1952, to clear skies, northeasterly winds, highs in the 60s promised by afternoon. Harry Truman is president. Ex-Navy pilot and ex-San Diego State football star …
December 19, 1996
Thursday, December 19
Mafia in San Diego in early 1950s
Macarena — its origin, its song, its saint
Dear Matt: A three-part question, if you don’t mind. (1) Regarding this new craze of the cute little Macarena dance, where and how did it originate? (2) Is it not true that the trumpet solo …
December 19, 1996
Thursday, December 12
How many noodles there are in a Top Ramen package
To: Matmail: My girlfriend contends that Top Ramen is made up of multiple noodles, whereas I maintain that it consists of a single, rather lengthy noodle, which, unfortunately, always seems to break during handling. What …
December 12, 1996
World War II – a boom for downtown San Diego
Bob Guthrie, in the summer of 1941, got a job driving a truck. He had graduated from Point Loma High School in 1940 and gone on to State. His job was a summer job. He …
December 12, 1996
Thursday, December 5
Mafia in San Diego before World War II
“You have to get it all in a historic context,’ Mr. Willis said. “The Italianos, or Sicilianos, began to come here to America back around 1870. The main group on the West Coast came to …
December 5, 1996
Mein Kampf — easier to get in Israel than Germany
Dear Mat: Was Mein Kampf ever translated to Hebrew? — Ron, the Net Yes, in part. Adolf Hitler’s 1924 autobiography cum racial hatefest and world-domination plan was in about a dozen languages by 1937. After …
December 5, 1996
How to escape a car underwater
Dear Matt: My friends and I were recently driving over the bay bridge in San Francisco. During the drive, we started thinking about how to escape a sinking car. In the movies, stunt people seem …
December 5, 1996
Dinner can affect your hearing if you’re a very poor aim with a fork
We recently heard that eating a meal can affect a person's hearing. After a person has eaten, the sense of hearing is affected, and a person cannot hear as well. Is this true? Why? — …
December 5, 1996