Special Sub-Topic: Impossible - But True? Authored by: smalltownhick Sub-topic of: True or False

'Star Trek' has been shown in scores of countries since its debut. True or False - Russia created their own communist version of the 'Star Trek' TV show.

T. In the late 60s, 'Kosmicheskaya Militsiya', which translates as Space Police or Space Militia, appeared on Russian TV. It was the story of the starship Red Adventurer (Krasny Avantyurist), its stalwart Captain, cold and logical first officer, and noble crew, as they explored the galaxy. To learn more, check out http://www.stim.com/Stim-x/0996September/Automedia/soviet.html

Leon Trotsky helped forge communism. True or false - he also acted in a Hollywood movie.

T. He played in the 1914 spy movie 'My Official Wife'. No reviews have survived.

Over the years, the owners of Superman sued several imitators out of existence. True or false - the first character so destroyed was a negro super-hero.

F. Nope. Wonder Man, created by comics legend Will Eisner, was white. He appeared in one (now quite expensive) issue.

Many insects have odd mating habits. True or false - one variety of mite doesn't look for a mate - she creates her own.

T. Histiostoma Murchiei lays eggs that grow into male adults without fertilization. She can then mate with these males to produce more females. The males then die. Sucks to be a mite. (Yeah, I know. Ouch.)

The Second World War produced several new weapons - some of which never saw the light of day. True or false - one of them was called the "Bates Eight Barrel Bottle Thrower".

T. Between 1940 and 1941, the British Home Guard produced several, shall we say, easily built weapons for home defence. One was the Grenade #76 - a pop bottle filled with phosphorus, latex, and benzine, which would burn when broken. Several other inventors created weapons that would use these grenades as ammunition - one of which was the multibarrelled artillery weapon in our question.

The first actor to play the Lone Ranger on radio was George Seaton. True or false - he would later direct the movie 'Miracle on 34th Street'.

T. He has also directed the first 'Airport' movie.

One of the most famous items associated with Scotland is the kilt. But, True or False - the kilt was invented by an Englishman.

T. The traditional Highland dress in the 1700s was the plaide - sort of a blanket wrapped around the waist and thrown over one shoulder. This garment was too loose for English entrepreneur Tom Rawlinson, who had just opened an iron works. He asked a tailor to invent something better suited to a Scotsman working in a foundry. Thus, the kilt.

Trick shooter Annie Oakley became famous as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. True or false - At the beginning of WWI, she offered to lead an all-girl company of sharpshooters.

T. She even said the girls would provide their own rifle and ammunition. She got no reply. She may have volunteered because of an incident in 1890, where, as part of her act, she shot the ashes off a cigarette being smoked by none other than Kaiser Wilhelm. If she'd missed, she might have saved millions of lives and changed history. Or maybe not.

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field is a photograph of over 10,000 galaxies extending to the end of the Universe. True or false - It will take almost 1,000 years for the telescope to photograph the entire sky with this much detail.

F. The Ultra Deep Field covers a patch of sky roughly the size of a pinhead. It will take nearly a MILLION years for the Hubble to do a sky-sized Ultra Deep Field.

A couple of Wild West gunfighters lived long enough to see Hollywood start up. Wyatt Earp taught early Western star William Hart how to quick-draw. True or false - he also taught John Wayne.

F. Nope. He KNEW Wayne - at that time, a propman named Marion Morrison - but didn't teach him a thing.