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Interesting Facts
- The star of such movies as "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Mississippi Burning," "Platoon," and "Spiderman," noted stage and screen actor Willem Dafoe was born in Appleton on 22 July 1955. His role as the noble, shaman-like Sergeant Elias in "Platoon" earned him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1986, and he is immortalized in promo material for the movie, on his knees, arms thrown to the heavens.
- Never one to share a secret, Harry Houdini ordered that, upon his death, all his books and implements of magic should be destroyed. Today, the Houdini Historical Society, which shares space with the Outagamie Museum, houses one of the world's most unique and extensive collection of Houdini effects. Sidney Radner, protégé of Theo Hardeen, Houdini's brother, donated most of the items on display. That's right: in opposition to his brother's wishes, Theo did not destroy the materials, he kept them and passed them on to Radner, who stored the items in his basement for some 40 years before turning them over to the Houdini Historical Society in 1988.
- And now, it's time for Fish Facts! Lake Winnebago, just a short drive from downtown Appleton, is home to the world's largest population of sturgeon, a long bony fish that prefers cooler waters and is a valued source of caviar and isinglass. An adult can weigh in excess of 100 pounds (the largest one caught in Lake Winnebago was 180 pounds). Some sturgeon have even been known to reach the eligibility age for collecting social security – 65 years, that is.
- Author Edna Ferber spent her school years in Appleton, earning a reputation as a writer even at a very young age. In fact, the editor of the "Appleton Daily Crescent" was so impressed by Ferber's senior essay that he gave her a job as a reporter. From there, she went on to write for the "Milwaukee Journal." Novels, though, earned her a place in American literary history, and "Showboat" and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "So Big" were among her more noteworthy efforts. Incidentally, the screen version of "So Big," which starred Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, was James Dean's last movie, and "Showboat" became a Broadway smash.
- Lawrence University, chartered in 1847, actually predates its hometown, which was not incorporated as a village until 1853. Four years later, the communities of Grand Chute, Appleton, and Leesburg joined together to form the City of Appleton.
- Joseph McCarthy, the infamous anti-Communist crusader of the 1940s and '50s, was born on a farm in Appleton in 1908. His ambitious political career included terms as a Wisconsin circuit court judge and state senator, but he didn't begin to make ripples across the American landscape until February 1950. At that point, he delivered a speech declaring that he had a list of 250 state department employees who were members of the American Communist Party. The tumultuous years that ensued saw McCarthy attack writers, screen-actors, and members of the Democratic Party for either having communist ties or being "soft on communism." By 1953, even McCarthy's staunchest allies could no longer support his crusade and, in December of the next year, the US Senate voted 67-22 to condemn his actions. Disgraced, the once-popular senator from Appleton quickly faded from public view and died in Bethesda Naval Hospital on 2nd May 1957.
- The mysterious Harry Houdini left a legacy of speculation and legend when he died in 1926, even some rumors regarding the events that led to his death. A popular one that continues to survive involves his dying from injuries sustained after allowing a college student to punch him in the abdomen. When Hollywood did Houdini's life story in 1953 (starring Tony Curtis), it added to the public's confusion by having the celluloid Houdini die while attempting an underwater escape. Let's set the record straight: On Halloween 1926 at Detroit's Grace Hospital, master illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini died of peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix – that is, appendicitis.
- Just south of Appleton is the small town of Neenah, whose name has a rather fascinating history. As legend has it, Wisconsin Territorial Governor James D. Doty ran across a band of locals while exploring the northwest corner of Lake Winnebago in the first half of the 19th century. The Governor pointed to the Fox River and asked what their word for it was. The Indians replied, "Neenah." Doty so liked the sound of the word, which means "water," that he used it to refer to the entire region.
- The The Midwest's Fox River, Africa's River Nile, Florida's St. Johns River, and the Tennessee River – each carves its way through dramatically different terrain, but is the lifeblood of its region. Some of these rivers function as the primary water source, while others serve as an avenue for cargo transport. However, all share one, rather uncommon trait: they flow north.
- What does Appleton's first rabbi, Mayer Sammuel Weiss, have in common with escape artist Harry Houdini? A father-son relationship, of course. The elder Weiss moved Ehrich (Houdini's birth name) and family to Appleton from their native Budapest in the 1870s. Over the next decade or so, young Ehrich developed a deep, life-long fascination with magic and the art of escape. Upon leaving Appleton to pursue his career "in bonds," Ehrich changed his name to Harry Houdini in honor of master illusionist, Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin.
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