Word: pluto
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...spirit to the very end. He once referred to himself indirectly as "Admiral Asteroid, Conqueror of the Cosmic All." Early on, he convinced county fairgoers that his discs flew on an invisible wire: 100 feet for $1; the disc was free! I bought one of his legendary Pluto Platters--the archetype for all modern plastic flying discs--as a 10-year-old in the spring...
...months later, the toy company Wham-O, which had acquired the rights to the Pluto Platter, heard that students back East were tossing around pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Co. Wham-O soon trademarked the name Frisbee. As part of the instructions molded into the bottom of the original Pluto Platters, Fred encouraged players to "Invent Games" and "Experiment!" And people did. From ordinary backyard play to international competitions, the humble plastic flying disc has united the world in fun. Who doesn't know what to do with a Frisbee...
...These days it's known as a dwarf planet, but until Venetia Phair, 90, was 11, Pluto was dubbed Planet X. When Phair suggested naming the orb after the Roman god of the underworld, her well-connected grandfather helped make it a reality...
...Humans have been looking for other planets ever since astronomers first turned telescopes to the sky. But once we got beyond the nine worlds orbiting our own sun - eight actually, now that Pluto's been busted down to planetoid - we had no luck. The problem is, stars are huge, and by comparison, even big planets are tiny. Squint all you want; you're not going to see them. (See pictures of Earth from space...
There wasn't any, "Stop talking smack about Pluto or I'm going to slash your tires"? There were no threats of bodily harm. But there were tongue-in-cheek threats. And most of the schoolchildren were clearly disgruntled, pleading with me to put Pluto back where it belongs, as a planet...