SEPTEMBER 5, 2012 | BY JAMES K. WHITE

Mullet Over: Statue of Liberty was officially a lighthouse

Recent data indicates that Dhaka, Bangladesh has supplanted Manila, Philippines as being the world’s densest metropolitan area. Poor Dhaka suffers with more than 114,000 people per square mile.

From 1886 until 1902, the famous Statue of Liberty was officially a lighthouse. A light was placed in the torch that could be seen 24 miles out to sea.

Indonesia became an independent nation in 1945 when it separated from the Netherlands. On August 17 of each year, the nation celebrates Independence Day by having several men race up palm tree poles that have been topped with bicycles. It’s an Indonesian thing.

Evalyn McLean once owned the Hope Diamond. She often suspended the valuable blue stone from the neck of her Great Dane (Mike) and let him frolic about as visitors and family members looked on in amazement.

There is now a gallery dedicated to vice presidents of the United States. The museum motto was advertised as “Second to One.” Some unusual accounts are presented inside the Huntington, Indiana structure. For instance, V.P. candidate James Sherman died just prior to the 1912 election and was still elected to the office. Richard Johnson (vice president 1837-1841) once petitioned congress to finance digging near the South Pole in order to determine whether the earth was hollow. Of course those people were in office long ago and we have recently experienced only alert/intelligent people as vice presidents.

The ornithological world is abuzz these days as 10 (yes, ten) previously unidentified species of owl have been discovered in the Philippines. Reports are that the bird guys are “who-who-whooping” it up.

Video camera technology has made impressive advancements. New devices available make it possible to read the dates on U.S. pennies from a distance of 8 miles. I should think that one would have to really “be into” coin dates before committing the funds necessary to acquire such data.

For those with expensive bicycles: an anti-theft device is available ($160) that can be placed inside handle bars or bike tubing that acts as a GPS tracker. The gadget has a motion-activated switch and a lithium-ion battery that can send information to designated cell phones.

Officials for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro plan to use “smart landing pads” for events such as the long jump, triple jump and perhaps shot put, javelin, etc. The pads can detect fouls and immediately display electronically measured distances.

Well, use discretion when decorating your dog’s neck – and have a great week.

James White is a retired mathematics teacher who enjoys sharing fascinating trivia. He can be reached at [email protected].