Betty Donovan from Cincinnati, Ohio: "I stole 18 cars in one hour" and Patrolman Robert Shearwood of the Cincinnati Police Department: "I watched her do it"
Donovan is a reporter for the Cincinnati Post newspaper and wanted to show how often local residents leave their keys inside an unlocked car, and how easy it would be for thieves to make off with them. All the cars she "stole" were in No Parking and Tow Away zones downtown. Sherwood didn't actually take the cars anywhere. She just hopped in, moved a car a few feet forward, then returned it back to its original spot. All this happened back in June under the watchful eye of Patrolman Shearwood, as well as her newspaper photographer and a TV film crew.
Lt Harold Parker of the US Coast Guard: "I directed the greatest sea rescue in history"
On July 25, just one week earlier, the massive Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria collided with the smaller Swedish passenger ship Stockholm in heavy fog off the coast of Nantucket. With far better communications tools than the Titanic had 44 years earlier, nearby ships picked up the distress call immediately and rushed to assist. Meanwhile, operating from Coast Guard offices in Lower Manhattan, Lt Parker coordinated additional planes, helicopters and rescue ships to gather at the scene of the accident. Though 51 passengers and crew perished in the collision (five from the Stockholm and 46 from the Andrea Doria), rescue efforts managed to save the remaining 1,660 survivors. Structurally, the Stockholm suffered massive damage to its bow but remained seaworthy and took hundreds of Andrea Doria survivors to safety. The Stockholm would be repaired and would remain in service for decades. The Andrea Doria sank hours after the last of its survivors had been rescued. Today its final resting place is a popular but dangerous destination for scuba divers. More than a dozen undersea explorers have perished trying to visit the wreckage.
Special guest Jack E Leonard
Leonard, whose girth earned him the nickname "Fat Jack," lost some weight in 1956 by dieting. While he could never be described as svelte, and eventually would put most of the wight back on, newspaper columnists of the day took note of the slightly thinner comic's efforts, and that weight loss journey may have been the subject of his secret here.
This episode has not been reviewed. Details come from alternate sources. Except where noted, “secrets” are not exact quotes.