Monday PBS Wisconsin aired a show called Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Appleton that focused on the history of the community. However, there’s a lot of interesting facts about Appleton that I’ve collected over the years that they failed to mention. They may be unverified, but they are interesting.
UNVERIFIED FACTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF APPLETON
The first wave of Appleton’s European settlers ATE the second wave of Appleton’s European settlers.
The city was named for Samuel Appleton, the man who invented the apple.
The Hearthstone is not only the first home in America to have Hydroelectric powered lightbulbs, but also hydroelectric powered dildos.
Near the northwest corner of Riverside Cemetery, there is a small, inconspicuous memorial to the 37 Appleton residents who between 1971 and 1974 died of chronic boredom.
Appleton became a city in 1857 and Kimberly Clark opened their first Appleton mill that produced toilet paper in 1889 meaning if you moved here the year the community incorporated, you had to wait 32 years to poop.
In the 1830s, the area that would become Appleton was known as a trading site for furs to make beaver hats. Beaver hats were oddly popular at the time, despite the fact that bald beavers did not become widely popular until the late 1980s.
In 1877 Appleton resident Alfred Galpin installed the first working telephone in the state of Wisconsin. The first call placed resulted in Galpin being informed he was caller number 11 and to try again at 12:30 and 4:30.
Appleton has had 46 mayors since 1857, nearly 37% of whom have been earthlings.
Appleton’s primary the source of the city’s water supply is the Fox River as opposed to nearby Menasha where the primary source of the city’s water supply is people peeing in the canal behind Jitters bar.
