Strange But True: October 10, 2019

* It was multitalented Robert Anton Wilson -- he was, at various times in his life, a novelist, essayist, psychologist, editor, philosopher, playwright and mystic -- who made the following observation: "It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea."

* It took between 75,000 and 80,000 workers to build the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Isthmus of Panama.

* When the Barbie doll was first introduced in 1959, it was described in The New York Times as a "crushing bomb." So much for early reviews. Since then, more tha...