If you look at several “On This Date” lists online (like this one) you’ll find an interesting bit of info for today, March 8: “1st flight of the Goodyear blimp (1972).”

1972? Hasn’t the Goodyear Blimp been around for a bit longer than that? Uh, yes, it has. But since it now exists only after March 8, 1972 – on the internet, where reality goes to die – we’d like to say “Happy Birthday, Blimp.” What the heck, y’know?

And just for the occasion, here are some blimpy facts, from our very own Uncle John’s Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader (page 273).