And we’re back

Don’t look down: Nik Wallenda, whose tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon was watched by 10 million viewers last year on Discovery, will perform an encore for the cable channel this November, this time in Chicago.

Wallenda and Discovery haven’t announced what he’ll cross this time, but early speculation is that Wallenda will risk certain death by walking a tightrope across a Chicago-style deep-dish pizza with extra cheese.

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Don’t know much about history: On this day in 1927, the voice and image of Herbert Hoover, then the U.S. commerce secretary, was transmitted live from Washington to New York in the first successful demonstration of broadcast television.

Those demonstrating the TV technology later admitted the Hoover broadcast was a mistake as they meant to show a commercial for a Hoover vacuum cleaner.

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Still don’t know much about history: On this day in 1922, Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall signed a secret deal with two oilmen friends granting them leases for petroleum reserves in exchange for cash gifts, a scandal that would be known as the Teapot Dome.

Here’s where they goofed: It’s a bribe if you exchange money for a political favors after an election; when you exchange cash for a political favor before an election, it’s a campaign donation protected by the First Amendment.

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