HIGH LIFE / A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Sunburned Soldiers Spurred Creation of Suntan Lotion Empire

Although sunbathing has been a popular pastime since bathing suits covered more skin than they left bare, sunscreen lotions are fairly recent inventions. And it wasn’t fear of wrinkles that led to their creation.

“The suntanning industry did not really begin until World War II, when the government needed a skin cream to protect GIs stationed in the Pacific from severe sunburns,” writes Charles Panati in his book “Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things.”

“One physician who assisted the military in developing the sunscreen was Dr. Benjamin Green. Green believed there was a vast, untapped commercial market for sunning products.

“After the war, he parlayed the sunscreen technology he had helped develop into a creamy, pure-white suntan lotion scented with the essence of jasmine. The product enabled the user to achieve a copper-colored skin tone, which to Green suggested a name for his line of products.

“Making its debut on beaches in the 1940s, Coppertone helped to kick off the bronzing of America.”

The top-selling single record to date, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin, with 30 million sales of the Bing Crosby version (recorded May 29, 1942) and more than 100 million sales of other versions.

The highest claim for any “pop” single is an unaudited 25 million for “Rock Around the Clock,” recorded April 12, 1954, by Bill Haley and the Comets.

The single record “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”--written and produced by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and played by an all-star ensemble of British musicians under the name Band Aid--sold 3.6 million copies on discs and cassettes by May, 1986, in the United Kingdom and 7.5 million more worldwide. The $52 million in proceeds went to the Ethiopian Famine Relief Fund.

The best-selling album of all time is “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, with global sales in excess of 38.5 million copies as of Aug. 1, 1985.

“The ancient Egyptians worshiped cats, and a person could be executed for killing one,” writes Barbara Seuling in her book “Elephants Can’t Jump & Other Freaky Facts About Animals.”

“In 525 B.C., when the Persian King Cambyses II attacked the Egyptian city of Memphis, he flung cats over the walls of the city. The people inside were so horrified and frightened by this bold act that they surrendered immediately.

“Crocodiles, too, were worshiped by the ancient Egyptians, and kept in temple pools, adorned with gold earrings and jeweled bracelets. Sometimes, if a slave was uncooperative, he was tossed into the pool.”

“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”

--Mark Twain (1835-1910)