April 25, 2022 - National Telephone Day | National DNA Day

Welcome to April 25, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate ringing up old friends and weird science. The first call ever made on a telephone lasted only a couple seconds. But the duration didn’t matter to its inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who was ecstatic that his device worked. But he would’ve positively freaked out if he witnessed the call between two Harvard University students in 2012. Eric Brewster and Avery Leonard spoke on the phone for a record-setting 46 hours, 12 minutes, and 52 seconds. So what were they talking about? Everything. It was part of an art installation and by the time the call was over, it’s safe to say they were probably ready for lots of silence. On National Telephone Day, celebrate by ringing up an old friend to catch up. We’ve all heard stories about children switched at birth, but this story takes the cake. When Lydia Fairchild, a pregnant mother of two found herself in an economic pinch, she decided to apply for government assistance. Imagine her surprise when a DNA test revealed that her children were not her own. She was so upset by the implications of fraud that she asked for a government witness to be present at the birth of her third child. Now here’s where it gets strange. An immediate test of the newborn confirmed that the child was not Lydia’s either. This case had experts so baffled until science determined that Lydia was a “chimera.” She herself had absorbed her own twin while developing in utero and it was her twin’s DNA that showed up during testing. On National DNA Day, celebrate the weird science that may only reveal one piece of the truth. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices