Joseph Nathan Kane, Master of Minutiae, Dies at 103

Jen Young points to This NYTimes Obit on Joseph Nathan Kane, whose lifelong obsession with facts led him to write exhaustive reference works that cataloged such things as the nicknames of presidents, when the first Eskimo Pie was created (1922), when the first camels were brought to America (1721) and the precise patent number of the first safety pin in the United States, died on Sunday.

He was 103 and until a few years ago lived not far from where he was born as the 19th century ended, on the West Side of Manhattan.