After President James Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau, numerous physicians and scientists were consulted concerning his treatment. Their biggest challenge was locating the bullet buried deep in his back. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, developed a crude metal detector for this purpose but he was unable to locate the bullet. Garfield died of blood poisoning 11 weeks after he was shot—most likely caused by the physicians' attempts to dislodge the bullet.⁴⁷

The perennial power in college football during the late-19th century was Yale. That's right, Yale.⁴⁸

Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, had famous children. His illegitimate son, Oscar, became a campaign issue during the election of 1884 when his existence was made public. Cleveland's legitimate daughter, a wee babe born in 1891 named Ruth, had a candy bar named after her.⁴⁹

Pullman's sleeping cars, like contemporary automobiles, came in different models. The "Pioneer" was introduced in 1865. On its maiden journey, it carried grieving widow Mary Todd Lincoln and the body of President Abraham Lincoln from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois.⁵⁰

Advances in chemistry, lax drug laws, and the period's obsession with physical comfort led to the common use of cocaine, laudanum, opium, and morphine during the Gilded Age. In fact, President Grover Cleveland's circle of male friends was known as the "rowdy reefers." But that was because they liked to fish.⁵¹