Admit it. You know the French are bad at war, but you're just not quite sure how bad. Did you know that French support in the American Revolution wasn't all that it was cracked up to be? Did you know that during World War II more French ships were sunk by the Allies than the Axis? Did you know that Napoleon wasn't actually French? Did you know the French were reduced to eating elephants at the zoo during the Franco-Prussian War? Did you know that a French puppet emperor actually ruled Mexico for a time? Did you know that the greatest French naval victory of all time ended up with their agents...

History repeats. Today's headlines of NSA cyberwar, missing jetliners, GM ignition scandals and environmental disaster echo back to WWII codebreaking, Murphy's Law, Colonel Deeds' Barn Gang and the epic bad luck of Thomas Midgley, Jr.

For over 100 years remarkable, intertwined individuals have reshaped the way we live our lives, from the keys in our pockets to the water we drink and the air we breathe.

Dayton was the Silicon Valley of its time, and these "grand eccentrics" in the small Midwestern city of Dayton, Ohio changed our whole world. Wherever we live we're all Dayton's...