Things to do in Rochester

A list of oddly fascinating things I learned this weekend at the George Eastman house.

• Eastman completely fabricated the word Kodak. It was invented solely as a product name that would be easily remembered and not misspelled.
• He advocated changing our 12-month calendar to 13 (adding the month Sol and reducing the number of days per month). In fact the Eastman Kodak company operated on a 13-month calender until the middle of the 20th century.
• He never married, but had a close friendship with a group of married women whom he dubbed the "Lobster Gang."
• He invented flexible plastic film without which we would not have motion-pictures.
• He was one of the top five philanthropists in the nation, donating over $100 million in his lifetime.
• He killed himself with a single gunshot wound to the chest at age 77 claiming, "My work is done."
• His home, which is open the the public, also houses a museum for film and photography.