Where the term Brainstorm comes from.
Bear with me folks, this is gonna be a bumpy ride.
Stanford White (above) was a great Architect and built many of New York's most iconic buildings. He built the Arch in Washington Square Park, the Bowery Savings Bank, Judson Memorial Church (which has a lovely, if odd, easter service), helped Tesla with Wardenclyffe Tower (always with the Tesla, I know, I know), and most famously Madison Square Garden. Sadly, he was shot in the face on the rooftop of his own Madison Square Garden by this man.
Harry K. Thaw was a Harvard Grad, a notorious gambler (he claimed to have studied poker at Harvard) a cocaine and morphine addict, and Chorus-girl chaser. Stanford white, for his own part, was also a bit of a chorus-girl chaser (he had a velvet sex swing installed in his bachelor pad.) This is where their paths crossed, over the lovely young actress, model, and chorus-girl, Evelyn Nesbit.
Both Men were determined to woo Evelyn. Eventually she married Thaw, despite that he secreted her away in a German Castle and was a vicious sexual sadist and would regularly whip the living crap out of Evelyn. Thaw however had to live with the knowledge that it was was Stanford who had taken Evelyn's Virginity when she was sweet 16.
So on June 25th, 1906 at the premiere of Mamzelle Champagne, during the finale, "I Could Love A Million Girls," Thaw walked up to Stanford and fired three shots at close range into Stanford White's face, killing him.
The crowd initially suspected the shooting might be part of the show, as elaborate practical jokes were popular in high society at the time. Soon, however, it became apparent that Stanford White was dead. Thaw, holding the gun aloft, walked through the crowd and met Evelyn at the elevator. When she asked what he'd done, Thaw said that he had "probably saved your life."
Thaw was acquitted on the insanity plea, his lawyer claiming Thaw suffered from a "Brain-Storm", thus entering a new term into the American lexicon.
So the next time your boss asks you to "Brainstorm", shoot him in the face. It's only appropraite.
