Did you know?

[srawls]

Here's one I thought was common knowledge (amongst FIRSTers, that is), until several people stared at me blankly, and one wouldn't even believe me.

Did you know that Dean Kamen owns his own Island, and has seceded from the Union? (Island name is North Dumpling I think, or thereabouts. He even issued currency with the exchange rate of pi! At least he's got a sense of humour )

Stephen

[EDIT]

When Kamen wanted to erect a wind turbine on North Dumpling and the state of New York objected, he seceded from the US. Though the secession has never been officially recognized, he signed a nonaggression pact with his friend, then-President George Bush, and enlisted Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's as "joint chiefs of ice cream." North Dumpling has its own flag, its own anthem, a one-ship navy, and its own currency. One bill, which Kamen carries in his wallet, is the value of pi. "You can't make change for it," he says with a grin. "It's a transcendental function."

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.09/kamen_pr.html

After checking a few sources, nobody agrees on all the facts, but everybody includes most of the details (sligthly different from version to version).
[/EDIT]