ON this date in 1784 - In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America.

He wanted the symbol to be the turkey.

Fellow inventors and statesmen, Bun Man and Mr Purple, offered Ben solace.

Bun told him "Don't worry, the turkey will be used to honor American ingenuity."

And lo and behold, the Corvette was born in the 1950s and to this day is still called 'The plastic turkey for the mill honkies'.