Murdoch invents a "bullet resistant" vest of metal and silk. Outlaw Jim Miller (1861-1909) wore a steel plate under his coat as late as 1894. In the 1880s, Tombstone physician George Goodfellow (1855-1910) experimented with using multiple layers of silk to protect against bullets.
A spry spoof of Weekend at Bernie's.
Although Murdoch did not invent the "wheeled chair", a Canadian did invent the first electric-powered wheelchair in the late 1940s. George Klein and his team of engineers designed the device while they were working for the National Research Council of Canada in a program to assist injured veterans of World War II.
Although the characters act as though they have never seen a wheelchair before (and that Murdoch invented it), in fact the dedicated wheelchair has existed since 1595. Many improvements were made in Murdoch's lifetime, however. An 1869 patent for a wheelchair showed the first model with rear push wheels and small front casters. Between 1867 and 1875, inventors added new hollow rubber wheels similar to those used on bicycles on metal rims. In 1881, the pushrims for added self-propulsion were invented. In 1900, the first spoked wheels were used on wheelchairs. In 1916, the first motorized wheelchair was manufactured in London.
The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America. The Inca Tern (Larosterna inca), which breeds in rocky cliffs on the coasts of Chile and Peru, is indeed restricted to this area, as Mr. Faber explains to the constabulary. It rarely reaches as far as Ecuador, and it certainly could not migrate as far as Canada.