Murphy's Law Antedated to 1952!

[Fred Shapiro]

Lately I have been thinking that Murphy's Law may not have originated in
an aviation or engineering context after all.  For example, there are
references to it as an old theatrical saying beginning in 1957, not that
long after the earliest aviation/engineering evidence (1955).

Now I have found an earlier citation completely unrelated to
aviation/engineering and presented as an old mountaineering saying,
perhaps a Peruvian one:

"It was at the base of the mountain [Yerupaja in Peru] that an old legend
came true, the high country one that states: 'Anything that can possibly
go wrong does.'"
        Los Angeles Times, Aug. 22, 1952, page B5

This is not referred to as "Murphy's Law," and is not an antedating of
that term, but clearly antedates the proverb.  The term "Murphy's Law"
in fact loses its importance as evidence accumulates that the Edwards Air
Force Base story was attached to an already existing saying.

I realize that the Edwards Air Force Base story is supposed to have
happened in 1949, but extensive investigations by Barry Popik, myself, and
others have failed to find even a shred of pre-1955 documentation.

It should be noted that the above Los Angeles Times passage is taken from
a review of John Sack's book, The Butcher.  The proverb may well occur in
that book itself and the book may clarify whether it is a Peruvian saying.
I will get hold of a copy of Sack's book and check this out.

Fred Shapiro


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------