Urbane Irish nationalist Robert Wilson Lynd published an article in 1921 defending superstition. He regarded theatre as the second most superstitious institution in England after horse racing, where wishing someone luck is seen as unlucky so one should say something insulting instead. Pierre Omidyar founded eBay in 1995 after the first item sold was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. Martin Frobisher returned from trying to find the Northwest Passage with a cargo of worthless pyrite which came to be known as "fool's gold".