FZ = French Zone
After World War II, Germany was divided into five sectors. The far east was returned to Poland, and what is today’s Germany was designated as the American, British, Soviet and French Zones of occupation. The French Zone, the smallest, adjacent to France, combined with the American an British Zones to form the Bundesrepublik, while the Soviet Zone became the DDR, “East Germany”. Beriin remained separate, and itself was divided into four zones occupied by those four countries.
GA = Green Acres
*Green Acres * ran on CBS from 1965 to 1971. Though the show was still getting good ratings in 1971, it was canceled as part of the so-called “rural purge,” because CBS decided it wanted to reach for what they thought were the more sophisticated urban and suburban viewers. Other shows canceled included Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies and Hee Haw. Pat Buttram of *Green Acres *was quoted as saying at the time: “It was the year CBS canceled everything with a tree, including Lassie.”
GB- George Burns, ne Nathan Birnbaum, played Mr. Kite and sang “Fixing a Hole” in the astonishingly bad movie version of “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
GC = George Carlin. Comedian, and the first host of Saturday Night Live. During his stint in the Air Force, he was court martialed three times.
GD - George DiCaprio is an American writer, editor, publisher, distributor, and former performance artist, known for his work in the realm of underground comix, where he collaborated with such notables as Timothy Leary and Laurie Anderson. He is the father of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
GE- Drummer Graeme Edge is the only original member of the Moody Blues who’s still a member of the band.
GF = Good Friday, a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. Good Friday assumes a particular importance in the plot of Richard Wagner’s music drama Parsifal, which contains an orchestral interlude known as the “Good Friday Music”.
GG = Green Ghost
Manufactured first in 1965 by the Transogram Company, Green Ghost was the first children’s board game designed to be played in the dark.
GH = Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping has been one of America’s most popular magazines for over a century. When it became a success in 1911, it was bought by Hearst Publications, continued to be a big seller throughout the depression, and in 1939, it generated more revenue than all the other Hearst publications combined.
GI- Garth Iorg of the Toronto Blue Jays lost to his brother Dane Iorg of the KC Royals in the 1985 American League championship series.
GJ = Guadalajara, Jaslico
Guadalajara, Mexico’s second city with nearly 5-million people, is one of the oldest cities in the Americas. It was first settled by the Spanish only 40 years after Columbus discovered America.
GK = Gil Kane, comic book artist who created the look for the Silver Age Green Lantern and Atom, and was co-creator of Iron Fist (who now has a Netflix series).
GL- Rush vocalist Geddy Lee was born Gary Lee Weinrib. His mother’s thick Yiddish accent made “Gary” sound like “Geddy,” which became his nickname among friends and family.
G = Galapagos Mockingbird
Of the 16 species of mockingbirds in the world, four are endemic to the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos Mockingbird is the most widely distributed, being found on most of the islands in the archipelago.
GN = Good News, a frequent translation of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (otherwise “gospel”). The word was most often used to describe a military victory. In the 1st Century A.D. it was best known from the official Priene calendar of Rome, where the “good news” was to commemorate Augustus Caesar, emperor of the Roman Emperor, and (according to the calendar) the son of the god Apollo.
GO = Glass Onion
The walrus was Paul.
GP = Grand Panjandrum. It was a massive, rocket-propelled, explosive-laden cart designed by the British military during World War II. It was one of a number of highly experimental projects, including Hajile and the Hedgehog, that were developed by the Admiralty’s Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD) in the final years of the war. The Panjandrum was never used in battle. The term was coined by Samuel Foote in an impromptu recital in 1753 designed to test the memory of an actor who said he could repeat anything if he heard it once. The actor, Charles Macklin, succeeded.
GQ - General Quarters. “Red alert” or “battle stations” aboard a warship, when all hands must go immediately to their duty stations.
GR = Genereal Roca
The General Roca railroad connects Buenos Aires with the southern Andean resort town of Bariloche. Originaly established in 1862, it was renamed in the 1948 reorganization of Argentine railways.
GS = Get Smart, a secret agent spoof sitcom of the sixties. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. Don Adams, who starred as Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, directed 13 of the episodes, and wrote two.