TIL of the Friendly Floatees spill in 1992. The Floatees are plastic bath toys which were manufactured in China. A shipment of the toys was on the container ship Ever Laurel, which encountered a storm at sea, which resulted in the loss of 12 containers. One of these containers held 28,800 of the floating toys; this container split open and the toys were released. The toys have floated around the globe, having been recovered in Australia, Africa, both coasts of the USA, and Europe. The last toy to have been found was discovered in 2007 in Europe.
In Scotland, a gazebo, conservatory or other place to sit outside may be called a sitooterie
This US company was the “largest” (in terms of budget and assets) in the country - as well as largest in the world for some years in the early 20th century (after the breakup of Standard Oil in 1911). 200,000 employees at its peak, and an annual budget (at least for 1916 - if not other years) approaching that of the whole US government. What’s surprising is that this company was not a monopoly (e.g Standard Oil, US Steel, and possibly Ford) - it had plenty of competitors.
Who am I? Pennsylvania Railroad
And to think, I could have bought it for $200!
golf clap
TIL, a young Alan Alda served as an Army officer…in Korea… in the 1950s.
Urban myth according to Wikipedia: Alan Alda - Wikipedia
The Internet lied???
Both James Garner and Michael Caine did fight in Korea, though. And both had a keen dislike for garlic, which came in handy detecting enemy infiltration.
I think Michael Caine probably still has a keen dislike for garlic.
I met a woman who claimed that she developed garlic intolerance due to gall bladder surgery (post hoc ergo propter hoc), which was unfortunate because it ruled out a great deal of standard American cuisine (e.g., pizza).
Jamie Farr however did serve in Korea (after the war). He wore his real dog tags in the tv show.
As I pointed out four years ago on this Board, there’s a Benjamin Franklin Pierce memorialized in the Memorial Hall at Sanders Theater at Harvard University. I saw it while waiing in line to get into the theater for a performance. As far as I can tell, Hiester Richard Hornberger (AKA “Richard Hooker”), the author of the original novel MASH had nothing to do with Harvard, but he could’ve seen the name, too, while waiting for a show. Or it could be a coincidence.
Or just the portmanteau-ish combination of Benjamin Franklin and Franklin Pierce seemed like a good joke name.
George Washington Irving
John Jay Leno
Andrew Jackson Mississippi
James Madison Bumgarner
John Marshall McLuhan
Thomas Jefferson Airplane
Killers, every one of them. I’d even go for Benjamin Franklin Pierce Brosnan.
This is Flavor Flav, famously a founding member of the seminal rap group Public Enemy, somewhat less famously a denizen of some trashy reality television.
And now here is Flavor Flav demonstrating that in addition to his other celebrity qualifications, he has remarkably credible chops as a pianist.
A little biographical googling suggests that he’s a talented self-taught multi-instrumentalist. I love Public Enemy, but this, this I did not know.
Wayne Gretzky always finished at (or near) near the bottom in his team’s pre-season fitness tests. Max bench was 140; he had a hard time doing six sit-ups.
I forgot to add “der Pinkelprinz” to his given names.
The German verb drehen means “to turn” (in the sense of “rotation” or “turning around” rather than as of a vehicle changing direction), and is a cognate of “to throw”.
The semantic commonality is “throwing” a pot on a potter’s wheel, which rotates by definition.
Shot putting also comes to mind.