The primary source of the Mississippi River is Lake Itasca, which is located in north-central Minnesota. The river flows generally southward to its mouth in Louisiana at the Gulf of Mexico. The watershed of the river is the world’s fourth-largest; it includes all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces.
Although it sounds like such, the name ‘Itasca’ is not native to the area. It was created to designate the lake as the “true head” of the Mississippi River by Henry R. Schoolcraft during his expedition to the river’s source in 1832, and was formed by combining the last four letters of the Latin word for ‘truth’ (veritas) with the first two letters of the Latin word for ‘head’ (caput) – hence, Itasca.
Itasca’s original name, when translated from the native Ojibwe and French names, is “Elk Lake”.
-“BB”-
Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America; at an elevation of 12,507 feet, it is also the world’s highest navigable body of water. More than 25 rivers empty their waters into Titicaca.
The name ‘Titicaca’ has been translated as ‘Mount of the Puma’ or ‘Rock of the Puma’.
Despite being land-locked, Bolivia maintains an official Navy, which patrols the Rivers and has a presence on Lake Titicaca. In the War of the Pacific (1879–1883), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia] and conquered the Bolivian coastal territories. Bolivia has never reconciled with the loss of its coast to Chile and the Navy exists to keep the hope alive of recovering its coast by cultivating a maritime consciousness.
Between 1810 and 1825 ten countries in South America declared independence from their European rulers. Colombia was the first to do so, followed closely by Chile, both in 1810. Venezuela and Paraguay were next, in 1811, followed by Argentina in 1816. Peru declared independence in 1821; Brazil and Ecuador did so in 1822; Uruguay and Bolivia did the same in 1825.
The first FIFA World Cup football (soccer) competition was held in 1930, in Uruguay. Thirteen nations took part in the competition, and the host nation won the final, defeating Argentina, 4-2, in front of 93,000 fans in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay.
The Argentine invasion and capture of the Falklands (or Malvinas) Islands in April 1982 temporarily buoyed the military regime, which had been dealing unsuccessfully up to then with severe economic problems and growing political opposition. However, the subsequent British recapture of the islands in June led eventually to the fall of the regime and the reestablishment of democracy in Argentina.
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. As a consequence of the battle, the German East Asia Squadron, Germany’s only permanent overseas naval formation, effectively ceased to exist.
The current German navy, known as the Deutsche Marine, is part of the unified Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces. There are close to 17,000 personnel in the navy, with 65 ships and 56 aircraft.
Until 1976, the Marine Corps shared the responsibility of helicopter transportation for the POTUS with the Army. Army helicopters used the call sign Army One while the president was on board.
In the early 1960’s, the US Army built a cannon that was capable of shooting projectiles to an altitude of 107 miles, beyond the Karman line that determines the boundary of space. It was 120 feet long, and weighed over 100 tons.
Cannon is an American detective television series produced by Quinn Martin that aired from 1971 to 1976 on the CBS network. William Conrad played the title character, private detective Frank Cannon. The series was the first Quinn Martin production to run on a network other than ABC.
Actor William Conrad was ubiquitous on radio programs, as both an actor and announcer, in the 1940s and 1950s, thanks to his deep, resonant voice. Conrad originated the role of Marshal Matt Dillon on the radio version of the Western Gunsmoke, and played Dillon on the radio from 1952 until 1961, but was passed over for playing the role on television, in favor of James Arness; it was rumored that Conrad’s weight was a contributing factor to the network’s decision.
Conrad was under contract with CBS Radio, and when he appeared on radio programs on other networks, he was sometimes credited as “Julius Krelboyne.”
Ninja’ed!!
Although there was not a real Matt Dillon, there was a lawman who may have been the inspiration for the role. Charlie Bassett (1847-1896) was one of the founders of the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, served as the first sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, as well as city marshal of Dodge City. His deputies included Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson.
A Wyatt Earp quote, “Fast is fine, but accuracy is final.”
(A favorite quote of mine.)
“We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.”
— Justice Robert Jackson, SCOTUS
The dogma of papal infallibility – that is, the idea that the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church is incapable of making an error on formal statements of doctrine and belief – was established by the First Vatican Council (a.k.a. Vatican I) in 1870.
Papal infallibility only comes into play when the pope speaks ex cathedra, and since 1870, such a decree has only been made once: in 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the assumption of Mary as an article of Catholic faith.
Pope Pius IX has the distinction of the longest-serving Pope. His papal reign began in 1846 and ended with his death in 1878, a period of over 31 years. The second-longest-serving Pope was Pope John Paul II, who served from 1978 until his death in 2005, a period of over 26 years.
The shortest-serving Pope was Pope Urban II, who served for 13 days in 1590. He passed away before being consecrated.
Vatican intrigue has often attracted novelists and filmmakers. Fictional popes have notably included Kiril I (The Shoes of the Fisherman), Pius XIII (The Young Pope), and Francis II and John Paul III (The New Pope).