The thylacine, which was commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, was a species of predator marsupial, which originally inhabited Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania. By the beginning of the 20th century, the thylacine was only known to exist in the wild on Tasmania – the last confirmed sighting of a thylacine in the wild was one which was shot in 1930, and the last captive thylacine died in the Hobart Zoo in 1936. However, unconfirmed sightings of the species had continued in Tasmania, as well as western Australia, until recent years, and some researchers now hypothesize that the thylacine has only recently become completely extinct.
Hobart, Tasmania, is home to Australia’s oldest brewery. Founded by former convict Peter Degraves, the Cascade Brewery has been producing beer since 1832, making it Australia’s longest continually operating beer manufacturer.
The largest selling Australian beer brand is Fosters, brewed under license in 150 countries. The company was started by two Irish-Americans in Melbourne, and was originally known for being served cold when refrigeration was a novelty. It was still popular in Oz until the 1970s. Paul Hogan’s endorsements aside, the Australians I talked to tended to much prefer Castelmaine and Toohey’s - feeling that Fosters was like making love in a canoe. Just like Mexicans prefer Negro Modelo to Corona and leave Jose Cuervo for tequila novices.
Voyageurs National Park is a U.S. National Park, located in northern Minnesota, near the town of International Falls. The majority of the park, including the Kabetogama Peninsula, which accounts for most of the park’s land area, is accessible only by boat (or, in the winter months, by snowmobile, snowshoes, or cross-country skis).
The Voyager 1 & 2 unmanned spacecraft that were launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets have 8-track tape recorders to store data.
Over 43 years later, many of the instruments are still working and transmitting data from a distance of 14.1 billion miles away, or 152 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
The first attempt by the United States to launch a satellite into orbit occurred on December 6, 1957, after the Soviet Union had already sent Sputnick I and Sputnick II into space. The satellite, named ‘Vanguard TV-3’, was to be propelled into space by a Vanguard rocket. However, about two seconds after liftoff and after rising about four feet into the air, the rocket lost its thrust and fell back to earth, which ignited the fuel tanks. The rocket was destroyed and the launch pad severely damaged. The satellite was thrown clear and landed a short distance away, still transmitting a beacon signal. It is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.
Project Vanguard was the program designed to launch a satellite during the International Geophysical year. Though beaten by Sputnik and suffering a humiliating failure with Vanguard TV-3 (dubbed “Kaputnik” in the press), the program eventually met its objectives.
The backup TV-3 failed 55 seconds into flight, but TV-4 (test Vehicle 4) successfully placed its satellite in orbit, where it remains to this day. It provided information on the size and shape of the earth and the atmosphere. Two other satellites were launched succesfully under Vanguard.
Project Vanguard pioneered many of the technologies used in space exploration, including solar cells for power and a tracking system for flights.
The term “vanguard” originally referred to the leading portion of an advancing military formation or army, and comes from the medieval French term “avant-garde,” meaning “advance guard.”
HMS Vanguard was the tenth of eleven warships in the Royal Navy to bear the name, and the last battleship to be built in the entire world. Completed too late to see combat during World War II, in early 1947 she conveyed King George VI and his family, including then-Princess Elizabeth, on the first royal tour of South Africa by a reigning monarch.
George VI of England is best known today for his stammering, as dramatized by the movie The King’s Speech. Aside from his stammer, he also endured chronic stomach issues and had to wear corrective splints for most of his youth due to “knock knees”. Despite his health struggles, he was an athletic youth. He even competed in the men’s doubles tournament at Wimbledon in 1926, before he became king.
King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (not just England!) was also the last Emperor of India. By the time his daughter Elizabeth took the throne as his successor in 1952, India had won its independence and she thus never had the chance to serve as Empress, leaving her great-great-grandmother Victoria as the only person ever to have served as Empress of India.
India became a republic on January 26, 1950; on that day, Rajendra Prasad became the first individual to assume the office of India’s President. He was the first of 14 to have been elected to the office, and his tenure of 12+ years is by far the longest of any Indian President. By current law, no one person can serve more than one 5-year term as President.
The President of the United States is not actually designated as the head of state in the U.S. Constitution, but since George Washington, has traditionally always served in that role.
The President of the United States is not actually designated as the head of state in the U.S. Constitution, but since George Washington, has traditionally always served in that role.
Which makes one wonder … just who DOES the US Constitution designate as the head of state?
Playing off Elindil’s Hair,a s Bicycle Bill is just asking a question, IMHO. YMMV.
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts university in Lexington, Virginia. Established in 1749 as the Augusta Academy, then renamed Liberty Hall Academy, the university got the name Washington in 1796 after a endowment by George Washington. Robert E. Lee served as President of the school from 1865-1870 and his name was added upon his death.
Robert Edward Lee was born in 1807 in Virginia. He died in 1870, also in Virginia. His father was “Light Horse” Harry Lee who fought with George Washington and gave the eulogy at Washington’s funeral.
Lee Marvin (1924-1987) was a movie actor best known for playing tough guys and villains in such films as The Killers, The Dirty Dozen, and The Big Red One. However, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1965 comedy Cat Ballou, in which he played dual roles, one of which was a gunfighter hired to thwart the notorious killer, which was his other role.
