In naval terms, Lieutenants were commonly put in command of smaller vessels not warranting a commander or captain: such a lieutenant was called a “lieutenant commanding” or “lieutenant commandant” in the United States Navy, and a “lieutenant in command” or “lieutenant and commander” in the Royal Navy. The USN settled on “lieutenant commander” in 1862, and made it a distinct rank, with the Royal Navy following suit in March 1914.
Kathy Hochul, the Lieutenant Governor of New York, will become the state’s first female Governor on 24 August when Andrew Cuomo’s resignation and departure take effect.
In college at the University of Syracuse Hochul led an unsuccessful effort to name the university stadium after alumnus running back Ernie Davis who, in 1961, won the Heisman Trophy winner as its first African-American recipient. Davis played college football for Syracuse University and was the first pick in the 1962 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins.
Davis was diagnosed with leukemia that same year, and died shortly after at age 23 without ever playing a game for the ‘Skins.
Five players have won the Heisman Trophy, played on a Super Bowl winning team, and been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The five are Paul Hornung, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, and Charles Woodson. Woodson was elected to the HOF in February of 2021.
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White was a college athlete while attending the University of Colorado in the 1930s; he was a star halfback on Colorado’s football team, was nicknamed “Whizzer” White, and was the runner-up for the 1937 Heisman Trophy. White then played in the NFL for three seasons, and as a rookie, he led the NFL in rushing in 1938 for the Pittsburgh Pirates (the team which is now known as the Steelers).
Byron “Whizzer” White helped organize the 1960 Kennedy for President campaign in his home state of Colorado and then became a senior Justice Department aide for the President’s younger brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. White was appointed to the Supreme Court by the President in 1962 and served until 1993, when he was succeeded on the court by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed by President Bill Clinton.
The Colorado River flows through 11 National Parks and Monuments:
ANP — Arches National Park,
BCGNP — Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park,
BCNP — Bryce Canyon National Park,
CNP — Canyonlands National Park,
CRNP — Capitol Reef National Park,
CNM — Colorado National Monument,
DNM — Dinosaur National Monument,
GCNRA — Glen Canyon National Recreation Area,
GCNP — Grand Canyon National Park,
RMNP — Rocky Mountain National Park, and
ZNP — Zion National Park.
The Sinclair Oil Corporation, a regional petroleum company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, has used a green dinosaur (usually a Brontosaurus) as its logo since 1930; the idea for the logo was based on the commonly-held belief, at that time, that petroleum was formed by decaying dinosaurs. Many Sinclair gas stations had brontosaurus statues in front of their properties, a few of which survive today.
The Sinclair station along the historic Route 66 is located on one of the oldest stretches of Route 66. Built in 1934, it was called Sinclair Gay Parita. Its founder, Fred Mason, named it in honor of his wife, Gay. She died in 1953 and only two years later it was destroyed by a fire.
In the early 2000s, a Gary Turner purchased the site and decided to revive it. The retiree rebuilt the station using photos of the time and the style that this type of establishment generally sported in the 1930s. The place would still be recognized as the Sinclair Gay Parita, but also as Gary’s Gay Parita. Antique cars were placed at the station.
A wood fence was installed for visitors to write on and leave their mark. This station is in Ash Grove MO, at decimal grid 37.194280, -93.679453. Here is a map of the location.
Nitpick: the Gunnison River flows through this canyon and park. The Gunnison continues flowing in a northwesterly direction, joining the Colorado River in approximately 50 miles at Grand Junction, Colorado.
In play: The original numbering system of US highways designated that the main transcontinental routes would be numbered in multiples of 10. Route 66 was first proposed to be Route 60, but because it was not a coast-to-coast highway, it was changed to Route 66.
You’re absolutely correct! I tried changing my post to “The Colorado River and its major tributaries flows through 11 National Parks and Monuments” but I missed the edit window.
I decided to not make a ‘missed the edit window’ post, thinking that it may not be caught. But you got me! 
The Dope can be a cruel mistress…
In play: The original numbering system of US highways designated that the main transcontinental routes would be numbered in multiples of 10. Route 66 was first proposed to be Route 60, but because it was not a coast-to-coast highway, it was changed to Route 66.
Some of the original US trans-continental highways were also given names as well as numbers. US 30 (Atlantic City NJ - Salt Lake City UT, where it connected with US 40 to continue on to San Francisco CA) was named the “Lincoln Highway” in honor of the 16th president, and US 80 (Savannah GA - San Diego CA) became known as the “Dixie Overland Highway”.
-“BB”-
From 1926 to 1940, two great US highways crossed in Joliet IL: Route 66, and the Lincoln Highway. They met at the corner of N Chicago St and E Cass St.
Here is a map: Google Maps
The Lincoln Highway spans more than 3,300 miles from San Francisco to New York City and predates Route 66 by more than a decade.
In Plainfield IL there is another location where Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway crossed paths. There, the postwar Route 66 Bypass alignment, aka Route 59, met the Lincoln Highway and merged together for three blocks.
Abraham Lincoln liked, in his Springfield, Ill. days, to sit around the house and read while barefooted, so that he could, as he joked, “let my feet breathe.”
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum is located on Route 66 in Springfield IL. Its exhibits and possessions includes items like the original hand written Gettysburg Address, a signed Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln’s glasses and shaving mirror, Mary Todd Lincoln’s music box, items from her White House china, and her wedding dress.
Springfield is one of three state capitals that were originally served by Route 66. The highway also went through Oklahoma City, and the original route of the road took it through Santa Fe as well. A new route opened in 1937 bypassed Santa Fe.
15 miles south of Santa Fe, the original Route 66 went down a 500-foot descent in only two miles. There were 26 switchbacks in that stretch of highway.
There are 21 switchbacks on the road to L’Alpe de Huez, a ski resort on a mountain of the same name in the south of France ( el 3,330 m/10,925 ft). When used as part of the Tour de France, there is an elevation gain of approx. 1120 m (3670 ft) over a distance of 13.8 km (8.6 miles).
First used as part of the race in 1952, each of the 21 switchbacks have been named, in chronological order from top to bottom, in honor of the winner of the stage that climbed/finished at the summit.
When the climb was used again for the 22nd time in 2001, it was decided that they would just add the names of winners to the turns, again starting from top to bottom, meaning that some signs would now bear TWO names. However, that stage (as well as the 2004 stage, the 24th time the climb appeared on Le Tour) was won by Lance Armstrong, whose USCF results from 1998 to 2010, including his two wins on this stage, were struck from the records following his lifetime ban from cycling due to the doping scandal involved him and his team. His name still appears (as of 2018) on the signs at switchbacks #21 and #19, although there have been calls from many quarters, including the mayor and council of the town of L’Alpe d’Huez, for having him removed from these signs as well.
-“BB”-
Stretch Armstrong is an action figure toy, which was first introduced by Kenner Products in 1976. The action figure’s body is made of flexible latex rubber, and is filled with corn syrup gel, allowing the figure to be pulled on and stretched far beyond its normal dimensions, and quickly returning to its original size when released.
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, a great jazz trumpeter, also had a noted career as a singer. In 1964, his rendition of “Hello, Dolly” climbed to #1 on the charts. He was 62 years old at the time, making him the oldest musical artist to have a Number-1 hit. When the recording hit #1, it displaced The Beatles, who had held the top spot for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs.
Neil Armstrong, an Ohioan, Eagle Scout, decorated Navy pilot, noted astronaut and, as part of the Apollo 11 mission, the first man to set foot on the Moon, later served on the Apollo 13 accident investigation and on the Rogers Commission, which investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.