Sarajevo is nicknamed the ”Jerusalem of Europe” due to the city’s diverse ethnic and religious makeup. It is a center for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Sarajevo is one of only a few major European cities to have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox church and synagogue within the same neighborhood.
“And did those feet in ancient time” is a poem by William Blake, first published in 1808. In 1916, Sir Hubert Parry set the poem to music, in the form of a unison song; the song is now commonly known as “Jerusalem.” The song, which was re-scored by Sir Edward Elgar in 1922, has become extremely popular in England: it is often used as a hymn in the Church of England, and is traditionally played on the Last Night of the Proms. There is some sentiment in England that “Jerusalem” should become the nation’s national anthem.
On Johnny Carson’s final broadcast, he had a segment showing many of the guests he had on his show. The final image – one of only two in black and white – was of Hubert H. Humphrey, senator and vice president under Lyndon Johnson.
Hubert H. Humphrey Jr. and his father (Hubert H. Humphrey Sr.) shared two jobs - politician and pharmacist. The senior HHH was active in local and state politics in South Dakota and his son was a US Senator, Vice-President and presidential candidate. Because the family needed help, the junior HHH left college, got licensed as a pharmacist and worked in his father’s pharmacy before returning to college.
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was a domed sports stadium, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and named after Hubert H. Humphrey Jr., who had been mayor of Minneapolis, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Vice-President.
The Metrodome, which opened in 1982, was the home stadium for the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL, the Minnesota Twins of MLB, and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team. It is the only sports venue to have played host to a World Series, a Super Bowl, an MLB All-Star Game, and an NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.
It was demolished in 2014; U.S. Bank Stadium (the current home of the Minnesota Vikings) was built on the site of the Metrodome.
IMO, the Metrodome was by far the most-poorly designed sports stadium in history. Baseball, in particular, was a joke inside the dome. The Twins won two world series built around a team that knew how to play in that monstrosity of a baseball park.
Small wonder that it only lasted 32 years.
In play: The parent company of U.S. Bank, U.S. Bancorp, is currently operating under the second-oldest continuous national charter for a national bank. The charter was granted in 1863 as charter #24, but other, older banks, have closed or been acquired. The oldest national charter, originally granted to the First National Bank of Philadelphia, is held by Wells Fargo, which was obtained upon its merger with Wachovia.
The oldest license plate registration still in use is also the first one issued. It is Massachusetts plate with a “1” on it and has passed down through inheritance.
The Statute of Uses, enacted in 1536 at the request of Henry VIII, was intended to reduce tax avoidance on land taxes, and had the unintended effect of spurring the development of the English law of trusts. Although the Act has been repealed in England, it is still valid law in some Canadian provinces.
Not in Play
Bodl words, my friend, but I take it you have never heard of the Montreal Olympic Stadium, nicknamed “The Big O” from its circular shape, and the “Big Owe” from its immense financial burden on the taxpayers. No professional team currently plays in it, in part because of concerns about falling slabs of concrete.
The six wives of Henry VIII were, by marriage year —
1509 - Catherine of Aragon
1533 - Ann Boleyn
1536 - Jane Seymour
1540 - Ann of Cleves
1540 - Catherine Howard
1543 - Catherine Parr
I must be missing it, how does that relate to the previous post on Massachusetts car registration? Is it trusts/inheritance? It’s not very clear.
In play
The Broadway play “Six” is a musical where Henry VIII’s wives are in a modern rock band telling their stories and competing to be the lead singer.
Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella (yes, the ones of Columbus fame). She was married to his older brother, Arthur. Arthur died 6 months after the marriage at the age of 15, possibly of the sweating sickness. Catherine was also ill but recovered.
Henry’s father, Henry VII, wished to keep Catherine’s dowry and cement an alliance with Spain, so a betrothal of young Henry to Catherine was arranged. Catherine claimed her marriage to Arthur was never consummated and the Pope gave special dispensation to the marriage.
Henry VIII married Catherine soon after taking the throne at age 18.
Comedy legend Catherine O’Hara has a congenital condition called “Situs Inversus” in which the organs of the chest and abdomen are arranged in a perfect mirror image reversal of the normal positioning. Most people with situs inversus have no medical symptoms or complications resulting from the condition and it only occurs in less than 1 in 10,000
The mirror image reversal of situs inversus is a left-right mirror image reversal. E.g., the heart, instead of being on the left as is normal, is on the right.
« Situs inversus » is a plot point in a short story by Dorothy L. Sayers, « The Image in the Mirror ».
Not in Play
« Use »
Steven Spielberg’s third film was 1974’s Sugarland Express starring Goldie Hawn. It is based on the true story of Sayers TX residents and was filmed in and around Sayers.
Gale Sayers was a halfback and kick returner for the Chicago Bears. His short career consisted of 7 seasons in the NFL, but knee injuries limited him for 2, so his brilliant totals are based off 5 seasons. He was a All-American back for the Kansas Jayhawks and was rookie of the year in the NFL.
He is quoted as saying that all he needed was 18 inches of daylight. His elusiveness, raw speed, and vision made him one of the great open-field runners.
I have no doubt that the Montreal Olympic Stadium was the most-poorly constructed sports stadium in history, but I stand by my original point of the ridiculous design of the Metrodome.
In play: On December 12, 1965, rookie Gale Sayers scored a record-tying six touchdowns for the Bears in a game against the San Francisco 49ers. Sayers scored 4 rushing touchdowns on runs of 1, 7, 21, and 50 yards, 1 receiving touchdown on a 80 yard pass play, and 1 touchdown on an 85 yard punt return.
3 seasons later, in 1968 Sayers and the Bears faced the 49ers at home at Wrigley Field. Sayers had been leading the league in rushing after 8 games. He injured his right knee when several ligaments, and his lateral meniscus, tore. It was just his third NFL season.
There have been two notable baseball stadiums named Wrigley Field.
The better-known of the two is located in Chicago; it opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park, and was home to the Chicago Whales of the Federal League for two years, before that league folded. The Chicago Cubs of the National League moved into the stadium in 1916; it was eventually renamed Wrigley Field in 1927, named for the team’s owner, chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley.
The other Wrigley Field opened in Los Angeles in 1925, and was primarily a minor-league ballpark, serving as home for the Los Angeles Angels (which were also owned by William Wrigley) and the Hollywood Stars, both of the Pacific Coast League. The stadium also briefly served as home for a different Los Angeles Angels team – this one an expansion team in the American League, which played at Wrigley for their inaugural season in 1961. The Los Angeles Wrigley Field was demolished in 1969.
In 1891, William Wrigley, Jr. Moved to Chicago to sell soap and baking powder. When he began offering his customers free chewing gum from Zeno Manufacturing, many of them offered to buy the gum. So Wrigley developed his own gums, introducing Wrigley’s Spearmint and Juicy Fruit in 1893. By 1911, Wrigley’s Spearmint became the top selling gum in the United States.