Ian Fleming, the author who created James Bond, published the first Bond novel in 1953, entitled Casino Royale. Fleming wrote 11 more Bond novels and a new book was published annually. The last two of Fleming’s novels were published after his death in August of 1964.
Additional James Bond books have been written by many other authors since Ian Fleming’s death, including Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffrey Deaver, William Boyd, Anthony Horowitz, Charlie Higson and Kate Westbrook.
Most people are unaware that Ian Fleming also wrote “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the car, was based on a pre-WW1 Mercedes chassis with a six-cylinder Maybach engine that was typically fitted to Zeppelins. Six versions of the car were built for the film and several replicas have subsequently been produced. The version built for the stage production holds the record for the most expensive stage prop ever used.
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (in German, Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin) lived from 1838 to 1917. He was an inventor and businessman renowned for his work with lighter-than-air transport. As a young Army officer, he visited the U.S. during the Civil War to observe and learn more about the use of balloons for military reconnaissance.
He may even have a starship named after him someday: USS Graf Zeppelin | Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki | Fandom
King Ferdinand II of Spain (and of Ferdinand and Queen Isabella I) was also known as Ferdinand the Catholic (Fernando el Catolico), King of Aragon, King Ferdinand V of Castile, Ferdinand III of Naples, and Ferdinand II of Sicily.
Zeppelin was born in Konstanz which is in the very south of Germany, bordering Switzerland and near to Liechtenstein. Konstanz was named Constantia, for either the Roman emperor Constantius I or his grandson Constantius II. In the 1520s the Protestant reformer Ambrosius Blarer led the reformation effort there, breaking from the Catholic Church, and Konstanz officially became Protestant. The city first followed the Tetrapolitan Confession of 1530, and then later the Augsburg Confession. The Tetrapolitan Confession is the oldest confession of the Reformed tradition produced in Germany.
Ninja’d, so inserted Catholic.
Liechtenstein, Andorra and Monaco are the only three sovereign nations now ruled by princes - Hans-Adam II, Joan Enric Vives i Sicília (co-reigning with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron) and Albert II, respectively.
The final weekend in the month of May is among the most important dates on the auto racing calendar, as it is when three of the sport’s major races are held: the Monaco Grand Prix (Formula One), the Indianapolis 500 (IndyCar Series), and the Coca-Cola 600 (NASCAR Cup Series).
John Andretti was the first driver to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. As of now, Tony Stewart is the only driver to complete both races on the same day.
The Coca-Cola 600 was run for the first time in 1960, and was called the World 600 at that time. It was also the first race to be run at the newly-constructed Charlotte Motor Speedway.
-“BB”-
From 1999 to 2009, Charlotte Motor Speedway was known as Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Since 2010, it’s resumed it’s former name.
On May 20, 2000, fans were crossing a pedestrian bridge from the track to a nearby parking lot after that year’s The Winston (NASCAR’s all-star race). An 80-foot (24 m) section of the walkway fell onto a highway below. In total, 107 fans were injured at Lowe’s Motor Speedway when the bridge dropped 17 feet (5.2 m) to the ground. The incident is considered one of the biggest disasters in NASCAR history.
2000 was the last full year of the Clinton Administration. The Vice President, Al Gore of Tennessee, lost his own state and the election that fall.
John Andretti was the son of Aldo Andretti (was he ever called Al?), who was the twin brother of Mario Andretti. John Andretti was 56 years old when he died from colon cancer. Aldo Andretti was 80 when he died in 2020. It was reported that he died from COVID-19.
Mycroft Holmes, by seven years the older brother of Sherlock Holmes, first appeared in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story “The Greek Interpreter.”
The second largest Greek city is Thessaloniki. Is has just less than half of the population of Athens.
The apostle Paul wrote two letters to the new Christian church at Thessaloniki. These are in the Bible’s New Testament as 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. Some scholars hold that 1st Thessalonians was the first written book of the New Testament.
Thirteen of Christopher Wren’s churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, survived the German blitz of WWII. Nine more had their towers intact and were rebuilt.
Christopher Robin Milne, the only child of English author A.A. Milne, served as the basis for the character of Christopher Robin in his father’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories. The stories were based on Christopher and his collection of toy animals, as well as Cotchford Farm, the rural home where the family spent weekends and holidays.
Cotchford Farm is also where Rolling Stones’ guitarist Brian Jones drowned.