Pope Stephen II was succeeded by his brother Pope Paul I
After the death of Pope Paul VI in August of 1978, the papal conclave elected Italian Cardinal Albino Luciani to ascend to the office. Luciani took the papal name John Paul I, in honor of his two papal predecessors, noting that John XXIII had named him a bishop, and Paul VI had named him a cardinal.
John Paul I only held the office for 33 days; on the morning of September 29th, he was found dead in his bed; it was determined that he likely had suffered a heart attack the previous evening, though several conspiracy theories have arisen regarding his sudden death.
John XXIII was a very large man. He was once on the streets of Rome incognito and heard a woman say to a friend that the Pope was « so fat »
John reportedly turned to her and said « Signora, the papal conclave is not a beauty contest. »
Since 1971, only members of the College of Cardinals who are under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in a papal conclave for the election of the next pontiff. The College now has 222 members, of whom 121 are entitled to vote.
Beginning in the early 1800s, the ballots used by cardinals were burned after each ballot to indicate a failed election. The lack of smoke instead signaled a successful election. Since 1914, black smoke (fumata nera) emerging from a temporary chimney installed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel indicates that the ballot did not result in an election, while white smoke (fumata bianca) announces that a new pope has been chosen.
Since 1963, chemicals have been added to the burning process to augment the smoke’s black or white color. Beginning in 2005, a successful election is also accentuated by bells ringing at the appearance of the white smoke.
The Arizona Cardinals were originally established in Chicago as the Morgan Athletic Club in 1898, and they joined the NFL as a charter team in 1920. While based in Chicago, the Cardinals won their only two NFL Championships, in 1925 and 1947. After 40 seasons in Chicago, the club moved to St. Louis in 1960.
The Arizona Cardinals have the longest title drought in the NFL, and the Detroit Lions have the second longest title drought:
◆ 1947 — last championship for the Arizona Cardinals
◆ 1957 — last championship for the Detroit Lions
Detroit is one of 13 US cities that has at least one team competing professionally in the Big Four sport leagues (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA): the Tigers, the Lions, the Red Wings, and the Pistons. These teams have continuously performed as Detroit franchises since 1957, and has the second longest record of the other 13 cities (New York being number one, since 1946). All four of these teams have won at least one national championship in their respective league.
Detroit was the first city in the US to pave a road and make it easier for cars to travel from place to place. The paved stretch was one mile long. This first mile of concrete in Detroit is located at Woodward Avenue between 6 Mile and 7 Mile Roads. It was paved in 1909. Later, Woodward Avenue would be one of the first streets to have a painted centerline and electronic traffic signal.
The approximate address for this first paved mile is 18126 Woodward Avenue, Detroit.
On August 5, 1914, the world’s first electric traffic signal was installed on the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland, Ohio.
Euclid’s Elements is the best selling textbook of all time.
Euclid, Ohio is currently represented by Sen. Kent Smith, a Democrat, in the Ohio Senate. His predecessor, Sen. Kenny Yuko, was Minority Leader.
Kent State University, in Kent, Ohio, is infamous for the events on May 4, 1970, when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on student and faculty protestors, killing four and wounding nine. Among the students attending the university that day was Nick Saban, then a defensive back for the Golden Flashes football team. (Nick has stated he was eating lunch in the cafeteria at the time of the shootings.)
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. They then attended after the intervention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The “Little Rock Nine” were:
Ernest Green (b. 1941),
Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941),
Jefferson Thomas (1942–2010),
Terrence Roberts (b. 1941),
Carlotta Walls LaNier (b. 1942),
Minnijean Brown (b. 1941),
Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942),
Thelma Mothershed (b. 1940), and
Melba Pattillo Beals (b. 1941).
Ernest Green was the first African American to graduate from Central High School.
[not in play: It’s striking that 8 of the Little Rock Nine are now between 81 and 83 years old!]
“Melba” became a popular female name in the early 1900s because of the Australian opera singer Nellie Melba (1861-1931). This was a stage name that she chose, adapting the name of the city Melbourne, where she was born.
Nellie Melba got a facelift in 1931. She developed septicemia from it and died as a result.
Two dishes are named after Nellie Melba: peach melba and melba toast.
According to Wiki, add two more to that list:
Melba sauce
Melba garniture
Nellie Melba was the first Australian to appear on the cover of Time magazine, in April 1927.
Purlie is a musical about the Jim Crow-era American South, and is based on the play Purlie Victorious, written by Ossie Davis.
The musical premiered on Broadway in 1970, and two of its actors – Cleavon Little and Melba Moore – won Tony awards for their roles that year.
1970 was the first full calendar year of President Richard M. Nixon’s first term. The California Republican’s Vice President was Spiro Agnew of Maryland; both were driven from office in disgrace in 1973-74.