In 2020, John Krasinski began producing and starring in a web series called “Some Good News” (SGN). The show originated from the study at his home, and celebrities would Skype in to join him. John’s wife, Emily Blunt, would often appear unannounced.
American actor Stanley Tucci is married to Emily Blunt’s sister, Felicity.
English singer/songwriter James Blunt (no relation to Emily and Felicity; his legal surname is “Blount”) served in the British Army for six years, as an officer in the Life Guards (an armored cavalry regiment). Blunt’s service included a six-month tour in Kosovo as part of a NATO peacekeeping mission, and two years as a member of the Queen’s Guard, which included standing guard during the lying-in-state of Queen Mother Elizabeth in 2002.
The Queen’s Guard is also known as the King’s Guard, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch. The fluffy black hats worn by the Guard are estimated to weigh at least four pounds.
The King’s Guards were previously positioned among the public. Recently more and more of the sentry posts have been moved away from the public because of incidents involving tourists interfering with the guards’ job, as well as incidents where the guards have had to discipline tourists for disrespectful or dangerous behavior.
Among the best guards to ever play in the NBA are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Oscar Robertson, Stephen Curry, Allen Iverson, Jerry West, John Stockton, and Earl Monroe.
Among the nicknames for Earl Monroe and for Michael Jordan is “Black Jesus.”
Kobe Bryant wanted to be known as “Black Jesus” when he entered the league. Later he decided to call himself “the Black Mamba.”
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters entered U.S. military service in 1979, during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, Democrat of Georgia. They remain in service today, during that of Joe Biden, Democrat of Delaware. More than five thousand of the helicopters have been built over the years.
The UH-60 Black Hawk is the Army’s frequently-used machine to carry air cavalry companies into combat. It is capable of transporting 11 combat-equipped troops. The Marine Corps does not use the UH-60 because Marine Corps aircraft have to be able to operate off of a ship. The MV-22 Osprey and the CH-53E Super Stallion (and CH-53K King Stallion) are capable of adjusting to fit on a flight deck. They both fold for easy storage. Ospreys and Super Stallions have more cargo capacity than a Blackhawk. The Black Hawk can carry 11 loaded troops, but the Osprey carries twice that, and the Super Stallion can carry 50 or 60 depending on how the interior is arranged.
The Marines do fly the VH-60 White Hawks flown by HMX-1 to transport the President. The Marine One helicopters are from the Black Hawk family, but all the VH-60 White Hawks are being retired and replaced with a new helicopter based on the Sikorsky H-92 Superhawk in the near future.
In 2010, the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup since the 1960-61 season, and fourth overall. They won two more later that decade.
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena, located at 1800 West Madison Street, on Chicago’s near west side. It was the home arena of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, hosted three Democratic National Conventions and two Republican National Conventions, and was the site of the NFL’s first-ever playoff game in 1932 (which was forced indoors due to extreme cold and snow).
The stadium was replaced by the United Center (located across Madison Street) in 1994, and was demolished in 1995; its former location is now a United Center parking lot.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have the dubious distinction of the longest championship drought in the NHL. They last won the Stanley Cup in 1967, the Centennial Year. They haven’t made the Finals since then.
The Chicago Cubs won back-to-back World Series titles in 1907 and 1908. They didn’t win their next championship until 2016, a drought of 108 years.
It was believed that bear cubs were born without form and licked into proper shape by their mother; hence the proverbial saying ‘lick into shape’.
Shakespeare refers to this belief in Henry VI, " an un-lick’d Bear-whelp,
That carries no impression like the Dam.". Scholars think that he based this description on a 1567 translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which calls the bear cub
“an evill favored lump of flesh alive dooth lye.
The dam by licking shapeth out his members orderly”.
Cub Scouting got its start in the United Kingdom, the cradle of Scouting around the world. It was copied in the United States beginning in 1918. Per Wiki, “Today, it is a family program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, with each den admitting boys or girls only.” Both Bushes and Bill Clinton were Cub Scouts in their youth.
World War I, which was waged from 1914 through 1918, was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. Recordkeeping was very imprecise, but it is estimated that between 15 and 22 million lives were lost in the war. Russia alone suffered almost 3 million deaths, while Germany lost about 2.8 million lives.
Some argue that World War I continued in 1919 on the eastern front, as some western countries intervened in the Russian Civil War. There was a Czech unit that fought its way across Russia and Siberia to be evacuated at Vladivostok. Britain and Canada both had units in Russia into 1919.
Our local cenotaph lists the Great War as running from 1914 to 1919.
Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy all used the phrase “the Great Republic” to describe the United States.
The Star Wars prequel trilogy is, at its heart, the story of how the corrupt Galactic Republic transformed into the Galactic Empire. Near the end of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the transformation becomes official.
Though the novelization of the original 1977 Star Wars gave Darth Vader the title “Dark Lord of the Sith,” the title wasn’t used in the actual film. The term “Sith” was not used on-screen in a Star Wars film until the first of the prequel films, 1999’s The Phantom Menace.