Kirk (as Captain Kirk) is mentioned in the lyrics of both English and German versions of 99 Red Balloons (99 Luftballons in German) by Nena.
The Red Balloon (“Le Balon Rouge”) is a 1956 French featurette film, directed and written by Albert Lamorisse, about a seemingly-sentient red balloon which follows a boy around in Paris.
The film won a Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956, and an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1957.
On May 2, 1956, the Methodist Church decided to fully ordain female clergy.
The Methodist Church was founded by students including John Wesley who were members of the Church of England who met regularly at Oxford University in the mid-1700s for a methodical study of the Bible and strove for a more religious life than was offered by the Church of England. ‘Methodists’ was a mocking term that others called them because of these methodical studies which sought to find interpretations and observances more true to Scripture than what the Church of England practiced. Wesley took inspiration from Martin Luther’s preface to the book of Romans and became assured of his salvation based on faith alone, and not works.
The Episcopal Church is the American (and now international) offshoot of the Church of England, established after the Revolutionary War. Notable Episcopalians have included George Washington, John Steinbeck, Humphrey Bogart, Margaret Mead, Thurgood Marshall, Buzz Aldrin, Robin Williams and Madeleine Albright.
In 1969 Buzz Aldrin was an Elder at the Webster Presbyterian Church in Webster TX, at, 201 W NASA Pkwy, Webster, TX 77598. Today he is a Ruling Elder there.
When Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, Aldrin celebrated Holy Communion on the lunar surface. The first meal consumed on the surface of the moon was the remembrance of Holy Communion. Neil Armstrong declined to partake.
Buzz Aldrin had brought a small chalice with him. Today, that chalice can be seen in the narthex at Webster Presbyterian. And I’ve been there and seen it. Some of the stained glass windows have small moon rocks / dust embedded.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s birth name was Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. His nickname came about from his sister, Fay Ann, who, as a young child, wasn’t able to pronounced “brother,” correctly, instead saying “buzzer.” The family shortened this to “Buzz,” and it endured as Aldrin’s nickname.
In 1988, Aldrin legally changed his given name to “Buzz.”
Astronaut John Glenn in 1962 was the first American to orbit the earth. Glenn later was elected to the US Senate in 1974 and was subsequently re-elected three more times. Glenn returned to space on October 29, 1998, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95) while still a sitting Senator. The next year he retired from Congress.
The Discovery Channel began broadcasting on June 17, 1985. In its early years, the channel’s focus centered on educational programming in the form of cultural and wildlife documentaries, and science and historical specials. It also broadcast some Soviet programming during this time, including the news program Vremya.
The Land Rover Discovery, first released in 1989, is currently in its 5th generation of production. When initially released it was one of the first vehicles to market a family car that had true off-road capabilities.
Per Wiki, Discovery was the first operational NASA space shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour and then Atlantis. The shuttle is now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Va.
Steven Ferencz Udvar-Házy is the former chairman and CEO of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), one of the two largest aircraft lessors in the world. He gave a $66M grant to the Smithsonian Institution that allowed the U.S. National Air and Space Museum to build the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Dulles International Airport has been a popular filming location, particularly in its early years when it had relatively low traffic levels in relation to its size and its elaborate design.
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The airport featured extensively in the Airport film franchise - in all but the first film of the series. In particular, both Airport 1975 and Airport '79 contain scenes shot both inside and outside the main terminal building in its pre-extended state. Also shown is the mobile lounge system operating in its original form when the lounges directly docked with aircraft on the apron. Airport '77 contains a night-time view of the terminal with a Boeing 747 taking off in the foreground.
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Die Hard 2 was set at Dulles, but in fact contains no footage actually shot at the airport.
John Foster Dulles was a foreign-policy expert and diplomat. He served as a foreign policy advisor to both Thomas Dewey and Harry Truman, was a delegate to the United Nations, and served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Eisenhower – an office which had previously been held by both his grandfather (John W. Foster) and uncle (Robert Lansing).
During the time period in which Dulles served as Secretary of State, his brother, Allen Dulles, served as Director of Central Intelligence (the head of the CIA).
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was not a fan of U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and considered him tedious. He once said, “Dull, duller, Dulles.”
“Dull, duller, Dulles” — hilarious! Churchill also said about Dulles that he’s “the only bull I know who carries his china closet with him.”
And that’s my play.
Winston Churchill was one of 13 men who have served two terms as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Three men have served three terms, and one has served four terms. That person was William Gladstone, whose tenure(s) lasted from 1868 through 1894.
Winston Churchill said of Clement Attlee (who succeeded him as Prime Minister from 1945 -1951): “A modest little man with much to be modest about.”
Over the course of his long career British actor Sir Patrick Stewart has played Clement Attlee (The Gathering Storm), V.I. Lenin (Fall of Eagles), Sejanus (I, Claudius) and King Richard I (Robin Hood: Men in Tights), among other historic figures.
Immediately after his election in 1309, Pope Clement V moved the papal court to Avignon in France, where it remained until Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377. The Avignon Papacy is sometimes referred to as the Babylonian Captivity of the popes.