A number of monarchs and rulers have abdicated their positions in recent years, including Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (abdicated in 2013), Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (2013), King Albert II of Belgium (2013), King Juan Carlos I of Spain (2014), Muhammad V, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (2019), and Emperor Akihito of Japan (2019).
In most of these cases, the ruler abdicated due to advanced age, and/or in order to allow their successors to ascend to the position earlier.
The United Arab Emirates is a confederation of seven Sheikhdoms, which still retain their identity of absolute monarchs. The seven form a governing body of the nation, presided over by the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi, with the Sheikh of Dubai as prime mister. Technically, all seven are emirs, but prefer the title sheikh. Over 80% o residents of the UAE are foreign nationals on work visas.
Benjamin Netanyahu is the longest-serving Prime Minister in Israeli history (1996-99; 2009-present), and the first to be born in Israel after the establishment of the state.
British politician and Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was also an accomplished writer. He wrote and published 17 novels (one co-written with his sister Sarah), as well as a number of non-fiction books, a book of poetry, and a play.
Ben Jonson (1572–1637) was an English playwright and poet, in his time second only to Shakespeare. Jonson’s full name was Benjamin, as was his eldest son’s. The elder Jonson wrote a moving epitaph in a poem titled “On my First Son”; the child died on his seventh birthday. In the poem, Jonson refers to his son as “child of my right hand”, which is the meaning of the name Benjamin in the original Hebrew.
Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the 100 meters events in the 1987 World Championships in Rome, where he set a world record, and the 1988 Summer Olympics, beating American Carl Lewis both times. However, Park Jong-sei of the Olympic Doping Control Center found that Johnson’s urine sample contained stanozolol, and he was disqualified three days later. He later admitted having used steroids when he ran his 1987 world record, which caused the IAAF to rescind that record as well.
Nine men have won gold medals in both the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints in the same Olympic Games. However, only one man has done it more than once: Usain Bolt won both races in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics.
Disraeli once joked, “When I want to read a good book, I write one.”
In play:
Usain Bolt recently tweeted an image of him handily winning a race at the 2008 Olympiad with the caption, “Social distancing.”
The primary conducting channel of a bolt of lightning, the bright coursing light that may be seen and is called a “strike”, is only about one inch in diameter, but because of its extreme brilliance, it often looks much larger to the human eye and in photographs.
Roy Sullivan, a Shenandoah National Park ranger, has been struck by lightning seven times, and survived them all.
During the 1975 Western Open golf tournament in suburban Chicago, golfer Lee Trevino was struck by lightning. Later, when a reporter asked Trevino (who is known for his sense of humor) what he would do if it again stormed while he was on a golf course, Trevino replied that he would take out a 1-iron, and hold it into the sky, “because not even God can hit a 1-iron.”
Lee Trevino is a US Marine. When he was 17, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served four years as a machine gunner in the late 1950s. He got out of the Marine Corps as a Corporal.
(Hey thought I’d look him up on marines.togetherWeServed.com, and sure enough he is there. I just sent a connection request to him. On there he says he got out as a Lance Corporal / E-3. But Wikipedia says he was a Corporal / E-4. Wonder why…)
In 1971, Lee Trevino won the U.S., Canadian, and British Opens—all in a single month. In the US Open, Trevino defeated Jack Nicklaus by 3 strokes in an 18-hole playoff round.
The town of Treviño in northern Spain has been inhabited since prehistoric times; its official foundation by Navarrese king Sancho VI (“the Wise”) dates to the 1150s. One town event held every July is a fair called Feria de las Moscas (“Fly Fair”), featuring craft and food stalls, children’s activities, Basque dances, and a band.
There have been seven European kings, dukes or counts to have borne the title “Sancho I.”
The Ordonez family and the Romero family, both from Ronda, are the two most dominant bullfighting families in Spain. The Ordonez domination dates back more than 100 years.
I don’t see the connection.
If an entry in play includes a link, the contents of the link is in play.
That’s not how I would interpret the rules, but whatever.
In play:
Bullfighting is illegal in most countries, but remains legal in most areas of Spain and Portugal, as well as in some parts of southern France. It is also legal in parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru. In fact, the world’s largest bullfighting venue is the Plaza México in Mexico City, which seats 48,000 people.
I do not interpret the rules that way, either. I do not want to have to click a link to interpret the trivia.
I sometimes include a map link in my posts, but clicking the link is not required — I provide information in my post that is clear with trivia.
I propose that each post provide the verbiage containing the trivia. If a link is provided, clicking the link is not required and the entirety of the link content is not in play.
This remains true to the OP, I believe.
What say ye?
I agree with Bullitt.