Rat, Missouri, appears to be the only city in the US so named. There are, however, 19 US cities named after a larger rodent: the beaver. There are also two cities in Canada named Beaver.
The most vermin-infested cities in America (including rats, etc.) are, in order:
- Houston, TX
- NYC
- Washington, DC
- Atlanta, GA
- Philadelphia, PA
The Rat Patrol was an American TV series that aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968 about four WWII Allied soldiers who are part of a long-range desert patrol group in the North African campaign. Their mission: “to attack, harass and wreak havoc on Field Marshal Rommel’s vaunted Afrika Korps”. It starred Christopher George, a US Marine Corps veteran, Gary Raymond, Lawrence P. Casey, and Justin Tarr. Christopher George suffered multiple injuries, including a heart contusion, and Gary Raymond suffered a broken ankle when a jeep overturned on them during filming of episode 27, “Take Me To Your Leader Raid”, in January 1967. George’s injury contributed to his 1983 death. He was 52.
The first Associated Press journalist to die in the line of duty was Mark Kellogg, who accompanied General George Custer during the battle of Little Big Horn.
The Little Bighorn River runs from the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming, near highway US-14A and Bald Mountain, for about 140 miles to the Bighorn River in southern Montana, near Hardin MT. The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was fought on its banks on June 25–26, 1876.
Contrary to what is generally thought, there were members of the US Seventh Cavalry that did survive the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Custer originally went forth with twelve companies of cavalry totaling roughly 600 men, but divided his command into three battalions prior to the fatal battle, putting three companies under the command of Major Marcus Reno and another three under the command of Captain Frederick Benteen while keeping five companies for himself (the twelfth company, under the command of Capt. Thomas McDougall, was given the duty of guarding the pack train and remained in the rear).
The five companies of cavalry under Custer’s direct command were wiped out in a series of skirmishes that culminated in “Custer’s Last Stand”. The other six companies did come under attack and suffered significant losses, but once the Sioux alliance withdrew from the field they were able to regroup, bury the dead, and then effect a retreat back down the Missouri River to Bismarck in Dakota Territory.
-“BB”-
Comanche, a horse ridden by Captain Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry, survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He was discovered badly wounded two days after the battle but made a full recovery. The Army retired the horse from active duty in 1878, and he was eventually sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, where he died in 1891 at the age of 29. He is one of only four horses in United States history to be given a military funeral with full military honors.
After his death, his remains were preserved via taxidermy, and he can still be seen today at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.
Fort Riley, along the Kansas River, was established in 1853 to protect people and settlers on the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe trails. It is named in honor of Major General Bennet C. Riley, who led the first military escort along the Santa Fe Trail in 1829.
The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (now known as BNSF Railway) was formally established on December 31st, 1996, when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and the Burlington Northern Railroad were merged into one system.
The town of Santa Fe in Spain is relatively new by Spanish standards, with many towns having their origins in Medieval, Roman or Prehistoric times. Santa Fe was originally built by the Catholic armies besieging the Moors of Granada (c. 1490) after a fire destroyed much of their encampment.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, was founded in 1610 as capital of the Nuevo México province of the Viceroyalty of Spain, which makes it the oldest state capital in the United States.
Santa Fe Trail Historical Park is located in southern California, in El Monte CA and about 10-15 miles east of Los Angeles (map >> Google Maps). It marks the end of the extension of the trail that ran from Franklin MO to Santa Fe NM, a distance of around 850 miles, and with the extension to El Monte a distance of around 1,700 miles (map >> Google Maps). Today the road route is commemorated by the Santa Fe National Historic Trail, and the original 1821 route is seen in this NPS.gov map picture, https://is.gd/oNgUg8. The longest clearly identifiable section of the trail, the Santa Fe Trail Remains, is near Dodge City KS.
There have been just two United States Navy warships named USS Santa Fe, the second of which is a Los Angeles-class nuclear fast attack submarine commissioned in 1994 and still on active duty.
The Los Angeles River flows for 50 miles from Canoga Park CA at the confluence of Bell Creek and Arroyo Calabasas and the approximate Lat / Long of 34.195278, -118.602222, to Long Beach CA where the Queen Mary is docked and the approximate Lat / Long of 33.756389, -118.188889. After a series of devastating floods in the early 20th century, it now flows on a fixed course through a concrete channel that has since been built. One such flood was the Great Flood of 1862, caused by extended rains and snowfall that dumped an equivalent of 10 feet of rainfall in California, in the form of rain and snow, over a period of 43 days from December 1861 to January 1862.
The Queen Mary was named after Mary of Teck, the wife of George V. Legend has it that Cunard wanted to name the ship Queen Victoria, but after asking the king for permission to name the ship “after Britain’s greatest queen”, George V replied that his wife would be delighted.
There are no fewer than 16 cities or towns in the US named Victoria, including two each in Indiana and Mississippi.
Queen Victoria was likely the carrier of a rare form of hemophilia, a blood clotting disorder. While the Queen did not suffer from the affliction, a significant number of her descendants, including one of her sons and several of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, were hemophiliacs.
Cruor is the clotted portion of coagulated blood. It is what a thrombus is comprised of, the final product during the haemostasis process. The opposite of haemostasis is hemorrhage.
Clotted cream is made by indirectly heating cow’s milk (using steam or a water bath), and then allowing it to slowly cool – as it cools, the solidified (“clotted”) cream rises to the surface.
Clotted cream is particularly associated with the dairies in southwestern England (particularly in Cornwall and Devon), and it is thus also sometimes known as “Cornish clotted cream” or “Devonshire cream.”
It is an essential part of a “cream tea” – an afternoon tea, popular in Cornwall and Devon, in which it is served with scones and jam (and, of course, tea).
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, is also Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. All of the secondary titles but that of Cornwall are Scottish; the Prince does not hold any Northern Irish titles, unlike his two sons.
The Wales Rally GB is the largest off-road rally race in the UK. It has been run annually since 1932, with a break during WWII and other smaller crises. No American driver has ever won, but Ford cars have had the most wins with 15 to date.