The Kings are a Canadian rock band. They are best known for their pair of songs, “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ To Glide,” which were released as a double A-side single in 1980, and which were a modest hit in both the U.S. (#43 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart) and in Canada (#59).
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state of Canada as well as that of Great Britain and several other Commonwealth countries.
Queen Elizabeth I was the Queen of England from 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Despite being imprisoned for almost a year during the reign of her half-sister, Mary I, Elizabeth assumed the throne upon Mary’s death. She was succeeded by her first cousin twice removed, James VI of Scotland.
The U.S. Army Field Manual used to claim “40 to 45% of body heat is lost through the head”, but this is not true, according to the British Medical Journal. This heat-loss myth probably came from experiments in the 1950s, when military researchers exposed subjects to frigid temperatures. In 2006, scientists tested subjects in cold water with and without wetsuits, sometimes with their heads out of water and sometimes with their heads submerged. They found that the head accounts for about 7% of the body’s surface area, and heat loss is proportional to the amount of skin showing. At most, according to a 2008 report in BMJ, a person loses 7% to 10% of their body heat through their head.
Ninja’d! ETA these experiments did not cause any subject’s death
After being convicted of plotting to murder her cousin, Elizabeth, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed by beheading on February 8, 1587.
The execution did not go smoothly; it took three blows from the executioner’s axe to fully behead her (the first blow hit the back of her head, the second blow failed to cut through completely).
The Queensborough Bridge is just under 1 km long and is located in New Westminster BC CAN. Google Maps << map
The Queensboro Bridge is just over 1 km long and is located in New York City NY USA. Google Maps << map
It is just under 3,000 miles from the Queensboro Bridge in NYC to the Queensborough Bridge in BC. https://is.gd/0erbCH << map
Sydney, Canada, is a ferry port for travelers going to the easternmost provincial capital. Sidney, Canada, is a ferry port for travelers going to the westernmost provincial capital. They are 5,000 km apart.
Per Wiki, on 25 October 2009, turf was laid across the eight lanes of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia, and 6,000 people celebrated a picnic on the bridge accompanied by live music. The event was repeated in 2010. Although originally scheduled again in 2011, this event was moved to Bondi Beach due to traffic concerns about the prolonged closing of the bridge.
The Golden Gate Bridge in California has been closed three times due to high winds: in 1951, 1982, and 1983. Each time the closure lasted between 3 and 4 hours. In 1987, the bridge was closed for six hours for the 50th Anniversary Bridge Walk. The Bridge was closed for three days—January 10 to 12, 2015—for the installation of a moveable median barrier.
The GGB, the Golden Gate Bridge, can support six lanes of traffic in total for both northbound and southbound traffic. Depending on traffic and commute patterns, a movable median typically changes the traffic configuration from the standard 3 NB and 3 SB lanes, to 4 lanes in one direction and 2 in the other.
The GGB’s MMB, the Golden Gate Bridge’s Movable Median Barrier, was installed five years ago and replaced the previous median of 19” x 4” vertical plastic tubes spaced every 25 feet to separate opposing lanes of travel. The previous plastic median was pathetic, IMHO.
The MMB is 32” high and 12” wide. It has concrete segments linked together, and “zipper trucks” move the segments over to change lane configurations.
With the previous plastic median, and even with a reduced speed limit of 45 MPH there were about 3 head-on collisions per year on the GGB.
Since the MMB was installed, there have been no head-on collisions on the GGB.
More than ten other MMBs are also installed on other bridges. One of the first MMB systems was installed in 1990 on Auckland Harbour Bridge.
A “Jersey barrier” (also known as a New Jersey Wall or K-rail) is a style of modular traffic barrier, typically made from steel-reinforced concrete or plastic. It consists of an upright wall with a flared bottom – the flared bottom helps to reduce damage caused to vehicles which come into contact with the wall, by causing the vehicle’s tires to ride up onto the flare.
The Jersey barrier was originally developed in the 1950s, at the Stevens Institute of Technology, at the direction of the New Jersey State Highway Department.
Didn’t know that - thanks! Good trivia. An interesting video here of how it works: Barrier transfer machine - Wikipedia
In play:
The state flags of New Jersey and New Mexico are the only ones with yellow or yellow-ish fields.
Jèrriais, the Norman French language spoken by natives of Jersey in the Channel Islands, is currently classified as threatened by the Endangered Languages Project. Jèrriais is now the first language of a very small minority. Until the 19th century it was the everyday language of the majority of the population, and even until the Second World War, up to half the population could communicate in the language.
The island of Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands between France and England.
map >> Google Maps
The island of Santa Cruz is the largest of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California, near Santa Barbara and Ventura.
map >> Google Maps
Three actors who appeared in the 1987 science-fiction action film Predator later pursued careers in politics:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger served as Governor of California from 2003 to 2011
- Jesse Ventura served as mayor of Brooklyn Park, MN, from 1991 to 1995, then as Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003
- Sonny Landham ran unsuccessfully three times for political office in Kentucky (running for Governor in 2003, for the Kentucky state senate in 2004, and for the U.S. Senate in 2008)
17 men who served as President of the USA also previously served as Governor of a state. The first of these was Thomas Jefferson, who was Governor of Virginia before being elected President. The last was George W. Bush, who was the Governor of Texas prior to being President.
In 1989, George W. Bush purchased controlling interest in the MLB Texas Rangers, together with other investors. He initially invested $800,000. For five years he was the managing general partner for the Rangers. In 1998, he sold his shares of the Rangers for $15,000,000.
Not a bad return of investment over about 10 years.
Singer Bing Crosby was 25% owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Which in those days, made him no money. In the 50s, baseball club owners owned teams as civic donations, like art museums and symphony orchestras, so the city could be proud of having one.
Actor/singer Danny Kaye was a lifelong baseball fan, particularly of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. Kaye was a leader of the investor group which was awarded an expansion team in the American League in 1976; that expansion team began play in 1977, as the Seattle Mariners. Kaye remained a part-owner of the Mariners until 1985.
There have been two warships named the USS Seattle to serve in the United States Navy, an armored cruiser struck from the Navy List in 1946 and a fast combat support ship struck in 2005.