Bill Clinton’s Presidential Library and Museum is in Little Rock AR. Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States. The name of the restaurant in the library is 42 Bar and Table.
Comment: I was there last year and it is excellent. (The library. The restaurant is pretty good too.)
The Little Rock 9 were nine African-American students who enrolled in the segregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957, following the SCOTUS ruling on Brown vs Board of Education in 1954. The governor of Arkansas sent the National Guard to block the students’ access; President Dwight D Eisenhower responded by invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to send federal troops to escort the students into the school. Eisenhower used the act to federalize the Guard, removing them from the governor’s control.
Not in play — after touring the Clinton Library I visited Little Rock Central High School. It was late afternoon and it was closed. I just wanted to see the place. There is a nice commemorative garden across the street. There’s also a National Historic Site, but it was closed.
In play — There have been 116 Justices in the history of the Supreme Court, and the average number of years Justices have served is 16. John Marshall served as Chief Justice for 34 years, 5 months, and 11 days (1801-1835), and William O. Douglas served the longest term as an associate justice, at 36 years and 209 days.
John Rutledge holds the record for the shortest term as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. He served as associate for 383 days, from February 15, 1790, until March 5, 1791. Rutledge also holds the record for the shortest term as Chief Justice; he served in that capacity for 138 days, from August 12, 1795, until December 28, 1795.
Rutledge’s total term of service is thus 521 days. The shortest total term of service is held by James Byrnes, who served as associate justice for 452 days, from July 8, 1941, until October 3, 1942.
The reason for Rutledge’s short tenure as Chief Justice is that his was a recess appointment. When the Senate reconvened it rejected his nomination as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Out of play: for those of you saying I am using the wrong title, it did not become “Chief Justice of the United States” until 1866. I am using the title as created by the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Quite right.
The Chief Justice of the United States traditionally swears in the President of the United States, but not always. George Washington (1789), Theodore Roosevelt (1901), Calvin Coolidge (1923) and Lyndon Johnson (1963) were all sworn in by other officials, the latter three after the unexpected deaths of their predecessors.
Ooh good trivia. And I had to look this up.
George Washington was sworn in by Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston during his first inauguration on April 30, 1789. This inauguration took place on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City.
Calvin Coolidge is the only US president born on the 4th of July (in 1872). He was Warren Harding’s Vice President. When Harding died, Coolidge was at his father’s home in Vermont. As a Justice of the Peace and notary public, Coolidge senior administered the oath of office.
Coolidge returned to Washington the next day, and was sworn in again, secretly, by a Justice of the Supreme Court, to forestall any questions about the authority of a state official to administer a federal oath.
The last two entries are both excellent trivial facts, neither of which I knew until reading this thread. Ignorance fought, yet again.
In play:
During the Roaring 20s presidency of Calvin Coolidge, the Dow Jones average more than tripled in value. The return of 265.96% is the largest under any presidency.
But, due to Prohibition, nobody could (legally) drink to celebrate.
(link to Yahoo Finance)
Prohibition as implemented by the Volstead Act allowed for drinking alcohol. It only outlawed the manufacture of new alcohol, sales of alcohol, and importation of alcohol. If you had alcohol from before the Act was passed you could still legally drink it and give it away to others.
In 1917 British Columbia approved a referendum against the sale of alcohol. A year after prohibition went into effect in the United States, British Columbia became the second Canadian province to abandon prohibition in favor of a system in which the provincial government controlled the sale of alcohol.
Not of SCOTUS, mind you, but of DC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_A._Hoehling_Jr.
In play:
British Columbia is both the third-largest Canadian province in area, and, as of 2025, its third most populous.
The Constitution of Canada guaranteed that the federal government would have a railway built to link British Columbia to central Canada.
The Vancouver Grizzlies played in the National Basketball Association in Vancouver, British Columbia at GM Place from 1995 to 2001 until moving to Memphis, Tennessee. They were brought in, along with the Toronto Raptors, as part of the NBA’s first foray into Canada since the founding Toronto Huskies played one year in the 1940s.
During their time in Vancouver, the Grizzlies never made it to the NBA post-season, finishing in the sixth and seventh places in their division. In 1999 the team drafted college phenom Steve Francis of Maryland, despite having All-Star guard Mike Bibby playing for them. Francis publicly denounced the team for it’s remote location, tiny media market, and perceived racism towards him and his friends. Francis played one season before hostile crowds before being traded to the Houston Rockets. The Grizzlies relocated to Memphis the following year. Francis would become a talented and entertaining star but never fit in as a team player, earning the nickname “Stevie Franchise” for his show-boating antics.
Despite being a symbol of California since 1846, the grizzly bear received no protection in the Republic/State. After one was shot in 1922 and only one more was sighted in 1924. It was hunted to extinction in the state. Efforts to bring the grizzly back to California have failed.
OOP: because people feel Oh noes, what if they kill a couple heads of livestock or idiots that want to play with a bear.
In addition to California, other states also have a bear as the state animal, including Alabama (Black Bear), Louisiana (Black Bear), Montana (Grizzly Bear), and New Mexico (Black Bear).
(Disclaimer: this list was generated by AI, namely Copilot.)
The University of Alabama’s intercollegiate athletic teams are nicknamed “The Crimson Tide.” The nickname originated from a newspaper article written after a 1907 football game against Alabama’s in-state rival, Auburn University, which was played in a rainstorm, causing the field to turn into reddish mud; the sportswriter described Alabama’s offensive line, in their mud-stained uniforms, as “a crimson tide.”
The Mud Bowl is the colloquial name for the 1950 Grey Cup. Poor field maintenance, a heavy snow the night before, turning to rain the next day, created atrocious field conditions.
There is a legend that one Winnipeg player almost drowned when he was knocked out and fell face-first into a deep mud hole.
In 1983 the football teams of Oregon State and Oregon faced off in their annual matchup, the Civil War. Both teams failed to score, and committed eleven turnovers and four missed field goals, earning this game the unfortunate moniker of The Toilet Bowl.