The name U.S.S. Yorktown has been applied to five ships in the U.S. Navy. All of them were named after the city of Yorktown, Virginia, and the Battle of Yorktown (the final battle of the American Revolutionary War); the most recent Yorktown was a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, which was decommissioned in 2004.
Dixon Ticonderoga is the best known in US pencil manufacturer. They celebrate their 200th anniversary in 2027.
Fort Ticonderoga was built in 1755-57 near the south end of Lake Champlain by the French, then captured by the British during the French and Indian War, then captured by American forces led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold during the American Revolution. Cannon brought from the fort by Henry Knox helped George Washington force the British evacuation of Boston in 1776. The British recaptured the fort in 1777, then abandoned it four years later. It has remained in American hands, public or private, since then.
Duncan Campbell was a Scots nobleman who died in the 1748 assault on Fort Carillon, which is what the French called Ticonderoga.
There is a legend that many years before then, the ghost of his cousin appeared to Campbell and told him that they would meet at Ticonderoga.
A carillon is a pitched percussion instrument played on a keyboard which includes at least 23 bells, often housed in bell towers.
The Westminster Quarters, the melody played by the bells at the Palace of Westminster, uses the notes G♯4, F♯4, E4, and B3.
The five notes used to initiate communication with the alien ship in Close Encounters of the Third Kind are D, E, C, C (an octave lower), and G. They are also identified as Re, Mi, Do, Do, G.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind featured acclaimed French film director Francois Truffaut as scientist and UFO expert Claude Lacombe. It was Truffaut’s only acting role in a film which he did not personally also direct, and his only English-language acting role.
Devil’s Tower, which was featured in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was the first national monument in the USA. President Theodore Roosevelt made the proclamation on September 24, 1906.
Today, Cary Guffey is 53 years old. Back in 1977 he was just 5 when he played the little boy, Barry Guiler, in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The look of the mothership in Close Encounters… was based on an oil refinery which Spielberg saw at night. The director wanted to differentiate its look to be more luminescent and less hardware (as done in Star Wars the previous year). Modelers who worked on the Star Wars set were brought on, and in a playful moment added a tiny R2D2 figure to the finished piece. Also included were a mailbox, a great white shark, a Volkswagen bus, and a small graveyard.
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) was released 50 years and 10 days ago, on Friday 20 Jun 1975. It opened that weekend to a then-record $7 million first weekend and then went on to become the first movie in the US to earn $100 million. Jaws was the highest-grossing film in history until the release of Star Wars in 1977.
The shark model in Jaws completely failed when it needed to work. The modelers and engineers responsible for it had tested it in freshwater, where it performed perfectly; when they put it into salt water, the saline wreaked havoc on it. Robert Shaw took advantage of the extended down time to write his “USS Indiana” speech, but when it came time to film he was too drunk to say it. Later, a sobered Shaw begged Spielberg for another chance, and was able to deliver the entire speech in a single take.
Steven Spielberg has been nominated for nine Oscars for Best Director, and has won twice–for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. He has also won an Oscar for Best Picture, also for Schindler’s List.
Dale Dye was a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the Vietnam War. After retiring from the Marines in 1984, Dye moved into the film industry; in addition to becoming an actor, he founded a consulting company called Warriors, Inc., which specializes in providing technical advice and training for directors and actors working on war films, with an eye towards more realistic depictions of soldiers and war.
Among the films and TV series which Dye and his firm have worked on are Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Starship Troopers, and Alexander.
(Dye’s wife, and partner in Warriors, Inc., Julia, is an old friend of mine.)
Dale Davis was selected 13th overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 1991 NBA Draft. He was the starting power forward during the Pacers’ run to three Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals in the late '90s. He made the All-Star team in his last full year with the team.
Ann Meyers was the first (and AFAIK only) woman drafted by an NBA team. In 1979 she tried out for the Indiana Pacers but eventually did not make the team.
Side note:
Dale Dye actually appears in Saving Private Ryan: Marshall's Aide | Saving Private Ryan Wiki | Fandom
In play:
According to Freedom for All Americans, Indiana has the third-largest population of Amish people in the United States, behind only Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Amish people usually avoid modern technology and refrain from using electricity from public utility grids and from owning motor vehicles. Phones are allowed but are supposed to remain outside the home. In some sects, allowances for technology have crept in, like the acceptance of credit cards at farm stands or the use of advanced tools at construction sites. Generally, these adaptations are permitted for work use only.
Side note — I recently bought an Amish dining room set from a company in Indiana and it is beautiful. They do some excellent work!