Katherine Parr was the sixth and last of Henry VIII’s six wives. She and Anne of Cleves both survived Henry, dying of natural causes.
Catherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour both predeceased Henry, dying of natural causes.
Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were beheaded.
John Parr is an English singer/songwriter, who became best known for his hit song, “Man in Motion (St. Elmo’s Fire),” from the soundtrack of the 1985 movie St. Elmo’s Fire: the song was a top-10 hit in the U.S., UK, and Australia, and netted Parr a Grammy nomination. Parr performed on soundtrack songs for several other popular 1980s movies, including The Running Man, Three Men and a Baby, and Quicksilver.
The Pixar film The Incredibles details an adventure of the Parr family - superheroes living their lives undercover several years after superheroes have been banned. The main characters are “Mr. Incredible” Bob Parr, “Elastigirl” Helen Parr, their three children Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack, and their friend Frozone.
In the Pixar movie The Incredibles, the supporting (but scene-stealing) character Edna “E” Mode is a fashion designer, who creates costumes for super-powered beings; Edna’s insistence on “no capes!” in her designs becomes an imporant plot point in the film.
Edna, who may have been partially based on fashion icons such as Edith Head, Anna Wintour, and Iris Apfel, was voiced by Brad Bird, the film’s director.
Edith of Wessex was Queen of England as the wife of King Edward the Confessor, from 1045 until Edward’s death in 1066.
There have never been dukes of either Essex or Wessex in the English or British nobility, although there have been dukes of Sussex (first created in 1801, and the title now held by Prince Harry) and of Norfolk (first created in 1397, and now held by Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the 18th Duke).
Prince Edward asked for the title of Earl of Wessex on the occasion of his marriage, apparently inspired by the Colin Firth character in Shakespeare in Love.
Colin Mochrie is a Scottish-born Canadian comedian and actor. He has worked steadily, on television and in films, since the late 1980s, but he’s best-known for his work in improv comedy, primarily on the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? Mochrie was on the recurring panel of performers in the original British version of the series, then became a permanent panelist on the initial American version (hosted by Drew Carey), followed by a similar role on the American revival (hosted by Aisha Tyler).
Mochrie also tours with fellow WLIIA? cast member Brad Sherwood, doing live comedy improv shows.
The music video “Tacky” (a parody of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”), by “Weird” Al Yankovic, includes Aisha Tyler, Margaret Cho, Eric Stonestreet, Kristen Schaal, and Jack Black lip-syncing to the background song. Weird Al also appears at the beginning and ending of the video.
Weird Al did a song called “Foil”, parodying Lorde’s “Royals”, in which he espoused the virtues of aluminum foil for food wrapping and also for making foil hats to prevent your thoughts from getting intercepted by aliens. In the music video, he gets sedated by two government agents working on behalf of said aliens.
The Hall-Heroult process, invented independently in 1886 by Charles Martin Hall and Paul Heroult, made aluminum more affordable and available to use.
Charles Martin Hall was an 1885 graduate of my alma mater, Oberlin College, and later served on the board of trustees as well as generously endowing the school. The College’s main performance space is Hall Auditorium (not, wisely, “Hall Hall”).
The purple martin is probably the most famous of the bird species who eat mosquitoes. According to the National Wildlife Federation, other avian species who feast on the bloodsucking bastards include the common nighthawk, eastern bluebird, Baltimore oriole, and (surprisingly to me), the hummingbird.
The Baltimore Orioles are a franchise in Major League Baseball’s American League. Their uniform colors are black and orange, after the male plumage of the songbird of the same name.
The Orioles moved to Baltimore from St. Louis in 1954; while they were based in St. Louis, the team was known as the Browns.
In 12 Angry Men, the original black and white film, one of the jurors asks another if he’s a fan of the local New York Yankees team. He said he was actually a fan of Baltimore.
The first juror replied, “Baltimore?! That’s like getting hit in the head with a crowbar once a day!”
George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (1580–1632) is often regarded as the founder of Maryland, but he died before the colony could be organized.
Toby Ziegler’s ex-wife and the mother of his twin children in The West Wing was a Congresswoman from Maryland.
“MARYLAND!”
The East Wing of the White House is for the offices of the First Lady and her staff.
One of the Black Widowers stories is a puzzle entitled “The One and Only East”. No criminal misbehaviour, just an Asimov puzzle.
The easternmost point in the CONUS is a place in Maine called West Quoddy Head.
The “west” in West Quoddy Head Light refers to the Lighthouse located west of East Quoddy Lighthouse on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.