While attending the USC School of Cinematic Arts in the 1960s, filmmaker George Lucas considered (but ultimately did not pursue) making a documentary film about Wolfman Jack, of whom he had become a fan during his teenage years in Modesto, California.
When Lucas developed his second feature film, American Graffiti – a semi-autobiographical film about Modesto, the California car culture, and the early days of rock music – he included a role for Wolfman Jack, as the disc jockey whose show the characters listen to throughout the film.
Gen. George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, personally came under enemy fire at least three times during the American Revolution - at Kip’s Bay, N.Y., Princeton, N.J. and Yorktown, Va. - but was never injured.
In 1851 Emanuel Leutze painted Washington Crossing the Delaware, a representation of Gen. George Washington and forces crossing the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack on Hessian forces in New Jersey. One of the historical inaccuracies in the painting is the inclusion of the Stars and Stripes Flag; at the time, the correct flag would have been the Continental Union Flag.
Great trivia! I’ve stood in awe at the large painting at the NYC MMA, not realizing the inaccuracy.
When the states of Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792) were added to the country as the 14th and 15th states, the American flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes from 1795-1818. It is the only American flag to have more than 13 stripes.
This flag, the Star Spangled Banner, was what flew over Fort McHenry in 1814 at the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry”. When put to song, in 1931 it became our national anthem.
The young officer holding the flag just behind Gen. Washington in Emanuel Leutze’s enormous, patriotic and iconic (if not rigorously-accurate) painting is meant to be James Monroe, himself a future President, who was a Continental Army infantry lieutenant at the time of the Dec. 1776 Battle of Trenton. He was badly wounded in the battle but recovered, and was later cited for his bravery by Washington and promoted to the rank of captain.
The Lincoln Continental was a luxury car model, sold by the Lincoln division of the Ford Motor Company on and off from 1939 until 2020.
The Continental was originally a one-off personal vehicle, made for Ford president Edsel Ford in 1939, based on the Lincoln-Zephyr model, and emphasizing styling cues from European cars. Due to the strong positive reception to his car from his well-to-do friends, Edsel Ford had it placed into general production; the “Continental” name came from the European inspiration for the original model.
The tenth and final generation of the Continental was discontinued after the 2020 model year, at the same time that Lincoln ceased to offer traditional cars in North America, in favor of SUVs and crossover vehicles.
The 1977 Continental Mark V is the longest two-door coupe Ford has ever marketed. At 230.3 inches in length, it is dwarfed by the '76 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 at 252.2 inches (21.03 feet).
Gen. George Washington served as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, appointed by the Continental Congress on the nomination of John Adams, throughout the American Revolution, from 1775-1783.
In the election of 1820, President James Monroe and his vice-president Daniel Tompkins ran unopposed. Monroe garnered 231 of the 235 electoral college votes. Monroe won every state, but one elector from New Hampshire voted for John Quincy Adams so the vote would not be unanimous. Additionally, one elector each from Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee died and those votes were not cast.
Democratic nominee, newspaper editor and political gadfly Horace Greeley won 43.8% of the vote in his quixotic bid to unseat incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant in the election of 1872, which should have given him 66 Electoral College votes. Greeley, unfortunately, died between Election Day and the meeting of the Electoral College, and thus got no Electoral College votes. His electors split their votes among four other people, including his running mate, Gov. Benjamin Gratz Brown of Missouri.
After losing to Andrew Jackson in the 1828 Presidential Election, John Quincy Adams (incumbent) would be elected nine times to the US House of Representatives. Jackson would later join him as the only former presidents to hold elective offices after their serving as POTUS.
“Action Jackson” was a line of action figures, marketed by the toymaker Mego from 1971 until 1974. Intended as a competitor to Hasbro’s popular G.I. Joe line, it was Mego’s first foray into the action figure toy segment; though it was initially successful, sales of the Action Jackson line rapidly faded.
However, Mego was able to use the 8" tall Action Jackson figures as a base for later lines of licensed action figures, particularly their Star Trek and Marvel and DC superheroes line, which proved to be best-sellers for the company.
Andrew Jackson did not hold elective office after serving as POTUS; Andrew Johnson did, however, having been elected to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee and serving a few months before he died in 1875.
On Benjamin Harrison’s site, Project POTUS is a collection of 60 second videos, by students of middle school, and of high school, to present on a President of their choice.
Thanks for correcting my error. I guess when I see one Andrew, I seen 'em all.
In play:
Benjamin Harrison was known as the Centennial President because his inauguration took place one hundred years after of the first inauguration of George Washington in 1789.
2025 was the 200th anniversary of Peoria County, Illinois. To celebrate, the county bought a bunch of animal sculptures and had local artists decorate them. The animals were bison, and the project was known as Bison Tennial, because of course it was.
The largest bison herd in the United States is in Yellowstone National Park, with a population estimated at around 5,000 individuals. These free-roaming bison are unique in the fact that they are considered direct descendants of the last wild bison.
The Florentine diamond, a light yellow stone weighing 137 carats, is owned by the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Supposedly it originated in India.
Its apparent mysterious disappearance in 1918 became the subject of a number of works of fiction. In November 2025 it was revealed to have remained with the family in secret.
