Haman built a huge gallows, 50 cubits high, on which he planned to hang Esther’s uncle. When Haman’s plot was discovered, Ahasuerus ordered Haman be hanged on his own gallows, leading to the proverbial expression, “Hang as high as Haman,” meaning an extreme punishment.
The last public execution in Sydney took place at Gallows Hill in 1841.
The Act of Union creating the Province of Canada from Upper Canada and Lower Canada came into force in 1841.
In Westminster-style bicameral parliaments the traditional colour for the lower house is green and for the upper house is red.
The Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that the federal upper house, the Senate of Canada, can only be abolished by unanimous consent of the federal government and all 10 provinces. The Senate could delay its own abolition by this process, but ultimately the Commons could overrule the Senate. Provincial consent would still be required.
The Legislative Councils (upper houses) of both the Queensland and the New Zealand parliaments voted themselves out of existence in 1921 and 1950 respectively after the ruling government appointed additional pro-abolition councillors, known in both cases as the “suicide squad”.
Deleted scenes from Monty Python’s Life of Brian include a lengthy subplot featuring “Otto the Nazarene”, a character obsessed with promoting Jewish racial purity and forcing Samaritans into internment camps. The scenes were cut because they were deemed too offensive and tasteless even for Monty Python – plus, in the words of one Python member, “It just wasn’t funny.” The only footage which remained in the movie was the Judean People’s Front Crack Suicide Squad who inexplicably show up during the crucifixion scene – which was left in only because there was no way to remove or otherwise explain the piles of dead bodies strewn across Golgotha at film’s end.
Werner Klemperer, who played the role of Colonel Klink in Hogan’s Heroes, was the son of Otto Klemperer, the famous conductor and composer.
In the film “Some Like it Hot”, Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Munroe) has the following exchange with Joe (Tony Curtis):
Sugar:" I come from this musical family. My mother is a piano teacher and my father was a conductor."
Joe: “Where did he conduct?”
Sugar: “On the Baltimore and Ohio.”
Sugar cane is the world’s largest crop by production quantity.
About 100 canes were used during the production of House, many of which were broken or lost during the course of the TV series.
Hugh Laurie appears in all but the first series of Blackadder. In the first, instead of playing an upper class twit is is normal, he plays a Germanic Prince, Ludwig the indestructible. A master of disguise and stratagems.
Before House, Laurie’s best known appearance on American TV was as a seatmate to Rachel on a plane. He played an upper class twit speaking extremely similar to what would become his signature character. Sort of a British House.
Steve Martin played Prince Ruprecht, the moronic younger brother of British actor Michael Caine’s character Prince Lawrence, in the 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Sir Michael Caine CBE was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite on 14 March 1933 in Bermondsey, London, the son of Ellen Frances Marie, a cook and charwoman, and Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish market porter.
The 2004 Broadway musical of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which opened in March at the Imperial Threatre, starred John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, and Sherie Rene Scott. The production was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including best musical, best book and best score, but only Butz won one, for leading actor.
Imperial Preference was a system of reciprocally-enacted tariffs or free trade agreements between the dominions and colonies of the British Empire popularly promoted generally by Conservative governments prior to WW1 and again in the 1930’s.
It was not a good idea.
The method of marking preferences on a ballot (1, 2, 3 etc, rather than using a single tick or cross) is known as preferential or alternative voting. It was introduced in Australia in 1918 and is now used for all elections at commonwealth, state, territory and local government level, as well as for those for many non-governmental groups e.g. committees of clubs.
Clubs is the lowest-ranking suit in Bridge.
The convict-built, stone arch bridge over the Coal River in Richmond, Tasmania is the oldest bridge in Australia that is still in use. It was completed in 1825.