In 1857 Franz Liszt premiered his Symphony to Dante’s Divine Comedy, based on Dante Alighieri’s journey through Hell and Purgatory, as depicted in The Divine Comedy.
James Buchanan, Democrat of Pennsylvania, took office as President of the United States on March 4, 1857. He is commonly considered to be among the worst chief executives, while his successor, Abraham Lincoln, Republican of Illinois, is commonly considered one of the very best.
On 4 March 1804 the Castle Hill rebellion flared up. It was the only major convict uprising in Australian history. It was swiftly crushed the next day at the Battle of Vinegar Hill.
This US News & World Report poll from 13 Jul 2010 ranked the 10 worst presidents as:
- Zachary Taylor
- (tie) Herbert Hoover
- (tie) Richard Nixon
- William Henry Harrison
- Ulysses S. Grant
- John Tyler
- Millard Fillmore
- Franklin Pierce
- Andrew Johnson
- Warren Harding
- James Buchanan
Ninja’d from down under! So, I will add this:
In 1804 when the Castle Hill Rebellion flared up, Thomas Jefferson was the USA president. According to this site he is the 4th-best president of the USA.
Gillette Castle was built in Connecticut in 1914 by actor William Gillette, who was the foremost stage interpreter of Sherlock Holmes of his day. Gillette not only acted as Holmes, but also wrote the stage adaptations, creating the phrase “Oh, this is elementary, my dear fellow.” Before choosing the Connecticut location, Gillette planned to build his home in Greenport, NY, on eastern Long Island.
Prince Edward Island is the only Canadian province or territory composed solely of an island.
Tasmania, Australia’s only island state, is the 26th largest island in the world. The next largest is the main island of Sri Lanka; the next smallest is Devon Island in Nunavut, Canada.
Tasmania was named for the famed Dutch seafarer, Abel Tasman.
Hawaii, the USA’s only island state, is the most isolated archipelago in the world.
For any hand in cribbage the most points that can be gained are 29, with the card sequence 555J in hand and the starter 5 of the same suit as the Jack.
Johnny Depp told an interviewer not long after *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl *was released that he had based his characterization of Captain Jack Sparrow on a combination of Pepe Le Pew and Keith Richards.
The Black Death pandemic is estimated to have reduced the world’s population from 450 million to 350–375 million in the 14th century.
Lord Peter Wimsey’s two middle names were Death Bredon. He explains at one point that most people with that name pronounced it to rhyme with “teeth”, but he preferred the traditional pronunciation.
The Wimsey family coat of arms is described as “Sable, 3 mice courant, argent; crest, a domestic cat couched as to spring, proper”.
Unusually for such an old family, the motto is in English: “As my Whimsy takes me”.
Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893 – 1957), author of the fictional series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, was a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist. She was an only child and the daughter of a reverend. Her first book was a book of poetry.
When asked by the New York Herald newspaper what the most beautiful words in the English language were, Dorothy Parker replied "The ones I like … are “check” and “enclosed.”
The iconic New York stores, Macy’s and the now-defunct Gimbel’s, sat across each other with Herald Square, named for the newspaper, in between. The location is mentioned in the song “Give My Regards to Broadway”, the street crossing 6th Avenue and 34th Street at the square. The former Gimbel’s location is now the Manhattan Mall, where J.C. Penney opened its first NYC outlet.
J C Penney and Zack Wheat (of Baseball Hall of Fame) were both born in the same little town in Missouri, and might have known each other as children. The J C Penney Memorial Museum is located on the Zack Wheat Memorial Highway. in the town which boasts a present population of 1800.
Gillian Flynn’s 2012 thriller Gone Girl, soon to be a major motion picture starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, is largely set in New York City and North Carthage, Missouri.
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John Flynn, a Presbyterian minister, is credited with starting the first air ambulance in the world, to serve the scattered population of the Australian Outback. The flying ambulance service he began in 1928 is now the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia.