The future King George V served on nine different Royal Navy warships during his career, beginning as a cadet on HMS Britannia (not the same vessel as his granddaughter’s Royal Yacht, obviously) and culminating in his command of HMS Melampus.
The toddler and future king Prince George, child of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, had a title before he had a name - at birth, he became the Prince of Cambridge.
In the 1950s, two of the world’s major automakers introduced a model of car called the** “Cambridge”** – Plymouth, in the USA, and Austin in England.
The Austin Cambridge corresponded to the Morris Oxford, made by Austin’s BMC sister.
For many years, the largest car manufacturer in the world – judged by number of units manufactured and sold – was Matchbox.
The Matchbox line of miniature diecast vehicles was unofficially launched in 1953 when British toymaker Lesney Products created a 15 3/4-inch-long replica of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation coach. The coach came in either silver or gold, and was pulled by a team of eight white horses and four red-jacketed riders. Lesney’s coronation coach sold well, but a miniature, 4 1/2-inch version sold even better.
The version of the Cinderella story that first refers to her coach being made of a pumpkin was Charles Perrault’s 1697 “Cendrillon”. He also created the fairy godmother and the glass slippers. The Grimm Brothers “Aschenputtel” is a story with a similar plot. Gioachino Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola invokes matching bracelets and a cruel stepfather.
Rossini composed freely and easily, and he was somewhat contemptuous of the inspirational labours of other composers. He famously said “give me a laundry list and I will set it to music”.
Laundry is one of the few human activities that is still done over much of the world in exactly the same way as the earliest historical examples, by simply beating, squeezing or agitating soiled fabrics on rocks in a nearby waterway, and drying it in open air in sunlight.
The sphinx was a mythological creature with the body of a lion and a human head. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek verb σφίγγω (sphingo), meaning to squeeze, tighten or strangle.
There are five lions in the Canadian coat of arms: three lions guardant passant and one lion rampant on the shield, one lion as a supporter, and one lion as the crest, guardant passant, crowned, and holding a maple leaf gules in his dexter paw.
On February 15, 1965, the current Canadian flag which prominently displays a red maple leaf was flown for the first time. Not all Canadians were on board with using a maple leaf on the flag, with other suggestions being a beaver, a fleur de lis, and the Union Jack. Eventually, the field was narrowed down to three prospects, a flag with a cluster of three red maple leaves with a blue, white, blue field, a flag with only one maple leaf with a red, white, red field, and a flag with one maple leaf in the center with three fleur de lis on one upper corner and a Union Jack on the other on a red, white, red field. In a 163 to 78 vote, the red maple leaf on a red, white, red field was selected.
Before Game 2 of the 1992 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays, Canadian rock/country musician Tom Cochrane sang the Canadian national anthem incorrectly. Instead of singing the line “… from far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee …”, Cochrane instead sang a lyric that was in a previous version of the song: “… O Canada, we stand on guard, we stand on guard for thee …”. Not only did Cochrane substitute the archaic lyric, he also did not sing it correctly, as the lyric said “we stand on guard, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee” before it was changed.
Advance Australia Fair, the Australian national anthem, was chosen at a plebiscite held in conjunction with the 1977 federal election. Until that time the anthem had been God Save the King/Queen. Voting was not compulsory.
The results of the plebiscite were:
Advance Australia Fair: 43.29%
Waltzing Matilda: 28.28%
God Save the Queen: 18.78%
Song of Australia: 9.65%
God Save the Queen continues to be played for the various vice-regal representatives, namely the Governor-General and the State Governors.
The national anthem of Egypt is “Bilady, Bilady, Bilady” (“My Country, My Country, My Country”).
The national anthem of Eritrea is “Ertra, Ertra, Ertra” (“Eritrea, Eritrea, Eritrea”).
The national anthem of Libya is “Libya, Libya, Libya”.
The archaeological site at Leptis Magna in Libya has some of the most unspoilt Roman ruins in the Mediterranean.
Leptis Magna is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was the birth place of Septimius Severus in 145A.D. and he would become emperor of Rome in 193.
Septimius Severus’ son Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus, better known as Caracalla, succeeded him as emperor and was known for his brutality, including murdering his own brother and instigating mass persecutions of perceived enemies. His treachery against the Parthians included a literal Red Wedding, in which he killed his new royal Parthian bride and all her relatives at the reception and declared war on them. He is best remembered today, though for ordering the construction of the Baths of Caracalla, still one of Rome’s main tourist attractions.
The nickname Caracalla referred to the Gallic hooded tunic that he wore.
Another clothing-related nickname is that of the Capuchin friars, named for the hood (cappuccio) that they traditionally wear. The formal name of their order is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum, or Order of Friars Minor.
Cappuccino, the coffee drink which is traditionally prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk foam gets its name from the Capuchin friars, as its color is similar to the color of their habits.
The mating** habits** of the Brown-headed Cowbird enable the pair to wander across the American plains following migrating buffalo, leaving their eggs in the nests of smaller birds, to be raised by the adoptive parents.