Sam Houston signed the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836, his 43rd birthday.
Going back to 1903, the Houston Astros have never won the World Series. They appeared once, in 2005, when they lost to the White Sox.
The next two, Sam Houston and Davy Crockett, were also born outside Texas, so the first born-Texan to appear on a stamp was Eisenhower, who only lived bfiefly in Texas in his hearly childhood. Lyndon Johnson was the first postal honoree to be born and raised in Texas. There have been only three others: Wiley Post, Babe Zaharias and Scott Joplin.
In play
Going back to 1903, the Houston Astros have never won the World Series. They appeared once, in 2005, when they lost to the White Sox.
“Sox” was the conventional spelling of the plural of “sock” before 1800, and was still regarded as standard when the Chicago and Boston baseball clubs adopted it as a part of their team nane.
“Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer” is a song written by Bob McDill and Wayland Holyfield, and recorded by American country music artist Johnny Russell in 1973. It was his only Top 10 hit.
Bertrand Russell, the great philosopher and mathematician, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950.
In 1931 he became the 3rd Earl Russell on the death of his elder brother.
A quote from Bertrand Russell:
“Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feelings?”
An exhibition game in English soccer is called a “friendly match”, although one between all-star teams rather than regular clubs is an “exhibition match”.
Russell Baker, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for distinguished commentary and for his memoir Growing Up, was chosen to replace Alistair Cooke as the host of Masterpiece Theater in 1993.
Alistair Cooke’s “Letter from America” was a weekly 15-minute radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and its predecessor, the Home Service.
Cooke was the presenter throughout its history, speaking upon a topical issue in the USA, tying together different strands of observation and anecdote and often ending on a humorous or poignant note. The series ran for 24 March 1946 to 20 February 2004, making it the longest-running speech radio programme in history.
“Calling America”, from 1986’s Balance of Power, was Electric Light Orchestra’s last song to reach the American charts.
ELO’s guitarist/composer Jeff Lynne wrote several songs for the soundtrack of the Olivia Newton-John film Xanadu, including the hit title track.
Xanadu was the name of the stately manor that Charles Foster Kane started to build in Citizen Kane. Xanadu’s design is based on William Randolph Hearst’s elaborate homes in San Simeon, CA, and Mont St Michel in France.
What is cost, no man can say.
The original Fig Newtons were ***started *** 1891 by the F A Kennedy Bakery in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, and named “Newtons” for the nearby town of Newton, Mass. The name Newton was retained through several ownerships of the brand, which is currently a Nabisco product.
The New England Confectionery Company, best known for its Necco wafers, was located in Cambridge for many years until a recent move to Revere. The smokestack of the former Necco building is still painted to look like a stack of Necco wafers.
The New England states of Connecticut and Massachusetts share a common border, but at one point along this otherwise (nearly) straight line there is a “notch” where a nearly-rectangular chunk of MA extends about 2.5 miles south into CT. This notch is known as the “Southwick Jog”, and there are several stories about how this Jog came to be. The stories include errant surveying over many years, and, of course, the effects of alcohol on some surveyors.
Fishers Island, NY, cannot be reached from New York State by car without going through Connecticut. The only ferry to the island is in New London.
The inter-island ferry Wahine foundered in Wellington harbour on 10 April 1968, with the loss of 53 lives.
The shock and anguish of the incident was made all the worse by the fact that it took place only a short distance off the shore, in view of many of Wellington’s inhabitants.
The word “electrocution” was originally coined to refer to electrical execution of condemned convicts. But there was no word in the language to refer to accidental or suicidal death by electrical shock, so the word electrocution was expanded to be used for those applications, as well.
While the official definition of electrocution is death by electric shock, the word is commonly (albeit incorrectly) used to describe any type of electric shock, even non-injurious ones.