A smaller reproduction of the Ishtar Gate was built in Iraq under Saddam Hussein as the entrance to a museum that has not been completed.
The gates of horn and ivory are a literary device occurring in both Greek (the Odyssey) and Roman (the Aeneid) literature. They are used to distinguish true dreams (corresponding to factual occurrences) from false. The phrase originated in the Greek language, in which the word for “horn” is similar to that for “fulfil” and the word for “ivory” is similar to that for “deceive”. On the basis of that play on words, true dreams are spoken of as coming through the gates of horn, false dreams as coming through those of ivory.
Until the Panama Canal opened on 15 August 1914, ships that sailed between New York City and San Francisco had to sail “around the horn”, around the southernmost tip of South America, around Cape Horn. Cape Horn is named after the city of Hoorn in The Netherlands. Cape Horn was given its name by Willem Schouten, who sailed around it in 1616.
When King Willem Alexander succeeded to the throne of the Netherlands in 2013 he became the kingdom’s first male monarch since the death of his great-great-grandfather King William III in 1890.
In the 2014 World Cup, Germany finished 1st, Argentina 2nd, and The Netherlands 3rd.
What’s surprising is how well the Dutch did given their very small country and small population. Below, list by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams, are the populations and size in square km for the top three finishing teams.
1: 80.7 million; 357,168 km2
2: 42.7 million; 2,780,400 km2
3: 16.9 million; 41,543 km2
Therefore The Netherlands is about one tenth the physical size of Germany (in square km) which in turn is roughly one tenth the size of Argentina.
The constellation Crater (Latin for ‘cup’) is identified with the cup of the god Apollo from Greek mythology. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is faint, with no star brighter than third magnitude.
“88” is a code term used by white supremacists to identify themselves. It is an abbreviation for “Heil Hitler”. Since “H” is the 8th letter of the alphabet, “88” stands for “HH”.
Follow-up:
Not so. Between 90,000 to 160,000 were killed by a single bomb at Hiroshima.
There have been four US Navy ships named USS Constellation. The first one was launched in 1797 and the latest one was decommissioned in 2003. The second one, launched in 1854 and decommissioned in 1955, is preserved as a National Historic Landmark in Baltimore. It was the last sail-only warship designed and built by the US Navy.
Incorrect. That was not a terrorist attack.
ETA - still in play:
“88” is a code term used by white supremacists to identify themselves. It is an abbreviation for “Heil Hitler”. Since “H” is the 8th letter of the alphabet, “88” stands for “HH”.
Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH is an Austrian piano manufacturer, wholly owned by Yamaha. They manufacture 97- and 92-key models in addition to instruments with standard 88-key keyboards.
There have been four US Navy ship models named USS Constellation. The first one was launched in 1797 and the latest one was decommissioned in 2003. The second one, launched in 1854 and decommissioned in 1955, is preserved as a National Historic Landmark in Baltimore. It was the last sail-only warship designed and built by the US Navy.
Opiuchus is one of the Ptolemaic constellations, also known as Serpentarius. The name is also the thirteenth Zodiac sign, which is not accepted by all astrologers but affects some Sagittarians. (I’m an Opiuchus, and realization that I wasn’t a Sagittarius after all explained why some of my hororscopes have been wrong.)
One plotline of the Brenda Starr, Reporter strip in the early 60s was the mysterious “Child of the Zodiac,” a young girl with a constellation tattooed on her face.
Max Ehrmann’s 1927 poem “Desiderata”, popularized in 1971 by Les Crane’s recording, informs us all that “You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
Many of preferred “Deteriorata”, on National Lampoon Radio Dinner. 
Tony Hendra wrote the text and Christopher Guest the score, with Norman Rose and Melissa Manchester performing. “And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is laughing behind your back.”
Pete Seeger wrote the song Turn! Turn! Turn! in the late 1950s. The Byrds’ recording was released in 1965 and became in international hit.
The lyrics, except for the title which is repeated throughout the song, and the final verse of the song, are adapted word-for-word from the beginning of Chapter 3 of the Book of Ecclesiastes.
(Well, maybe not quite exactly word for word, but it’s pretty close.)
Bullitt, I think Northern Piper’s point was that your post about 9-11, as worded, did not limit itself to terrorist attacks.
In play:
A Time to Kill was John Grisham’s first novel. It had a limited print run and modest sales when first released in 1989, but did much better when reprinted following Grisham’s other successes such as The Firm. It was later made into a movie starring Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey.
OK, I see that, thanks.
In play: McConaughey starred in The Newton Boys (1998), a comedy drama based on the IRL bank-robbing Newton brothers. McConaughey played Willis Newton, and the real Willis Newton was from Uvalde, Texas. McConaughey was born in Uvalde, TX.
“Bon Cop, Bad Cop” was a 2006 Canadian comedy drama movie. The premise was that a corpse was discovered on an overpass on the Quebec-Ontario border, so a cop from Ontario Provincial Police is teamed with a cop from the Sûreté de Québec to investigate the murder. The dialogue throughout is in a mixture of English and French.
Aye, that was my point.
Okay, understood. It may have been worded better.
In play: On 26 February 2006 the world’s population crossed the 6.5 billion mark (calculatedly).