The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been inspired by a play by the Irish poet John Banim about the legend of Damon and Pythias. This legend illustrates the ideals of loyalty, honor and friendship that are the center of the order.
Thanks to Wiki
The United States Constitution does not actually require that the Speaker of the House of Representatives actually be a member of Congress, although customarily he or she always is.
The social-democratic Indian National Congress, or Congress Party, is one of the two major parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress Party Prime Ministers have included Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
In one strip, Snoopy meditated that he may have made mistakes in life, but he was proud of one of his sartorial decisions: he never bought a Nehru jacket.
Jawaharlal Nehru sometimes enclosed poems in his letters to his wife Kamala. The last poem he sent her comes from “To One in Paradise” by Edgar Allan Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe often wrote with his Siamese cat on his shoulder. Poe would place the cat on his shoulder before he commenced writing a poem.
Besides “City of the Big Shoulders”, Carl Sandburg described Chicago as “Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler”
The top three wheat-producing countries are China, India and the USA.
The top British official during the United Kingdom’s reign over India was the Viceroy, often a senior figure in the majority party of the House of Commons at the time.
Viceroy cigarettes, first produced in 1936, were the first filter cigarettes with a cork tip.
The Viceroy of India actually held two offices: Viceroy and Governor General. His duties as Viceroy were in relation to the princely states under British sovereignty, while his duties as Governor General were in relation to the parts of India under direct British rule. The position of Viceroy was an appointment under the royal prerogative, while the appointment to GovGen was a statutory appointment.
The wife of the Viceroy was known as the Vicereine. Probably the most famous Vicereine in India was the American-born Lady Curzon (née Mary Victoria Leiter), wife of Lord Curzon.
The dress which she wore at the 1902 coronation Durbar in Delhi was considered especially extravagant and became known as the ‘Peacock Dress’. It is now preserved by the UK National Trust at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, ancestral home of the Curzon family.
A group of peacocks (peafowl more precisely) is referred to as a “party.”
Political parties fielding candidates at the upcoming NSW state election on Saturday 28 March include:
Jimmy McMillan and his impressive mustache have run for Mayor of New York City twice, and US Senator and Governor once each, as the candidate of The Rent is Too Damn High Party.
The word ‘candidate’ is derived from the Latin words candidus, meaning ‘white’ and candidatus, meaning ‘dressed in white’. In ancient Rome men who were standing for office used to wear white togas.
The toga picta (painted toga), unlike all others, was not just dyed but embroidered and decorated. It was solid purple, embroidered with gold. Under the Republic, it was worn by generals in their triumphs, and by the Praetor Urbanus when he rode in the chariot of the gods into the circus at the Ludi Apollinares. During the Empire, the toga picta was worn by magistrates giving public gladiatorial games, and by the consuls, as well as by the emperor on special occasions.
Under Ohio law, magistrates are judicial officers who are appointed by individual judges or by the judges of a court, collectively, to assist the judges in their duties. Magistrates serve during good behavior, while judges go before the voters every six years. Everything magistrates do is subject to review and approval, amendation or reversal by judges, but in most courts, the judges routinely sign off on the decisions of their magistrates.
Judge Mills Lane was a two-term District Court judge in Washoe County, Nevada, and later starred in his own TV judge show, but was best known as one of the top boxing referees in the US. Lane disqualified Mike Tyson in the 1997 heavyweight title bout in which he bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear. Lane sold his blood-stained shirt to a collector right after the fight.
Urban Outfitters received a bunch of bad publicity when it sold retro Kent State shirts that were supposedly blood-stained.