During WW2, US servicemen often protested at having to be at non segregated bars and hotels in London, the fact that non whites could get service there on equal footing was intolerable to the Americans. One of the persons refused service due to American pressure was the famous West Indian cricketer Learie Constantine. He sued and this led to the landmark judgement of Constantine v Imperial Hotels * [1944] KB 693*, where the Court upheld his claim for damages and also affirmed the Common law duty of innkeepers to provide accomodation if patron was able to pay.
The American Red Cross Club in Piccadilly Circus, the most famous of its type in the European Theater, where USAAF GI’s could relax, have a drink, get a hot shower, and dance with a local girl was run by Fred Astaire’s sister and original dancing partner Adele (Lady Charles Cavendish).
Piccadilly Circus’s name derives from “Piccadill,” a lace collar in fashion in the 16th century.
The first sung line of the musical Evita is “Oh what a circus, oh what a show.” They were sung on the original concept album by C.T. Wilkinson, who, later known as Colm, scored a major hit originating the role of Les Miserables’s Jean Valjean on London’s West End and Broadway.
(I saw Colm Wilkinson in Les Mis in London in late 1985. It was a helluva show!)
Winston Churchill was offered the title “Duke of London” after he lost the British general election of 1945, but declined, as he hoped to return as Prime Minister and his son also wished to enter electoral politics, which he could not have done as the son of a duke under the law at the time.
Being the son of a peer was never a bar to election to the House of Commons. It did mean, though, automatic loss of the seat once the son inherited the peerage.
In play: Randolph Churchill, Winston’s son, was never successful in an election where he faced off against other candidates. He did sit as member for Preston between 1940 and 1945, but was unopposed at the poll.
American actor Randolph Scott, famous for acting in Westerns, was during WWI a field artillery spotter (or in today’s parlance an F.O., Forward Observer) for the U.S. Army,
The character of Gail Wynand in Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel *The Fountainhead *was inspired by the famous newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.
The Hearst Tower in NYC, at West 57th Street & 8th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, is the world headquarters of the Hearst Corporation. It was commissioned by William Randolph Hearst, and in 1928 the base was completed to a height of six stories. It was originally to be a base of a skyscraper, but The Great Depression which hit in 1929 changed those plans. Then in 2006 the 42-floor, 597-foot tall tower was completed.
The Hearst Tower was the first NYC skyscraper to break ground after 9/11.
William Randolph Hearst was a newspaper magnate of fantastic extravagance. He abandoned his plan to rescue Alfred Dreyfus from Devil’s Island in order to devote complete attention to the Spanish-American War, which he started almost singlehandedly. Although his circulation boomed during the War, he took huge losses, in part due to the expense of printing “Extras.” The New York Journal printed up to 40 separate extra editions on some days.
The Devil’s Kitchen, Tasman’s Arch, Blow Hole and the Tessellated Pavement are some of many rock formations at Eaglehawk Neck on the Tasman Peninsula in the far south-east of Tasmania.
Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, about an hour’s drive north of Las Vegas, is so named because the red sandstone rock formations look like they are on fire when the bright desert sun hits them.
The Painted Desert badlands, so named for their wide range of color, are in both the Grand Canyon National Park and the Petrified Forest National Park, as well as in the Navajo Nation.
Despite it’s popularity, the Grand Canyon is not the deepest, widest or longest canyon in the world.
The deepest part of Sydney Harbour is about 47.2m down, between Dawes Point and Blues Point, conveniently placed for cruise and container ships making the tricky left-hand turn into White Bay.
The White Tree is a symbol of Gondor in the tales of J.R.R. Tolkien; a seedling was brought to Middle-earth by the future high king Elendil after the Atlantis-like loss of the island of Numenor.
Lady Tree (née Helen Maud Holt), was an English actress. She was the wife of the actor Herbert (later Sir Herbert) Beerbohm Tree.
Among the roles for which she was most celebrated were Lady Teazle in *The School for Scandal *and Mrs Malaprop in The Rivals.
Beerbohm Tree was the grandfather of Oliver Reed.
*The Oak and the Reed *is one of Aesop’s fables. It tells of the contrasting behaviour of the oak, which trusts in its strength to withstand the storm and is blown over, and the reed that ‘bends with the wind’ and so survives. It is generally interpreted as a parable about pride and humility.
It is one of the rare fables without human or animal characters.
Royal Oak is the third most common name for English pubs.