The capital of Syria, Damascus, is considered to be the oldest city as well as the oldest capital of the world.
Montpelier, capital of Vermont (and the smallest state capital in the U.S.), was struck by severe flooding in 1927. H.P. Lovecraft used the floods as the backdrop for his short story “The Whisperer in Darkness.”
Arthur Koestler wrote Darkness at Noon as the second part of a trilogy: the first volume is The Gladiators (1939), about the subversion of the Spartacus revolt. Darkness at Noon (1940) is the story of a Bolsevik who is accused of treason by the regime he helped to create. The third novel, Arrival and Departure (1943), is about a refugee during World War II.
Caliburn is another name for Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur.
At one point during the filming of the movie "Arthur’ (Arthur (1981) - IMDb), Liza Minnelli was supposed to board a bus in front of Bergdorf’s on Fifth Avenue, New York. When a real bus came along, she boarded it thinking it was the “movie bus”. Not until she was halfway down the block did she realize her blunder when she looked back and saw the whole crew cracking up.
Liza Minnelli has been married and divorced four times. She also has had relationships with Desi Arnaz, Jr., and Martin Scorsese.
Martin Scorsese has made eight films starring his close friend Robert DeNiro, including three (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas) that made AFI’s* 100 Years… 100 Movies* list. He considers The King of Comedy to be the best, though. Scorsese’s count with Leonardo DiCaprio is up to five.
The films of Scorsese and DiCaprio are Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, and The Wolf of Wall Street.
ETA my opinions of these films: LOVED The Departed; liked Wolf of Wall Street and The Aviator; pretty decent are Gangs of New York and Shutter Island.
Aviator is one of the most popular brands, along with Bicycle and Bee, produced by the United States Playing Card Co., formerly of Cincinnati, Ohio but now across the Ohio River in Erlanger, Kentucky.
Erlanger, Kentucky, near the northernmost tip of the state, was named after Parisian banker Baron Frederic Emile d’Erlanger. Famous people from Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, include Daniel Boone, Muhammad Ali, George Clooney, The Judds, and Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the presidents of the United States and the Confederate States during the Civil War, were both born in Kentucky. Lincoln later rose to political power in Illinois; Davis, in Mississippi.
Lincoln’s birthplace is Hodgenville KY, which is roughly midway between Louisville and Bowling Green, and also midway between Cincinnati and Nashville, and also midway between Chicago and Atlanta.
The four US state capitals named for Presidents are Lincoln, Nebraska; Jackson, Mississippi; Jefferson City, Missouri; and Madison, Wisconsin.
Before being annexed by the United States in 1848 following the Mexican–American War, a small portion of north-central California declared itself the California Republic in an act of independence from Mexico in 1846. The republic only existed for one month before it disbanded itself to join the advancing American army and therefore became part of the United States. The very short-lived California Republic was never recognized by the United States, Mexico or any other nation. There was one de facto capital of the California Republic, Sonoma, in 1846.
James Reed, who had been expelled from the Donner Party as a drumhead-trial sentence for killing another member in a fight, rode ahead and notified the authorities of their predicament when he reached Sutter’s Fort. Before Colonel John C. Frémont would agree to send a rescue party, he required Reed to join the militia and fight in the Mexican-American War at the Battle of Santa Clara. Reed eventually did reach his family, all of whom survived, and the remainder of the party leading a rescue mission. A number of San Jose streets, on his former property, are named for Reed family members.
Woodwind instruments consist of flutes and reed instruments. The reeds for the reed instruments are made of cane which are flexible woody stalks.
Single reed instruments include the clarinet and the saxophone.
Double reed instruments include the oboe, bassoon and bagpipes.
Free reed instruments include the reed organ (reed pipes), harmonica, shēng and the shō.
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. (also known as The Big Man), best known as the saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, was 6’ 5" tall.
Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. is located at the corner 8th and I Streets, in Southeast Washington, D.C. Established in 1801, it is a National Historic Landmark, the oldest post in the United States Marine Corps, the official residence of the Commandant of the Marine Corps since 1806, and main ceremonial grounds of the Corps.
On most Tuesday nights during the summer, the Silent Drill Platoon of the Marine Barracks performs a free public performance at the Iwo Jima Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. These sunset parades have become a popular tradition and they begin before sunset and continue until after the sun has gone down.
Broadway on Broadway was a free annual outdoor concert kicking off the Broadway season each September, usually on the first Sunday after Labor Day, produced by the Broadway League and the Times Square Alliance. Initially conceived as a welcome party for delegates to the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York, the event took place on a special stage created for the event in Times Square, featuring musical numbers from current Broadway shows as well as upcoming shows opening in the new season. The concert returned in July 1993 and 1994 and moved to September on 1995. Broadway on Broadway ran for twenty years, from 1992 to 2012.
Blotto was a small time Albany area group that had a minor hit on MTV with “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard,” originally consisting of Bowtie Blotto, Broadway Blotto, Blanche Blotto, Lee Harvey Blotto, Sarge Blotto, and Cheese Blotto. Blanche left the group and was replaced by Chevrolet Blotto.