In 1945, Frank Capra visited Seneca Falls, in New York’s Finger Lakes region, to look for inspiration for It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). There are many similarities between Seneca Falls and Bedford Falls of It’s a Wonderful Life. The people of Seneca Falls are so sure their town was the inspiration that they dub their town “the real Bedford Falls”.
ETA to say OUCH!, about RealityChuck’s play.
The Earls Russell are a cadet branch of the Russell family headed by the Duke of Bedford.
In 1980, Sue Fulton was one of the first women to graduate from West Point after women were admitted to the academy for the first time. 32 years later, in 2012, Fulton and Penny Gnesin were the first same-sex couple to marry at the Cadet Chapel at West Point.
First Lt. Kristen Griest, a 26-year-old military police officer from Orange, Connecticut, and Capt. Shaye Haver, a 25-year-old Apache helicopter pilot from Copperas Cove, Texas, have just become the first female soldiers to graduate from the US Army’s elite Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Haver was a high school classmate of Washington R-words quarterback Robert Griffin III. Both are West Point graduates.
Geronimo (June 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader of the Bedonkohe Apache who fought against Mexico and Arizona for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. “Geronimo” was the name given to him during a battle with Mexican soldiers. Geronimo’s Chiricahua name is often rendered in English as Goyathlay or Goyahkla.
Geronimo’s chief, Mangas Coloradas, sent him to Cochise’s band for help in his revenge against the Mexicans. It was during this incident that the name Geronimo came about. This appellation stemmed from a battle in which, ignoring a deadly hail of bullets, he repeatedly attacked Mexican soldiers with a knife. The origin of the name is a source of controversy with historians, some writing that it was appeals by the soldiers to Saint Jerome (“Jeronimo!”) for help. Others source it as the mispronunciation of his name by the Mexican soldiers
The most likely origin of the parachute jumpers’ custom of yelling “Geronimo!” when departing their PGA’s (Perfectly Good Airplanes) is attributed to Private Aubrey Eberhardt, member of parachute test platoon at Fort Benning. The parachute had only recently been adopted for troop drops and this platoon was the first to test it. On the eve of their first jump, the platoon decided to calm their nerves by spending the day before taking in a film at the Main Post Theatre and a night at the local beer garden. The film they saw was a Western featuring the Native American chief Geronimo. Its title is uncertain, but it was probably the 1939 film *Geronimo *with Andy Devine and Lone Ranger star Chief Thundercloud in the title role. On the way back to barracks, Eberhardt’s comrades taunted him saying that he would be too scared to remember his name. Eberhardt retorted, “All right, dammit! I tell you jokers what I’m gonna do! To prove to you that I’m not scared out of my wits when I jump, I’m gonna yell Geronimo loud as hell when I go out that door tomorrow!” Eberhardt kept his promise and the cry was gradually adopted by the other members of his platoon.
At the age of 79, in February 1909 in Fort Sill OK, Geronimo was riding his horse and was thrown off. Unable to move, he spent the cold night outdoors before he was found the next day. He died from pneumonia on 17 February 1909 and is buried at Fort Sill. His grave site is easy for any visitor to see.
Picture of his grave (I’ve been there but this is not my picture):
Originally Indian Territory, the state of Oklahoma was opened to settlers in a “Land Rush” in 1889. On a given date, prospective settlers would be allowed into the territory to claim plots of land by grabbing the stakes marking each plot. A few of these settlers entered to claim land before the official start of the land run; these cheaters were called “Sooners”.
Oklahoma!, the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, is based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs.
The US Army’s and Marine Corps’ main artillery fort at Fort Sill, Oklahoma was founded in 1869 by three founders: Philip Henry Sheridan, George Armstrong Custer and William Tecumseh Sherman.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan owned the Drury Lane Theatre, which caught fire and burnt down in 1809. Sheridan was in the street, watching the conflagration and sipping a glass of wine. He commented, “A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by his own fireside.”
Fort Bliss, Texas, provides the largest contiguous tract (1,500 sq mi or 3,900 sq km) of restricted airspace in the Continental United States. The airspace is used for missile and artillery fire training and testing.
Bliss Corner is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Dartmouth in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,280 at the 2010 census.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $36,610, and the median income for a family was $48,125. Males had a median income of $36,026 versus $26,726 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,109. About 2.8% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over.
“Bristols” is traditional cockney rhyming slang for breasts. The derivation is “Bristol --> Bristol City --> titty.”
The origin of the name Titicaca is unknown. It has been translated as “Rock Puma”, allegedly for its resembling the shape of a puma hunting a rabbit, combining words from the local languages Quechua and Aymara, and as well as translated as “Crag of Lead.” Locally, the lake goes by several names.
Mount Everest is known by other names. First, it was named after George Everest, Surveyor General, but George pronounced his last name EAVE-rest and not how the mountain is usually pronounced, EVV-erest.
Mount Everest is also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma. Sagarmāthā is a Nepali word derived from sagar meaning “sky” and from māthā meaning “head”. Chomolungma is either Goddess Mother of the Mountains or Mother Goddess of the Earth.
“Sky Pilot” is military slang for a chaplain. Eric Burdon & The Animals’s anti-war song “Sky Pilot” was originally released on the album The Twain Shall Meet. When released as a single it had to be split across both sides, due to its length (7:27). As “Sky Pilot (Parts 1 & 2)” it reached number 14 on the U.S. pop charts
Frank Loesser’s song “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”, about the legend of a ship’s chaplain’s yelling his prayers while manning an anti-aircraft gun at Pearl Harbor, credits the man with “Mister Sky Pilot said it / You’ve got to give him credit / For a son of a gun of a gunner was he …”
In actuality, Chaplain Lt. Howell Porgy of USS New Orleans said it to encourage sailors hauling ammo to the gunners when loss of power knocked out the ship’s elevators - Porgy did not man a gun himself.
Sky Pilot - that was in 1968. By the end of 1968, Sky Pilot finished at #70 in the year’s Top 100 songs.
#1 was Hey Jude by The Beatles.
At #4 was (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding.
#9 was Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel.
#43 was Classical Gas by Mason Williams.
#50 was Jumpin’ Jack Flash by The Rolling Stones.
Some of my favorites from 1968.
Mason Williams’s Classical Gas was #26 on the top Instrumentals Of The 1960s. Here’s the (pasted & copied) list:
1 The Theme From A Summer Place - Percy Faith And His Orchestra
2 Wonderland By Night - Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra
3 Exodus - Ferrante & Teicher
4 A Taste Of Honey - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
5 Love Is Blue (L’amour Est Bleu) - Paul Mauriat And His Orchestra
6 The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - Hugo Montenegro
7 Last Date - Floyd Cramer
8 Calcutta - Lawrence Welk
9 Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet - Henry Mancini, His Orchestra And Chorus
10 The Stripper - David Rose And His Orchestra
11 Grazing In The Grass - Hugh Masekela
12 Telstar - The Tornadoes
13 Green Onions - Booker T. & The MG’s
14 Wipe Out - The Surfaris
15 Walk–Don’t Run - The Ventures
16 Stranger On The Shore - Mr. Acker Bilk
17 The In Crowd - Ramsey Lewis Trio
18 Midnight In Moscow - Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen
19 Washington Square - The Village Stompers
20 Apache - Jorgen Ingmann & His Guitar
21 Hey, Leroy, Your Mama’s Callin’ You - Jimmy Castor
22 The Horse - Cliff Nobles & Co.
23 Soulful Strut - Young-Holt Unlimited
24 Java - Al Hirt
25 Last Night - The Mar-Keys
26 Classical Gas - Mason Williams
27 Time Is Tight -Booker T. & The MG’s
28 Because They’re Young - Duane Eddy
29 Cast Your Fate To The Wind - Vince Guaraldi Trio
30 Soul Finger - The Bar-Kays
31 No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In) - The T-Bones
32 Desafinado - Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd
33 Wheels -The String-A-Longs
34 Memphis - Lonnie Mack
35 One Mint Julep - Ray Charles
36 Soul Twist - King Curtis And The Noble Knights
37 Theme From The Apartment - Ferrante & Teicher
38 Watermelon Man - Mongo Santamaria Band
39 Afrikaan Beat - Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra
40 Out Of Limits - The Marketts