Going off #19…
As a child, George Washington copied a list of rules for courteous and proper living, the last of which was, “Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.”
After her husband Warren died Mary Higgins Clark first supported herself and her four children as a radio scriptwriter for a radio program Portrait of a Patriot. One of her assignments was an account of George & Martha Washington’s romance. She spent three years writing a book based on the idea, which was published as, Aspire to the Heavens. The book did not sell, but it proved to Clark that she could write and get published.
After her mystery novels became super popular, a descendant of Washington’s family chanced upon a copy of Aspire to the Heavens, and had it republished under the title Mount Vernon Love Story.
John Hillerman’s best-known acting role was as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III, Robin Masters’ British butler, on “Magnum P.I.” Although he was a native of Fort Worth, Texas, and a USAF veteran, Hillerman is often credited with being one of the rare American actors to execute a posh British accent creditably. Hillerman was also one of the townspeople in Blazing Saddles.
The actor who gets the award absolutely best British actor adopting an American accent is obviously Hugh Laurie as Gregory House, MD. Laurie’s American accent was so convincing that executive producer Bryan Singer pointed to him as an example of just the kind of compelling American actor he had been looking for.
The General American accent has traceable regional origins from the non-coastal Eastern United States including interior Pennsylvania, upstate New York (including my hometown Latham NY!), and the adjacent Midwestern region.
The stereotypical Canadian accent (aboot, eh?) is sometimes traced to the section of Ontario between Niagara Falls and Hamilton, settled largely by Loyalist refugees from all over the US, and whose accents then blended.
There are at least 46 jets, airplanes and helicopters in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton.
While President, George Washington gathered more than 12,000 militia to march to western Pennsylvania to disperse the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. After leading the troops part-way, Washington turned them over to Henry Lee and Alexander Hamilton (the Secretary of Treasury), putting them in charge of resolving the social unrest.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s new Broadway musical “Hamilton”, based on Ron Chernow’s excellent biography of the former Secretary of the Treasury, has an all-black cast (including Washington and Jefferson). Reviews have been excellent, perhaps surprisingly. According to an article in The New Yorker, the show is “Rooted in hip-hop, but also encompassing R. & B., jazz, pop, Tin Pan Alley, and the choral strains of contemporary Broadway, the show is an achievement of historical and cultural reimagining.” The costumes and set reflect the period, with “velvet frock coats and knee britches. The set …is a wooden scaffold against exposed brick; the warm lighting suggests candlelight.”
NM
In 1974, Herb Washington joined the Oakland A’s and became one of the very few MLB players to play in the major leagues without playing at all in the Minor Leagues. The most recent player to do that was pitcher Mike Leake (pronounced ‘leak’) in 2010. Leake currently pitches for the San Francisco Giants.
Herb Washington appeared in 105 major league games, but never had a time at bat. He was used only as a pinch runner.
Sandy Piez was the first of the so-called “Leg Men” - major league baseball players to spend most (not all, like Herb Washington) of their major-league careers as a pinch-runner. In 37 games for the 1914 New York Giants, Piez stole a grand total of four bases. In 1913, New York Giants manager John McGraw had used several pinch runners including Claude Cooper, Eddie Grant, and Jim Thorpe. Yes, that Jim Thorpe. The last Leg Man was Ted Willborn in 1979/1980. He played 30 games in his career for the Blue Jays and Yankees, with no stolen bases, and he was caught stealing once.
George Washington is thought to have left what became the continental United States only once in his life, when, in 1751, he accompanied his ailing half-brother Lawrence on a trip to Barbados. The house where they stayed is now a historic site: George Washington House (Barbados) - Wikipedia.
During the making of the epic film “Lawrence of Arabia”, King Hussein of Jordan lent an entire brigade of his Arab Legion as extras for the film, so most of the “soldiers” are played by real soldiers. Hussein frequently visited the sets and became enamored of a young British secretary, Antoinette Gardiner, who became his second wife in 1962. Their eldest son, Abdullah II King Of Jordan, ascended to the throne in 1999.
When Peter O’Toole first met Omar Sharif (both of whom starred in Lawrence of Arabia, O’Toole said, “Omar Sharif! No one in the world is called Omar Sharif. Your name must be Fred.” From then on, Cairo Fred was Sharif’s nickname. In truth, no one in the world really was called Omar Sharif. The actor had made up the name when he decided not to pursue a career as Michel Shalhoub.
“Omar the Tentmaker” was an American melodrama silent film. No copies of the film are known to survive.
Tents have been made from many different types of fabric. Early tents were made from skins, felt, canvas or woven goat’s hair. In the early to mid 1900’s, canvas was the fabric of choice. However, this fabric was flammable. So, flame retardant compounds were added to increase safety. Today, most tents are made from vinyl-coated polyester scrim or coated fabrics that are naturally flame retardant.
The world’s largest tent opened on July 5, 2010 and it stands in Astana Kazakhstan. It is almost 500 feet tall and 650 feet across. It covers an area larger than 10 football stadiums.
The world’s largest landlocked country by area is Kazakhstan.
There are 48 landlocked countries in the world. All except two – Bolivia and Paraguay – lie in the Eastern Hemisphere.