The 27th Amendment, preventing Congress from raising its pay midterm, was finally ratified in 1992. It had been submitted to the states in 1789 [sic] as part of the Bill of Rights, setting a record, of over 202 years, that will probably never be broken - unless it’s by the Congressional Apportionment Amendment, also originally part of the Bill of Rights, still languishing in the ratification cycle because it would increase the size of the House of Representatives to over 6000 members.
Many of the state of California’s most populous counties have been suffering from drought conditions for many years. The American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association promotes sustainable rainwater harvesting practices to help solve potable, non-potable, stormwater and energy challenges throughout the world - not just California.
Source: http://www.arcsa.org
There have been seven warships named USS California to serve in the U.S. Navy, the most recent of which is a Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine commissioned in 2011.
There are five blocks of Virginia class submarines either currently existing or planned. They are:
Block I
USS Virginia (SSN-774), commissioned 2004 and in service.
USS Texas (SSN-775), commissioned 2006 and in service.
USS Hawaii (SSN-776), commissioned 2007 and in service.
USS North Carolina (SSN-777), commissioned 2008 and in service.
Block II
USS New Hampshire (SSN-778), commissioned 2007 and in service.
USS New Mexico (SSN-779), commissioned 2010 and in service.
USS Missouri (SSN-780), commissioned 2010 and in service.
USS California (SSN-781), commissioned 2011 and in service.
USS Mississippi (SSN-782), commissioned 2012 and in service.
USS Minnesota (SSN-783), commissioned 2012 and in service.
Block III
North Dakota (SSN-784), commissioned 2014 and in service.
John Warner (SSN-785), named January 8, 2009, laid down March 16, 2013, and was delivered 26 June 2015, commissioned 1 August 2015, and in service.
Illinois (SSN-786), construction began in March 2011. It is contracted for delivery in August 2016. To be christened October 10, 2015, sponsored by First Lady Michelle Obama.
Washington (SSN-787), named April 13, 2012, construction began on September 2, 2011.
Colorado (SSN-788), named June 25, 2012, laid down March 7, 2015, and is contracted for delivery in August 2017.
Indiana (SSN-789), named April 2012., laid down 16 May 2015.
South Dakota (SSN-790), named June 2012.
Delaware (SSN-791).
Block IV
Vermont (SSN-792) named September 2014.
Oregon (SSN-793) named October 10, 2014.
Montana (SSN-794) named August 2015.
Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-795).
New Jersey (SSN-796) named May 24, 2015
Iowa (SSN-797) named September 1, 2015.
SSN-798
Idaho (SSN-799) named August 23, 2015.
SSN-800
Utah (SSN-801) named August 23, 2015.
Block V
SSN-802
SSN-803
SSN-804
SSN-805
That’s a lot of boats!
The first war in which an American submarine was used in combat was actually the Revolutionary War. David Bushnell fabricated a barrel-like craft, the Turtle, which could be paddled underwater to attach explosives to Royal Navy vessels docked in New York Harbor. All attempts failed, however.
George Washington returned, unopened, correspondence sent to him by British senior officers during the Revolutionary War which did not address him either as “General” or “His Excellency.”
Elvis Presley’s 1962 hit “Return to Sender”, about the singer not accepting that his girl has broken up with him, was written for the film Girls! Girls! Girls! by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott. On what would have been Elvis’s 58th birthday on January 8, 1993, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp bearing his image. Many stamp collectors mailed envelopes, franked with this stamp, to fictitious addresses in the hopes that they would receive their letters not only postmarked with the first day of issue, but also with a ‘return to sender’ postal marking.
Elvis Presley entered the US Army at Memphis TN on 24 March 1958. He then spent three days at the Fort Chaffee AR Reception Station. He left active duty at Fort Dix NJ on 05 March 1960, and received his discharge from the Army Reserve on 23 March 1964.
Elvis Presley’s departure from show biz for the Army was the basis for the Broadway musical “Bye, Bye, Birdie”, although the name of the character representing him, Conrad Birdie, was transparently stolen from fellow heartthrob Conway Twitty.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Elvis Grbac (“gerr-back”) had a particularly horrid game on 10 November 1996. Playing against the Dallas Cowboys, the 49ers jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead behind starting SF QB Steve Young. Young later got injured and was replaced by Grbac, and the 49er offense stumbled the rest of the game. The Cowboys tied the game in regulation, 17-17, and in overtime the Cowboys won, 20-17.
In a widely-replayed sound bite, then-mayor Willie Brown called Elvis Grbac “an embarrassment to humankind.” Brown later forced an apology to Grbac.
49ers QB Steve Young is a direct descendant of Mormon leader Brigham Young.
In There’s Something About Mary (1998) 49ers quarterback Steve Young was originally supposed to play the part of Mary’s secret love. However, as a practicing Mormon, he declined, due to the nature of the movie. Packers quarterback Brett Favre ended up playing the part.
The first time President George W Bush met Prime Stephen Harper of Canada, he quickly took to referring to him as Steve. Prime Minister Harper, known for his aloof persona, was not amused.
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, is the easternmost town in West Virginia. This location is where the states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet.
In 1794, George Washington proposed Harper’s Ferry (then, with an apostrophe, but today no longer) as the location for a new US Armory. In 1859 during John Brown’s raid of the armory, Washington’s great-great-nephew Colonel Lewis Washington was held hostage.
George Brown was one of the Fathers of Confederation. His willingness to compromise with John A. Macdonald and enter into the Grand Coalition was one of the major steps to the creation of Canada. Brown did that even though he distrusted Macdonald intensely after the Double Shuffle.
George Brown College is a public college of applied arts and technology located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, named after the Father of Confederation. And, actor Georg Stanford Brown, perhaps best known for his television role of Officer Terry Webster in the series The Rookies (1972-1976), also played the role of Dr. Willard in the movie Bullitt (1968).
If you want to go to space or become a billionaire, Stanford University in California may be the place for you. At last count, thirty living billionaires and seventeen currents astronauts went to Stanford. And if that is not enough, at least one Stanford student has won a medal in the Olympics every year since 1908.
“The Big Four” of the CPRR, the Central Pacific Railroad, were C-H-H-S: Crocker - Hopkins - Huntington - Stanford.
Charles Crocker, (1822–1888)
Mark Hopkins, (1813–1878)
Collis Potter Huntington, (1821–1900)
Leland Stanford, (1824–1893)
The four personally preferred to be known as “The Associates.”
Susan Wittig Albert got the start in her writing career by penning Nancy Drew mysteries under the pen name of Carolyn Keene. She now writes the China Bayles Mystery series, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series, the Robin Paige Victorian-Edwardian Mysteries, and the Darling Dahlias mysteries.
Really good reading if you like cozy mysteries.
Authors who have written Nancy Drew mysteries under the name “Carolyn Keene” since the 1930’s, often contemporaneously, include Mildred Wirt Benson, Walter Karig, George Waller, Jr., Margaret Scherf, Whilemina Rankin, Alma Sasse, Harriet Adams, Charles Strong, Patricia Doll, Nancy Axelrad, Sharon Wagner, Richard Ballard, and James Duncan Lawrence.