Starfleet (in the Star Trek Universe) has a Prime Directive of non-interference with developing worlds or their internal politics. This is said not to be a Human construct, but stemmed from policies originally implemented by the Vulcans, who used the attainment of warp speed as a barometer for making first contact with a civilization. The Prime Directive and Starfleet’s first contact policies are at the center of several episodes in each Star Trek series and the film Star Trek: First Contact.
The helmsman for Star Trek’s USS Enterprise was Lt. Sulu, played by George Takei. In the second pilot for Star Trek, using a script called Where No Man Has Gone Before, Lt. Sulu is not a helmsman but is instead a physicist.
“Gorgeous George” Wagner was the first wrestler to use flamboyant theatricals to make his fame. In 1941, with his blonde flowing hair, he appeared in the ring with an exaggerated effeminate demeanor… George was born in remote Boyd County, Nebraska, which has only 2,000 residents in the whole county today.
On December 28, 1957, Wagner married 19-year-old actress Natalie Wood. They separated in June 1961 and divorced on April 27, 1962.
In 1971, Wagner was engaged to Tina Sinatra. In early 1972, Wagner reconnected with Natalie Wood and remarried her on July 16, 1972 after a six-month courtship.
Pedantic Note: Robert Wagner was married to Natalie Wood, not “Gorgeous George” Wagner.
In play:
It is common to classify wood as either softwood or hardwood. The wood from conifers (e.g. pine) is called softwood, and the wood from dicotyledons (usually broad-leaved trees, e.g. oak) is called hardwood. These names are a bit misleading, as hardwoods are not necessarily hard, and softwoods are not necessarily soft. The well-known balsa (a hardwood) is actually softer than any commercial softwood. Conversely, some softwoods (e.g. yew) are harder than many hardwoods.
“Hard wood” meaning an erect penis, was first used by male blacks in the UK in the 1950’s.
Patience and Prudence McIntyre were teen-aged singing stars in the 1950s, recording their gold single “Tonight you Belong to Me” in 1956, in their band-leader/father’s studio, with no rehearsal. In their 70s now, they still live together in a Thiensville, Wisconsin nursing home, where a staunch fan pays them $100 to sing their hit song over the telephone to him on his birthday.
John Lennon on the Beatles’ song Dear Prudence
There have been nine kingdoms in the world that have been ruled by a King George. The last of them, George Tupou V of the Paciric island natioln of Tonga, died in 2012. A Prince George, born in 2013, is in line of ascendancy to the British throne. The Canadian city of Prince George, British Columbia, was named for the future KIng George III.
King George III had 15 children, all with his wife Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, to whom he was happily married.
The Romanian word for “children” in some declined cases is “copiii”, one of the rare instances of a triple letter in a language using the Roman alphabet.
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia. It was built in the 10th century BC and flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. According to estimates, Ephesus had a population of 33,600 to 56,000 people in the Roman period, making it the third largest city of Roman Asia Minor.
Side note: I’ve visited Ephesus and if life ever takes you in that direction, I urge you to see it…very much worth your time.
Where do you suppose these “estimates”, rounded to three significant digits over a nebulous time-frame, come from? Does that mean 33,600 was the lowest population reached, or the lowest estimate of the highest population during those many Roman centuries? Clarification required.
I would like to visit. Thanks for the recommendation.
In play:
Present day Selçuk, Turkey is about 1-2 miles northeast of ancient Ephesus. It has carried that name since the early 20th century. By the 15th century, Ephesus had declined and became an empty locale.
Ephesus was the site of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The temple was built and rebuilt three times. The second temple was destroyed by an arsonist seeking fame at any cost, for which he was put to death and his name forbidden to be mentioned. The rebuilt third temple was the one that became listed as one of the Seven Wonders and it stood for six hundred years, until its likely destruction by the Goths in 268 AD.
(Our parish priest visited Ephesus a few years ago and said it was very worthwhile).
7 Wonders is a boardgame created by Antoine Bauza in 2010 and originally published in Belgium. It features depictions of ancient civilizations, military conflicts and commercial activity. The game is highly regarded, being one of the highest-rated games on the board game discussion website BoardGameGeek. 7 Wonders has won more than 30 gaming awards, including the inaugural Kennerspiel des Jahres award in 2011.
And last night, our family couldn’t figure out the rules after half an hour of trying.
In 1922, New York radio station WEAF broadcast the first paid radio commercial for the Hawthorne Court Apartments in Jackson Heights.
WOWO (1190 kHz) is an independent news/talk radio station owned by Pathfinder Communications Corporation. It transmits with 50,000 watts during daytime using a non-directional antenna, and with 9,800 watts during nighttime using a three-tower directional antenna. During its heyday, WOWO was one of North America’s most listened-to Top 40 music stations. WOWO continued playing the hits until 1988, when the station resumed playing oldies. In 1992 the format changed to adult contemporary, and then in 1996, the station switched to a news-talk format which remains to this day.
WOWO is in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The NBA’s Detroit Pistons were originally the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, owned by the Zollner Piston company.
Fort Wayne, Indiana is 25 miles southwest of the village of Hicksville, Ohio. The population of Hicksville is approximately 3,500. In Hicksville there is one Lutheran Church and one Methodist Church, but most of the people in that area are Mennonites. The largest ethnic group in Hicksville is Germans who comprise 35% of the population.