RMS Olympic and RMS Britannic were White Star Line sister ships of the much-better-known RMS Titanic.
Wodehouse describes Horace Davenport as being so tall and thin that "… one could have pictured Euclid, had they met, nudging a friend and saying, ‘Don’t look now, but this chap coming along illustrates exactly what I was telling you about a straight line having length without breadth.’ "
Horace E. Dodge, who is tied with his brother John F. Dodge for 65th wealthiest American ever, was co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company (which became part of Chrysler a few years after the Dodges brothers’ deaths in the Spanish flu epidemic).
The brothers were 3rd cousins thrice removed of William Williams, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Button Gwinnett (1735 – 1777) was a British-born American political leader who, as a representative of Georgia to the Continental Congress, was one of the signatories on the United States Declaration of Independence. His autograph is highly sought by collectors as a result of a combination of the desire by many top collectors to acquire a complete set of autographs by all 56 signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and the extreme rarity of the Gwinnett signature; there are only 51 known examples, since Gwinnett was fairly obscure prior to signing the Declaration and died shortly afterward.
Howard Chandler Christy created his massive, 20-by-30-feet painting of the signing of the United States Constitution in a sail loft in 1940. It now hangs in the U.S. Capitol: Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States - Wikipedia
Chandler AZ, near Phoenix, is named after Dr. Alexander John Chandler, the first veterinary surgeon in Arizona Territory who settled there in 1891.
Fawkes, the phoenix belonging to Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter novels, contributed feathers to the wands of both Voldemort and Harry Potter.
Williams Air Force base, located in Mesa, Arizona, about 20 miles from Phoenix, was closed in 1993. The area was re-developed into a ‘feeder’ airport for the region, and now operates as Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. It had approximately 620,000 boardings during 2014, the third busiest in the state of Arizona.
USAFA, the US Air Force Academy, is located in Colorado Springs CO. Just inside the North Gate is a displayed B-52 bomber, wheels retracted and supported on stands that hold it about 15 feet off the deck. At the North Gate, visitors may enter in their POVs (privately owned vehicles) by simply showing gov’t-issued ID. I just entered an hour ago using my passport card. I wasn’t sure what else was required and the gate guard said what I had was fine. He then asked if I had any firearms or bombs or explosives, to which I answered No. He then conducted a quick search of my POV and I was allowed to proceed.
When my brother graduated from USAFA in 1986, I pinned on his butter bars and snapped him his first-ever salute. I was a Corporal back then, just about to pick up Sergeant the very next month.
USAFA 1986: my brother graduates, Vice President George HW Bush was in attendance.
USAFA 2016: 30 years (and just a couple more pounds) later, I come back to visit.
The service academies are fantastic educational institutions.
The term “academy” dates back to Plato’s Academy, which some consider the first institute of higher education in the western world. It seems to have come into existence sometime around 385 BC.
The name comes from the plot of land, near where Plato owned property, where he and his friends met to debate issues. The plot of land was named “Akademia”, said to be named after a legendary Athenian hero, Akademos. The plot of land had long been sacred to Athena, goddess of wisdom.
Princess Athena of Denmark is the youngest child and only daughter of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark. As of March 2016, Princess Athena is tenth in the line of succession to the Danish throne.
The Danevirke is a system of Danish fortifications in Schleswig-Holstein. This linear defensive earthwork across the neck of the Cimbrian peninsula was initiated by the Danes in the Nordic Iron Age at some point before 500 AD. The Danevirke was last used for military purposes in 1864 during the Second War of Schleswig.
The Kiel Canal cuts 60 miles across Schleswig-Holstein enabling ships to go between the North and Baltic Seas without having to go around Jutland.
Richard Kiel was best known for playing the henchman “Jaws” in Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me, among other character roles. He also co-authored a biography of the abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay called Kentucky Lion.
Aalborg, Denmark is an industrial and university city in the North of Jutland, Denmark. To drive from Stockholm to Aalborg you cross three major bridges over the three Danish Straits that connect the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.
The Nye Lillebæltsbro (New Little Belt Bridge) is a suspension bridge that crosses Lillebælt (the Little Belt Strait) between Jutland and the island of Funen. Nye Lillebæltsbro is over 1 mile long. Its pylons are 120 yards long and the main span rises 40 yards above the strait. It opened in 1970. The bridge is toll free and has a heated road deck so it can be kept free of ice and snow in winter.
Storebæltsbroen (Great Belt Bridge) runs between the islands of Zealand and Funen. It is a suspension bridge with the world’s third longest main span, 1 mile, and the longest outside of Asia. Its total length is over 4 miles. It is a very impressive bridge that rises over 60 yards above the water and crosses Storebælt (the Great Belt Strait) between the islands of Sjælland (Zealand) and Fyn (Funen).
The Øresund Bridge connects the Danish capital Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö and crosses Øresund.
Added: Lionbridge is a translation services company in Copenhagen, Denmark.
To get from the North Pole to Manhattan, you must pass through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then walk through the Lincoln Tunnel. That is according to Buddy the Elf from the movie Elf.
The Manhattan Project effectively started with a letter from scientists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard to President Roosevelt in 1939. They warned FDR of the possibility of nuclear weapons being developed by Germany.
“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney from the album Ram. Released in the United States as a single on 2 August 1971, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 September 1971, making it the first of a string of post-Beatles, McCartney-penned singles to top the US pop chart during the 1970s and 1980s.
McCartney has described the “Uncle Albert” section of the song as an apology from his generation to the older generation. “Uncle Albert” was based on McCarthy’s uncle. “He’s someone I recall fondly, and when the song was coming it was like a nostalgia thing.”
Interesting trivia. I wonder why McCartney sang about Admiral William F. Halsey?
In play: US Navy Captain William F. Halsey, Sr served from 1869 when he entered Annapolis until 1919. He died in 1920 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His son, US Navy Fleet Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey, Jr, the guy in McCartney’s song, served from 1900 when he entered Annapolis until 1959. He died later that year and is also buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his father (and also his mother), and along with his wife.
In 1802, George Washington Parke Custis (grandson of Martha Washington) started building Arlington, his showplace mansion, on a hill overlooking the Potomac. The mansion was probably modeled after the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens.