The White Nile and Blue Nile Rivers are the two main tributaries of the Nile River.
The White Nile River drains Lake No, which is at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal Rivers. The White Nile River gets its name from sediment and silt from one of its tributaries, the Sobat River. When in flood the Sobat River produces an enormous discharge carrying a white sediment.
Some Ethiopians have long identified the Blue Nile River as the River Gihon mentioned as flowing out of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 and “encircling the entire land of Cush”. The Blue Nile River is so-called because floods during the summer monsoon erode a vast mount of fertile soil from the Ethiopian Highlands and carry it downstream as silt, turning the water dark brown or almost black. In the local Sudanese language, the word for black is also used for the color blue.
The White Nile River flows north from Lake Victoria. The Blue Nile River flows west from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. They meet at Khartoum to form the Nile River. The location where the two Niles meet is known as “al-Mogran” المقرن, meaning the confluence. The main Nile River continues to flow north towards Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately 1.8 square miles in area, notable for being the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The lake is located in southeastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota. The lake is within Itasca State Park.
The Ojibwe name for “Lake Itasca” is Omashkoozo-zaaga’igan (Elk Lake) but was changed by Henry Schoolcraft to “Itasca”, coined from a combination of the Latin words veritas (“truth”) and caput (“head”), though it is sometimes misinterpreted as “true head.” It is one of several examples of pseudo-Indian place names created by Schoolcraft.
The Clearwater is a Hudson River Sloop, a replica of the boats that went up and down the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was part of an effort to reduce pollution in the river; Pete Seeger was involved in publicizing it.
In 1967, Saul Zaentz bought Fantasy Records and offered the band “The Golliwogs” a chance to record a full-length album on the condition that they change their name. Having never liked “the Golliwogs,” in part because of the racial charge of the name, the band agreed. Zaentz and the band agreed to come up with ten suggestions each, but he enthusiastically agreed to their first: Creedence Clearwater Revival, which they took in January, 1968. According to interviews with band members twenty years later, the name’s three elements come from the following sources:
Tom Fogerty’s friend Credence Newball, whose name they changed to form the word Creedence (as in creed); a television commercial for Olympia beer (“clear water”); and the four members’ renewed commitment to their band.
1968 was the last full year that Hubert H. Humphrey, Democrat of Minnesota, served as Vice President of the United States. He was narrowly defeated that November by Richard M. Nixon, Republican of California, in the campaign for President.
Comment: as a kid on a road trip vacation, I remember walking across the rocks at or very near that Mississippi headwaters. Then later, to see Big Muddy at the end, made an impression on me as a young kid.
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Napoleonic Wars era Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and radio and television programs. He shares his first name with the middle name of Hubert Horatio Humphrey, one-time Vice President of the United States.
C. S. Forester, who created the Horatio Hornblower series, was commissioned by the Saturay Evening Post had asked Forester to write a story based on Roald Dahl’s flying experiences; Forester asked Dahl to write down some RAF anecdotes so that he could shape them into a story. After Forester read what Dahl had given him, he gave the finished story to his agent, who sold it to the Post for $1000, took his 10% and gave the balance of $900 to Forester, who sent it to Dahl with a note “Did you know you are a gifted writer?”
Dahl, who had never thought of being a writer, thought “It can’t be this easy.” Well, maybe it is, but only if your name is Roald Dahl.
Dahlonega, Georgia, is an important place in shameful American history. When gold was discovered on Cherokee lands, the white people had gold-grabbing as a justification for running the Cherokees off and marching them to Oklahoma. A US Mint was established at Dahlonega, to make coins out of the Georgia gold.
The Dahlonega mint produced coins every year from 1838 through 1861 and marked its coins with a “D”. The “D” mark is now used by the Denver mint which opened in 1906 and today is the largest coin producer in the world.
Lord Peter Wimsey, the detective created by Dorothy L. Sayers, is the brother of the Duke of Denver. The “Denver” referred to in this Dukedom is a town in Norfolk, England. Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Dena fær = “the ford or passage of the Danes”, referring to Viking invasions.
Prince Andrew was created Duke of York by his mother Queen Elizabeth II on the day of his 1986 wedding, while his nephew Prince William was created Duke of Cambridge on his wedding day in 2011.
Several sons or grandsons of a British Monarch have been made Earl or Duke of Cambridge. The most famous Earl of Cambridge was King Edward III’s grandson, Richard of Conisburgh (who married Edward III’s gt-gt-granddaughter and rightful heir). Richard was beheaded for treason two months before the Battle of Agincourt, an event depicted in Shakespeare’s Henry V.
Richard’s brother, the Duke of York, was killed at Agincourt; since he died without heir, his nephew Richard, son of beheaded Richard, became Duke of York; this Richard fathered Kings Edward IV and Richard III.
Bernice Williams is a gospel singer who co-wrote the 1962 hit “Duke of Earl”, along with vocalist Gene Chandler. Fifty-four years later, Williams, who now lives in Chicago, is still aan active songwriter. Chandler also still performs, playing on the success of his only hit.