The longest gap between two kings of the same name in English history is 588 years, from the death of William II in 1100, to the ascension of William III in 1688.
This record could be beaten if there is ever a future King Stephen II (King Stephen died 1154; 862 years and counting) or King John II (King John died in 1216; 800 years and counting). Or if there are ever any kings using names of Scottish kings, like Áed, Girac or Lulach, of course.
Lulach is an important secondary character in Dorothy Dunnett’s historical novel King Hereafter, where he is portrayed as a seer. But he came perilously close to an even more famous literary encounter. Lulach’s seven month reign followed that of the famous Macbeth. Lulach also had the distinction of being the first king whose coronation was described and recorded in detail for future historians.
Coronation Street, a British soap opera created by Granada Television, has been showing since 9 December 1960. In 2010 it became the world’s longest-running TV soap opera.
Elizabeth II was crowned while seated on the Coronation Chair, also known as St. Edward’s Chair or King Edward’s Chair (though the names refer to two different Edwards). Built into the chair is a 150-kilogram block of sandstone sometimes called Jacob’s Pillow.
Supposedly this is the block on which Jacob rested his head while fleeing from his brother Esau whose birthright he had stolen. It was brought to Ireland, perhaps by the prophet Jeremiah, used in the coronation of Irish Monarchs, moved to Scotland by the Kings of Dalriata, and then to Scone when Kenneth the Raven-Feeder destroyed the Pictish royal family and took control of all Scotland. Finally, Edward I of England invaded Scotland in 1296, confiscated the Stone and took it to London. As a gesture of goodwill to the Scottish people, the Stone was moved to Edinburgh Castle in 1996, 700 years after it was taken. It will not be brought back to London until the Coronation of Elizabeth’s successor.
The Stone has been tested and appears to have been quarried near Scone in Perthshire, rather than in Canaan. Some suspect that the real Jacob’s Pillow was hidden by the Scots at some point, perhaps by King MacBeth, and an impostor stone substituted.
Jacob’s pillow is written in the early Old Testament book of Genesis. Jacob used a stone while on his way from Beersheba to Harran. When he stopped to sleep he had a dream of a stairway or ladder from Earth reaching up to Heaven. In his dream Jacob saw angels descending the ladder, and God atop it. God spoke to Jacob,
"I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.* 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
*
The place where he slept was a city that used to be called Luz. Jacob called it Bethel because, as he said, “Surely God is in this place. This is the gate of Heaven.”
A very young Willem Dafoe was fired by director Michael Cimino from his first role, in the 1980 Western flop Heaven’s Gate, for laughing at a joke told by a fellow extra while the camera was rolling.
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. They were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods and animals. Depending on their historical context they filled functions relating to defense, security, health, trade, taxation, and representation, and were correspondingly staffed by military or municipal authorities. Many cities, like Jersualam, still preserve their ancient city gates.
Quebec City is the only walled city in North America north of Mexico. It has two well-preserved gates: Porte St-Jean and Porte St-Louis.
A rampart is a defensive wall of a castle or walled city, having a broad top with a walkway and typically a stone parapet.
North Rampart Street in New Orleans forms the boundary of what is now the French Quarter, and was once the defended end of the city. The concept of North and South in New Orleans have little meaning, with Rampart Street running more east/west. Both New Orleans bridges to the West Bank go almost due East. Uptown is south of Canal Street, and Downtown is north.
New Orleans singer and trumpeter Kermit Ruffins took the tune for Christmas Time In New Orleans and changed the lyrics to Monday Night in New Orleans.
Aviator Kermit Weeks has a private collection of airplanes that includes a 1944 Consolidated B-24J Liberator. His planes can be seen at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City FL, near Orlando and Lakeland.
James Polk was the US President with the shortest name (nine letters)
At 5’4", James Madison was the shortest US President. At 6’4", Abraham Lincoln was the tallest.
In 1958, the president and prime minister of Burma were Ba U and U Nu, the shortest names for heads of state in history.
56 and 92 are the atomic numbers for Barium and Uranium, Ba and U, respectively. Barium is never found in nature as a free element because it is highly reactive. Uranium is commonly found, with the U-238 isotope accounting for most Uranium. U-238 has a half-life of over 4 billion years.
Uranium oxide ore has been known for 2,000 years, as a coloring agent to make glass yellow. Until 200 years ago, a mine in Bohemia was the only known source of this ore. Elemental Uranium was discovered when Uranus was the furthest known planet, and named after the planet. The coincidental fact that uranium would be the last possible naturally occurring element on the Periodic Table was not yet known
Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev is known as the father of the Periodic Table of Elements. When in the 19th century he was struggling to organize the chemical elements, he put each onto a card and tried organizing them on a flat tabletop. The game solitaire inspired the format for the Periodic Table.
Bah, didn’t refresh and see Bullitt’s post. Will try again.
Students from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UT Health Science Center partnered with 118 K-12 schools in San Antonio and surrounding areas to put together the Largest Periodic Table ever. Each chemical element was illustrated on a 12’ X 15’ foot tarp to comprise the periodic table that spanned over 22,000 square feet in size. It was assembled on a high school football field in the San Antonio area in March 2016.
