Two Ivy Leaguers were taken in the first round of the 1969 NFL draft- Marty Domres of Columbia and Calvin Hill of Yale.
Ivy Mike was the codename given to the first US test of a hydrogen bomb. The detonation was on Nov. 1, 1952.
Mike Battle, a return specialist for the 1970-71 New York Jets was best known for two things: scoring the winning touchdown in the team’s first meeting (in the pre-season) against the Giants, and biting off pieces of his beer glasses, chewing them up, and swallowing them.
The Battle of Borodino, on 9/7/1812, was the bloodiest single day of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, with nearly 70,000 casualties, including a third of the Grande Armée. By withdrawing, the ravaged Russians under Kutuzov were able to reorganize and later defeat Napoleon at Moscow, with an assist from Russia’s perennial ally “General Winter”.
Napoleon Dynamite was filmed in Idaho, and is supposed to be about small-town life in a Mormon town in the west. There are, oddly or not, some cast members who also show up in Big Love.
Gus Van Sant’s film “My Own Private Idaho”, starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, is based on Shakespeare’s “Henry IV Part 1 and 2” and “Henry V” - but not his “Gay Boys in Bondage” (a shoutout to the Python fans here) despite that being closer to the story. 
The title comes from the B-52’s song “Private Idaho”.
Idaho is the only US state over which no foreign flag has ever flown. That’s why it’s shaped so funnily, it is what was left over after everyone else took what they wanted.
Though the true origin of the name is unclear, most sources cite that Idaho was a name made up by a Washington lobbyist to name what is now Colorado. When Congress discovered it was not a Native American word, they dropped it as that territory’s name, but a few years later, it attached itself to current Idaho. The use of the term by the lobbyist is well documented, as well as Congress’s reaction when they discovered it was made up, though there are some native American words that sound somewhat the same.
Baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew was born in Payette, Idaho. Ironically, KIllebrew wasn’t known to “kill a brew” – when asked once what he did for fun, he replied: “Well, I like to wash dishes, I guess.”
Actor Mark Harmon was the son of Heisman Trophy-winner Tom Harmon. The younger Harmon also played college football, as the starting quarterback for UCLA.
Oberlin College, founded in 1833 in Oberlin, Ohio, was the first in the U.S. to regularly admit women and blacks as students. It was a hotbed of abolitionism in the 1850s, and John Brown came to town several times. One historian called it “the town that started the Civil War.”
The two sides of the English Civil War were nicknamed the Cavaliers (supporters of the king) and the Roundheads (so named because because some prominent members of the faction kept their hair cut short). Oliver Cromwell, commander of the New Model Army, eventually defeated Charles I and took over as Lord Protector (i.e., dictator) until his death.
Oliver Cromwell is one of the few people in history to have had a posthumous execution. After his death the English monarchy was re-established, and Charles II still felt kinda raw about the beheading of Daddy, so he ordered Cromwell’s body (among others) dug up and publicly “executed” for the regicide : hanged, drawn and quartered.
His head was then put on a tall spike right in Wesminster Hall’s gardens, where it presumably became one hell of a conversation piece.
Winston Churchill once suggested that a Royal Navy warship be named HMS Cromwell in recognition of the Lord Protector’s role in building up the British fleet at the time, but King George V let it be known that he did not approve of naming one of his ships after the man who executed one of his predecessors.
James Cromwell originally played Farmer Hoggett in Babe with an Irish brogue (the same brogue he’d use in*** L.A. Confidential***). After director George Miller realized the film had a chance to be a big hit in America, he had Cromwell re-dub his lines in a blander, American accent.
Nolan Cromwell was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams as a defensive back, despite being an All-American quarterback (he was primarily a runner) at the University of Kansas. He wound up being named to the NFL’s 1980s All-Decade team as a safety.
Nolan Cromwell broke the obstacle course record on the Sunday morning athletic competition show “Superstars*” that had been held by Lynn Swann and Greg Pruitt. His innovation was to soar over the hurdle and keep running, rather than flopping over onto the beanbag before resuming.
- I believe there were ten events, and competitors could pick the seven they liked. Most were fairly normal track and field-type events.
In 2006, Lynn Swann was the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, but lost with just 40% of the vote to the incumbent, Democrat Ed Rendell.
Lynn Swann was only 1 of 4 future Hall of Fame members drafted by the Steelers in 1974, in what is generally and obviously recognized the greatest draft year any NFL team has ever had. The others were John Stallworth, Mike Webster, and Jack Ham, all of whom were key to the team’s winning 4 Super Bowls during their careers.
“Webster” when used as the name of a dictionary is meaningless; anyone can publish a dictionary and call it “Webster’s Dictionary.” Only Mirriam-Webster has any connection with Noah Webster’s dictionary.