Daniel Webster served twice as U.S. Secretary of State, for two years each time, but seven years apart, under Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore.
In the TV series Webster, the actors who played his adoptive parents were married IRL.
In medieval England, a webster was a weaver of cloth.
The Weavers were a seminal folk group of the '50’s, including Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Ronnie Gilbert. Although they had top hits with “Goodnight, Irene” and “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena” along with a wide range of old folk standards, they broke up under pressure of Red Scare investigations into the pre-war dalliances with Communism of Seeger and Hays. Pete Seeger, who was already well-known even before the war as a member of the Almanac Singers along with Woodie Guthrie, is still a regular feature at progressive functions, and Gilbert still performs on the lesbian circuit with Holly Near.
The first American “Red Scare” occurred in 1919 in reaction to the Bolshevik Revolution and to a handful of anarchist bomb plantings. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer was a key figure, conducting raids against immigrants and trying to deport them. Most had no real connection to the violence, and the Secretary of Labor dismissed most of the cases. J. Edgar Hoover helped come up with the lists of names.
Any labor actions were seen as Communist and were put down and Hollywood fell into line, though mostly by making anti-Bolshevist propaganda films and not blacklisting. The scare ended in 1920 when, despite Palmer’s claiming there would be a general uprising of the Reds no May Day, nothing happened.
The Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport, Iowa was the first, and for a long time, the largest, school of chiropractic in the world.
With a population of about 100,000, Davenport, Iowa is the largest city on the Mississippi River not to be protected by a floodwall or levee.
Legendary jazzman Bix Beiderbecke was born in Davenport, Iowa.
George Washington Carver earned his botany degree at Iowa State Agricultural College, now known as Iowa State University.
Robert Altman’s Short Cuts is based upon the writings of Raymond Carver, considered the major literary short story writer of the 1980s. Ironically, Carver is often pointed to by non-literary writers as being what’s wrong with the modern short story, notably his minimalism.
Robert Altman was a supporter of legalizing marijuana including time spent serving on the advisary board of NORML.
In 1980, comedian Jeff Altman was the co-star of the short-lived NBC variety show “Pink Lady and Jeff”. The show featured him with a pair of female Japanese pop singers, who spoke very little English.
In “Grease”, all the cool girls at Rydell High School were members of the Pink Ladies, symbolized by their pink sweaters.
Rydell High School is named after teen singer Bobby Rydell, who also appeared as Hugo Peabody in the movie version of Bye Bye Birdie
“Peabody’s Improbable History” was a segment on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show in which Mr. Peabody (a genius dog) and his pet boy, Sherman, would travel back in time to significant events in history, using the WABAC machine.
In the movie*** Rocky***, Rocky Balboa had a dog named Butkus and a pair of turtles named Cuff and Link.
Balboa Park in San Diego, home of the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition, is still the site of most of the city’s museums and the famous San Diego Zoo. It also includes Balboa Stadium, where the Chargers first played after relocating from LA.
Don Diego de la Vega fought for justice in 18th century California, under the alias El Zorro (Spanish for “the Fox”).
The Chordettes, most famous for their hits, “Mr. Sandman” and “Lollipop,” also hit #17 with a version of the theme song from Disney’s TV version of Zorro, written by long-time Disney composer George Bruns and director Norman Foster.
Logan 3 is a Sandman in the 1967 dystopian novel Logan’s Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It’s his job to execute people who want to live longer than 21 years. Logan was played by Michael York in the 1976 movie of the same name.