Francis the Talking Mule was a mule who became a celebrity during the 1950s after he starred in seven popular Universal-International film comedies. The character originated in the 1946 novel Francis by David Stern. Seven movies were made between 1950 and 1956 starring Francis. The distinctive voice of Francis was provided by veteran character actor Chill Wills.
Indeed, note that North Korea is almost entirely dark. South Korea looks like an island.
In play:
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, was nicknamed “Wills” when he was a child. He is second in line to the British throne, behind his father, Charles, Prince of Wales.
[del]Mule Day, or Mule Days, are annual celebrations held to honor the humble mule and its contribution to construction, hauling supplies across challenging terrain, and other contributions mule. There are a few across the country, including:
Since 1840, attracting over 200,000 in Columbia TN in late March / early April
Since 1950, attracting over 60,000 in Benson NC on the 4th Saturday of September
Since 1969, attracting over 25,000 in Bishop CA over Memorial Day weekend
Since 1973, attracting over 60,000 in Calvary GA on the 1st Saturday of November
Since 1975, attracting over 25,000 in Winfield AL on the 4th Saturday of September
Since 1987, attracting over (unknown?) in Ider AL on Labor Day[/del]
Ninja’d - darn. In play:
Charles, Prince of Wales, is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history, having held the position since 1952. If he uses the name Charles as his name as king, he will be the first King Charles since Charles II who died in 1685. However, some kings of England do not use their first names when they become king and assume a different “regnal name”; one example is Charles’s grandfather George VI, whose full name was Albert Frederick Arthur George.
Prince of Wales Island is the fourth largest island in the United States, and the tenth largest in Canada. Not the same island. Also the largest of Australia’s Torres Straits Islands.
Sir John Sparrow David Thompson was Canada’s fourth Prime Minister. He died suddenly of a heart attack at Windsor Castle, having just been sworn to the imperial Privy Council by Her Majesty. He only served for two years before his death, but was very talented. He is one of the great “might-have-beens” in Canadian history: what sort of Prime Minister could he have been if he had not died suddenly.
His death, in 1894, was the last time a Prime Minister died in office.
[del]Hawaii’s big island is the largest island in the US.
Of the top 25 largest islands in the 50 US states, the states of HI and AK claim all of them except for Long Island NY.[/del]
Ninja’d. Still in play:
Sparrows, which are seed-eating birds, have a bone in their tongues that helps stiffen the tongue to help them hold and eat seeds.
The House Sparrow, common in residential areas in America, it an alien species introduced from Europe by settlers, and as such, is not protected by law. Native North American “sparrows”, about 30 members of the emberizid family, are misnamed sparrows in the vernacular, owing to their superficial similarity to the familiar European species. People unfamiliar with birds are often unaware that a sparrow-like bird more than a few yards away from human disturbance and activity is almost always an emberizid, unrelated to the common house sparrows.
in 1890 an eccentric drug manufacturer named Eugene Schieffelin released some 60 European starlings he had imported from England. Schieffelin’s motive was to introduce into North America every bird mentioned by Shakespeare.
Now there are over 200 million starlings in North America, roosting in huge flocks. They are now considered an invasive alien species and have been responsible for fatalities, by spreading toxoplasmosis and histoplasmosis. In 1960 a Lockheed Electra plummeted seconds after taking off from Logan Airport in Boston, killing 62 people. Some 10,000 starlings had flown straight into the plane, crippling its engines.
Agent Clarice Starling was the name of a character played by Jody Foster in the movie Silence of the Lambs. Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Hannibal Lector.
Marilyn Monroe, Eddie Murphy and Rosie Perez lived in foster homes when they were growing up.
After a successful career as a child actress, Jodie Foster attended Yale University, where she majored in literature, writing her thesis on Toni Morrison, and graduated with a magna cum laude in 1985. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the university in 1997.
The University of Bologna was founded in 1088 and is the oldest in the world, as universities are defined by western culture. The The University of al-Qarawiyyin or Al Quaraouiyine, located in Fez, Morocco, was founded in 859 and is thought by some to be the oldest still-in-existence University in the world.
Bologna, Italy is 25 miles southeast of Maranello, where three Italian exotic sports car companies are located…
Maranello: Ferrari
Sant’ Agata Bolognese: Lamborghini
Modena: Maserati
The three companies are within 22 miles of each other and about 25 miles northwest of Bologna.
Ottorino Respighi, an Italian composer best known for his works “Pines of Rome” and “Fountains of Rome” was not from Rome but from Bologna, where he studied at the Liceo Musicale.
Many of the fountains in Rome were designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a sculptor and architect. Bernini is usually credited with creating the Baroque style of architecture, and his sculptures are found in museums and public spaces throughout Italy. A favorite of mine is his rendition of David. Far from being the static pose of Michelangelo, Bernini’s David stands poised with his sling to slay Goliath.
Patrick Stewart, later to play Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and Prof. Charles Xavier, played King David as a back-slapping but shrewd politician in Peter Shaffer’s then-new play Yonadab with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London in the fall of 1985 (and I saw it!).
“The Flying Scot”, Jackie Stewart the Formula One driver, over nine seasons of racing, won three World Drivers’ Championships and twice was runner up. In 2009 Stewart was ranked fifth of the fifty greatest Formula One drivers of all time by journalist Kevin Eason who wrote: “He has not only emerged as a great driver, but one of the greatest figures of motor racing.”
One of Scotland’s threats to leave the UK came when the BBC called Jackie Stewart a “British driver”, and Sterling Moss an “English driver”.