George Romney, who was one of the leaders for Republican presidential nomination for 1968, sabotaged his own campaign when he explained his change of position on the Vietnam war (from hawk to dove) by saying, “When I came back from Vietnam, I’d just had the greatest brainwashing that anybody can get.” The phrase was latched onto by his opponents and the public, forcing him to withdraw from the race.
The word sabotage originates from 15th century Netherlands where Dutch workers would throw their wooden shoes, called sabots, into the cogs of machines to disable them.
Lt. Valeris explains the derivation of the term “sabotage” to her fellow officers in the movie Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. Coincidentally, William Shatner’s argument with a sound engineer over the correct pronunciation of the word in a dialogue-recording session for Star Trek: The Animated Series has become something of a viral audio over the years.
A wartime Superman cartoon, “Japoteurs”, deals with the Man of Steel’s work to foil Japanese spies’ attempts to steal the world’s largest bomber, with Lois Lane aboard. After they sabotage the plane and try to escape, Supe gets hold of the bomber and lowers it gently to the ground, in a scene imitated in “Superman Returns”.
Many of the supporting characters in the “Superman” comic book (particularly Superman’s love interests) have alliterative names beginning with “L”, including Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Linda Lee, and Lori Lemaris.
Young Canadian country singer k.d. lang appeared as a guest on “Hee Haw,” where she joined in the perennial favorite, “Where oh where are you tonight” number.
Young Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot was one of the Singin’, Swingin’ Eight on CBC’s “Country Hoedown” show.
Jazz singer Blossom Dearie was born on this date in 1924. While she was very well known in the 1950’s - 1960’s for her jazz work, to younger generations she is the voice on three of the Schoolhouse Rock! videos: “Mother Necessity”, “Figure Eight”, and “Unpack Your Adjectives”.
Mayim Bialik, who starred in “Blossom”, has a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA.
Brian May, guitarist for the rock group Queen, holds a PhD in Astrophysics from Imperial College London. He had left off his studies when Queen took off in the 1970s, but returned to it in recent years, and finally earned his doctorate in 2008. He is currently the chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.
Roy Rogers was nicknamed “King of the Cowboys,” while his wife Dale Evans was nicknamed “Queen of the West.”
In 1960, Eddie LeBaron became the first quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, who didn’t win a single game that season (they DID manage a tie against the New York Giants).
The Imperial LeBaron was the most luxurious model produced by the Chrysler Corporation from 1957 to '75.
Walter Chrysler was the second person ever to be named Man of the Year by Time magazine.
The Chrysler Building in New York was the world’s tallest building, briefly, before the Empire State Building. The Art Deco design at the peak is based on a Chrysler hood ornament. The Chrysler company was never actually located in the building its founder had built.
Walter “Fritz” Mondale was a U.S. senator from Minnesota when Jimmy Carter picked him to be his running mate in 1976 election. The Chrysler bailout took place in the last year of the Carter Administration. After four years as Vice President, Mondale ran for President in 1984, but was defeated in a landslide by incumbent President Ronald Reagan. He later served as ambassador to Japan from 1993-96, and unsuccessfully ran for the Senate again in 2002 after the death of incumbent Democrat Paul Wellstone.
Vice President Thomas Riley Marshall is known, if at all, for the quote, “What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar.” He said it during the middle of debate in the Senate, when senators were orating on “what this country needs.” Marshall stage-whispered it to a Senate clerk; it was overheard by a newspaper reporter and the quip printed.
When Woodrow Wilson was incapacitated shortly after World War I, Vice President Marshall had to tread very carefully lest he be seen as trying to overambitiously oust or displace Wilson. With the help of the First Lady and several senior White House aides, who shielded him from almost all visitors, Wilson remained in nominal charge of the government.
[del]In his poem “The Betrothed”, Rudyard Kipling observed:
“And a woman is only a woman,
But a good cigar is a Smoke.”[/del]
Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes, the Ohio State football coach from 1951 to 1978, was known for his “Three yards and a cloud of dust” offense. (That adds up to fourth and one, if you’re counting.) He had previously been head coach at Miami University, the “Cradle of Coaches”, which also had Paul Brown, Ara Parseghian, Weeb Ewbank, Bill Mallory, Sid Gillman, Randy Walker, and Bo Schembechler as head coaches.
The movie The Blind Side features appearances by college football coaches Philip Fulmer, Lou Holtz, Tom Lemming, Tommy Tuberville, Nick Saban, Houston Nutt, and Ed Orgeron as themselves.