In No Exit (Huis Clos), philosopher, playwright, and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre observed “L’enfer, c’est les autres” or “Hell is other people”.
Pope John Paul (“le pape Jean-Paul” en français) had the eleventh shortest papal reign, at only 33 days.
The pope with the shortest reign was Urban VII, with a reign of twelve days in 1590
Paul of Greece reigned as King of Greece from 1947 until his death in 1964. He was succeeded by his son, Constantine II.
Otto was a Bavarian prince who became the first modern King of Greece in 1832 under the Convention of London. He reigned until he was deposed in 1862. The second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended the newly created throne of Greece while still a minor.
“Otto” is a variant from the Old High German root “aud-” meaning “wealth” or “prosperity”. It is cognate to the Old English root “ead-” which is found in “Edward” and “Edmund” (both variants on “guardian of wealth”) and “Edwin” (“rich friend”).
Shakespeare’s King Lear features in its subplot the two sons of the Earl of Gloucester, Edgar and Edmund. They are a year apart in age and have confusingly similar names, but Edgar is noble and honest, while Edmund is one of Shakespeare’s most memorably manipulative villains.
In 2003, when the Chicago Cubs played the Florida Marlins in the playoffs for the National League championship, both teams’ shortstops had the confusingly identical names of Alex Gonzalez.
In the bottom of the 8th inning of Game 5 of the 1989 NLCS at Candlestick Park in San Francisco against the Chicago Cubs, in a tight game tied 1-1 and the bases loaded with Giants, Will Clark stroked a 2-out, 1-2 pitch from the Cubs’ Mitch Williams to score Candy Maldonado from 3rd and Brett Butler from 2nd to give the Giants a 3-1 lead. The Giants won that game, and the series.
(And I was there and it was awesome!)
The 1989 Grey Cup is often considered one of the most exciting Grey Cups ever played, with numerous lead changes and a nail-biting finish.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders were playing the Hamilton Ti-Cats at the SkyDome in Toronto. The Ti-Cats were the favourites.
At the end of the first quarter, it looked like the Ti-Cats were carrying the game, with a score of 13-1. The Riders rallied in the second quarter, but were still trailing at half-time, with the Ti-Cats up 27 to 21. At the end of the third quarter, the Riders were up, 34 to 30. The Riders kept the lead in the fourth quarter, and with less than 2 minutes to go, were up 40 to 33. The Ti-Cats took the ball and scored a touchdown pass to Tony Champion, who made a soaring catch in the end zone, playing through the pain of broken ribs.
The score was now tied at 40-40, with just 44 seconds on the clock. The Riders took the ball and steadily moved it upfield, 48 yards on three passing plays, to the Ti-Cats’ 26 yard line. With nine seconds on the clock, the Riders prepared for a field goal attempt by Dave Ridgeway, nick-named Robo-Kicker for his accuracy. Then the Ti-Cats called a time-out, in hopes of rattling Ridgeway.
During the time-out, the Riders’ holder, Glen Suitor, chatted with Ridgeway, drawing his attention to a pretty young girl in the stands. The version for the papers was that Suitor commented on how pretty she was; the version in the locker room was he told Ridgeway to check our her large mammary glands.
Time was whistled in. The centre, Foley, a Saskatchewan farm-boy, snapped the ball to Suitor, who pinned it. Ridgeway kicked it straight through the uprights.
Saskatchewan had the Grey Cup with 0:00 on the time clock.
The Grey Cup trophy, commissioned in 1909 by the Earl Grey, then Canada’s governor general, has been broken on several occasions. It was also stolen twice and held for ransom. It survived a 1947 fire that destroyed numerous artifacts housed in the same building.
According to an anal Wikipedia editor, for lovers of precise facts, “Earl Grey is a village in southern Saskatchewan, Canada, located approximately 66.67 kilometers from the city of Regina, Saskatchewan.” That, folks, is “approximately” 41.426817 miles. Give or take a meter or two from some arbitrary point within the sprawling metropolis of Regina, either by road or straight line (not specified)… We were spared he fact that it is really “approximately 66.66666. . . . kilometers.”
Earl Grey tea is a tea blend which has been flavored with the addition of oil of bergamot. It’s been known in England at least since the 1920s.
The first oil refinery in the world was at Ploesti, Romania, a simple handmade workshop, equipped with rudimentary methods for refining a system similar to the one for obtaining plum brandy in a rustic boiler. In 1940, Ploesti’s refinery was the largest output in Europe, controlled by the Germans, and bombed heavily by the Allies. Rebuilt after the war, it was again destroyed by an earthquake in 1977.
Ninja’d.
On March 23, 2005, a fire and explosion at the third-largest oil refinery in the US killed 15 workers and led to the adoption of safety programs throughout the world. It is referred to as the Texas City Refinery Explosion, after the Texas city where it occurred.
Spain is the world’s largest producer of olive oil, with over double the output of Italy and Greece. Per capita consumption is highest in Greece, followed by Spain, Italy, and Morocco. 75% of Spain’s production derives from the region of Andalucía, particularly within Jaén province which produces 70% of olive oil in Spain. The world’s largest olive oil mill, capable of processing 2,500 tons of olives per day, is in the town of Villacarrillo, Jaén.
Different names for olive oil indicate the degree of processing the oil has undergone as well as the quality of the oil. Extra-virgin olive oil is the highest grade available, followed by virgin olive oil. The word “virgin” indicates that the olives have been pressed to extract the oil; no heat or chemicals have been used during the extraction process, and the oil is pure and unrefined. Virgin olive oils contain the highest levels of polyphenols, antioxidants that have been linked with better health.
Olive skin is a human skin color spectrum. It generally refers to light or moderate brown, brownish, or tannish skin, and it is often described as having yellowish, greenish, or golden undertones. It is frequent among populations from the Mediterranean, as well as parts of Asia and Latin America, India and the Middle east.
::That should have been “1820s”. Pre-coffee brain fart.::
Olive Oyl was already a ten-year veteran of the comic strip “Thimble Theater” before the Popeye character made his first appearance. Olive hated Popeye at first, constantly rebuffing his unwelcome attentions. Olive at the time would have been considered a highly attractive and desirable women, in the “flapper” era.