The relative stable shell, known as a capsule, allows medicines to be taken orally or to be used as suppositories. James Murdock patented the two-piece telescoping gelatin capsule in 1847. In 1834, Mothes and Dublanc were granted a patent to produce a single-piece gelatin capsule.
Almost all genera of hermit crabs use or “wear” empty marine gastropod shells throughout their lifespan, in order to protect their soft abdomens, and in order to have a strong shell to withdraw into if attacked by a predator. Each individual hermit crab is forced to find another gastropod shell on a regular basis, whenever it grows too large for the one it is currently using.
Peter Noone was the lead singer of Herman’s Hermits, a key part of the British Invasion. Their first hit was a cover of Earl-Jean’s “I’m into Something Good” (written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King), which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 13 in the US in late 1964. They never topped the British charts again, but had two US Billboard Hot 100 No.1s with “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” (originally sung by Tom Courtenay in a 1963 British TV play) and “I’m Henry the Eighth, I Am” (a British music hall song by Harry Champion dating from 1911, which singer Peter Noone’s Irish grandfather had been in the habit of singing when Noone was young). These songs were aimed at a US fan base, with Noone exaggerating his Mancunian accent.
In 1967 The Who commenced their first US tour, playing venues coast to coast over three months as the opening act for Herman’s Hermits. A highlight of the tour was playing a 6-song set at the Monterey Pop Festival. At the tour’s end, The Who made a televised appearance on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”, a performance that was capped by the band’s signature smashing of their instruments as a finale to their song “My Generation”.
“Who Are You” is the theme to the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. An episode even took its title from the song, and Roger Daltrey guest-starred in a season 7 episode.
In 1983, Roger Daltrey and Michael Kitchen (who later went on to fame in Foyle’s War) starred opposite each other in a BBC production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.
In 1981, at the last-ditch conference to try to reach an agreement on patriating the Constitution of Canada from Britain, the Attorneys General of Canada, Ontario and Saskatchewan met in a kitchen in the Ottawa Conference Centre and worked out the outline of a deal. The outline, known as the “Kitchen Accord”, became the basis for the patination settlement.
The 2016 Cars.com “American-Made Index” lists the Honda Accord as the second-most American car, based on parts content and American jobs created. The leader is the Toyota Camry, with the Toyota Sienna in third place.
The pigment called sienna comes from iron ore or ferric oxide found naturally in clays. Sienna was one of the first pigments used for painting and can be found in prehistoric cave art. With the Renaissance, the pigment was further developed for artistic use. It was also during this time that it was named after the place where the clay is most plentiful, Siena, Italy. During this time, artists enhanced the range of hues for the pigment by roasting sienna leading to the creation of Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna pigments. These earth colors featured heavily in Renaissance painting techniques.
In the 20th century, pigments began to be produced using synthetic iron oxide rather than the natural earth. The labels on paint tubes indicate whether they contain natural or synthetic ingredients. PY-43 indicates natural raw sienna, PR-102 indicates natural burnt sienna.
All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides. Common rust is a form of iron(III) oxide.
Dandelion, an orangish yellow, is the first color Crayola has retired in 14 years. Crayola is having retirement events at the Crayola Experience (during which they will give away Dandelion crayons) with a dancing costumer so people can say good-bye to the color (really). Crayola crayons come in 120 colors.
In 1962, Crayola changed the “Flesh” color to “Peach” over concerns of boycotts from people who considered the color name racist.
In a human or other animal body, flesh consists of muscle and fat; for vertebrates, this especially includes muscle tissue (skeletal muscle), as opposed to bones and viscera.
Jean-Claude Van Damme is a Belgian actor, martial artist, screenwriter, film producer, and director best known for his martial arts action films. His nickname is “The Muscles from Brussels”.
The middle name of Dr. Leonard H. “Bones” McCoy, Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, has never been revealed as Star Trek canon, although some have suggested it’s “Horatio.”
ETA: He is not Belgian.
In one Agatha Christie novel, Ariadne Oliver, a mystery writer who is often seen as a stand-in for Christie herself, mentions that she is often asked “Why a Finn?”, because her fictional detective is Finnish. She goes on a rant about how she has no idea why she made him a Finn, and wishes she hadn’t, because she had no idea how many Finns would read mystery novels and then would write to her to correct her about some aspect of Finnish culture that she got wrong. It’s likely Christie was writing about her own experience with her main detective, the Belgian Hercule Poirot.
In one of Agatha Christie’s early Hercule Poirot cases, The Big Four, Poirot invents and impersonates a twin brother, Achille, who supposedly is more intelligent. This is probably an allusion to Mycroft Holmes, who, according to his brother Sherlock, has more deductive intelligence and would be a better detective than Sherlock himself if he had the energy.
In carrying out the impersonation in The Big Four, Poirot makes the ultimate sacrifice - he shaves off his moustache. :eek:
The Fantastic Four was the first superhero team created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961),