“David” is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504 by Michelangelo. The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favored subject in the art of Florence. Because of the nature of the hero it represented, the statue soon came to symbolize the defense of civil liberties embodied in the Republic of Florence. The eyes of David, with a warning glare, were turned towards Rome.
In his novel My Name is Asher Lev, author Chaim Potok writes of artist Asher Lev’s assesment of Michaelango’s David:
Michaelangelo’s favorite phrase, “Cowabunga!” originated in modern culture with Chief Thunderthud of the Howdy Doody Show in the 40’s and 50’s. It’s also seen use by Snoopy, Bart Simpson, and the Cookie Monster.
Covering up the murder of the Italian prime minister in New York City, perhaps by his sometime-lover, ISIS spy agency chief Mallory Archer, was the plot of an episode of the FX spy spoof Archer.
Jerry O’Connell , who played Quinn Mallory in the TV show Sliders, made his film debut as Vern Tessio in Stephen King’s Stand by Me.
Off topic nitpick: Stand By Me was actually a Rob Reiner film adaptation of Stephen King’s novella “The Body”. Always wondered what happened to “Vern”, though.
Gerald “Jerry” Ford is the only person to serve as both Vice President and President of the United States without being elected to either post by the American people.
John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, George W. Bush and Donald Trump all became President without winning the popular vote.
Only four U.S. presidents held other high federal offices after leaving the presidency.
John Quincy Adams U.S. Representative from Massachusetts (1831–1848)
Andrew Johnson U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1875)
Grover Cleveland 24th President of the United States (1893–1897)
William Howard Taft 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930)
John Quincy Adams is considered by many historians to have rendered the greatest service to his country in his post-presidential career in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a Congressman, he was an implacable foe of slavery and the “gag rule” which kept the House from even considering citizens’ petitions to abolish it. Adams was played Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins in the movie Amistad, which portrayed his successful legal arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of escaped slaves.
Quincy Adams is a stop on the Red Line subway of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. Its fare cards are called CharlieCards in honor of the classic Kingston Trio song set there.
The northern terminus of Boston’s MBTA Red Line is Alewife. This station is named after Alewife Brook, a nearby tributary of the Mystic River, which in turn is named after the alewife fish which inhabits the Mystic River system.
The alewife is best known for its invasion of the Great Lakes by using the Welland Canal to bypass Niagara Falls. Here its population surged, peaking between the 1950s and 1980s to the detriment of many native species of fish, and Pacific salmon were introduced as predators to control them.
**Niagara **is a 1953 film noir starring Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, and Max Showalter (who was billed as Casey Adams).
James Monroe was a delegate to the Virginia Convention which ratified the Constitution. Monroe was an anti-federalist and opposed ratification, arguing that the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government. However, once ratified, he cheerfully assisted in the expansion of the federal powers by negotiating the Louisiana Purchase on the instructions of President Jefferson.
The Kingdom of France controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. Napoleon in 1800, hoping to re-establish an empire in North America, regained ownership of Louisiana. However, the revolt in what is now Haiti and the prospect of renewed European war led Napoleon to sell it for cash that he needed for his army.
The Louisiana Museum of modern art is the most visited museum in Denmark, 20 miles north of Copenhagen. The name has no relationship to the US state. The property had been built and named in 1855 by Alexander Brun (1814-93), who was an officer and Master of the Royal Hunt and who married three women who were all named Louise.
Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria, married John Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne, who was appointed Canada’s Governor General in 1878. Lake Louise and the province of Alberta were named after her.
Amy Adams was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress, but did not win, for her performance as linguist Dr. Louise Banks in the 2016 science fiction drama Arrival.
On May 24, 1913, Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover married Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, great granddaughter of England’s Queen Victoria. The wedding in Berlin was attended by royalty from all over Europe and was hailed in the press as a love match. However, some scholars maintain it was an act of political convenience.