Drury Lane, best known as the abode of the “Muffin Man” in the well-known children’s poem/song, is located on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. It acquired its name from the Suffolk barrister Sir Robert Drury, who built a mansion called Drury House on the lane around 1500.
Former New York Ranger hockey player Chris Drury was a Hobey Baker Award-winner with Boston University, a Calder Trophy winner with the Colorado Avalanche, a Stanley Cup champion with the Avalanche, a two-time Olympic silver medalist with the United States, and a former captain of the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers. As a child, he also won the Little League Baseball World Series Championship with his hometown team from Trumbull, Connecticut.
The hometown of actor and comedian Steve Martin is Garden Grove, California, a city some 35 miles south of Los Angeles. It was also Nicole Brown Simpson’s hometown.
Steve Martin, age 11, was working at Disneyland when he was (probably) captured on a 1956 home movie later honored by the Library of Congress.
Disneyland’s first admission ticket sold for only $1 on July 18, 1955. It was bought by Walt’s brother Roy O. Disney. The park sold its one-millionth ticket less than two months later, on September 8th.
It took nearly 24 months for Twitter to go from zero to it’s one millionth users. Currently, there are approximately 319 Million monthly active users.
The Hebrew calendar has 12 or 13 months; each month has 29 or 30 days. In leap years, a 30 day intercalary month, Adar I, is added between the months Shevat and Adar (which during leap years is called Adar II).
Easter Sunday is the first Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon. Simply speaking, the Paschal Full Moon is the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Technically, the Paschal Full Moon does not correspond directly to any astronomical event. It is instead the 14th day of a lunar month, determined from tables. It may differ from the date of the actual full moon by up to two days.
The earliest possible date of Easter is March 22, while the latest possible date is April 25.
In Gaelic Ireland, the spring and autumn equinoxes and the winter and summer solstices marked the middle of the season. The beginnings of the four seasons were Samhain (November 1st; winter), Imbolc (February 1st, spring), Beltane (May 1st, summer) and Lughnasadh (August 1st, autumn). The spring equinox of Ostara (hence Easter) was a minor event, as were Litha (summer solstice) and Mabon (autumn equinox). And the winter solstice had no observance until the Celtics borrowed Yule from the Germanic pagans.
J.R.R. Tolkien included a Yule in his Shire Calendar, as used by the Hobbits in his Middle-earth legendarium.
Songwriter David Shire, together with Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb, created the music for Saturday Night Fever (1977). David Shire has had two wives, Talia Rose Shire (née Coppola), and Edith “Didi” Conn (neé Bernstein).
Didi Chuxing is the largest and most dominant ride-sharing company in the world, providing transportation services for more than 400 million users across over 400 cities in China. It far surpassed any other ride-sharing company, including Uber.
New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius, who is largely responsible for their ALDS defeat of the defending AL champion Cleveland Indians, is a native of Amsterdam, Netherlands. His grandfather, father, and brother were all baseball players in the Dutch Honkbal Hoofdklasse league.
Of the four teams remaining in the MLB postseason…
- been in the World Series 40 times, and have won it 27 times: the New York Yankees
- been in the World Series 18 times, and have won it 6 times: the Los Angeles Dodgers
- been in the World Series 11 times, and have won it 3 times: the Chicago Cubs
- been in the World Series 1 time, and have won it 0 times: the Houston Astros
The Houston Astros were originally named the Houston Colt .45’s, after the firearm made famous in the Wild West. The name change came with their move from Colt Stadium (which was disassembled and moved to Mexico) to the Astrodome.
The Antonov An-2 (NATO reporting name*** Colt***, is a Soviet-era mass-produced single-engine biplane for utility/agricultural use. it was first produced in 1946 and remained in production until 2001. The production run for the An-2 was for a time the longest ever for any aircraft, but was recently outdone by the Lockheed C130 Hercules.
Samuel Colt (1814-1862), born and died in Hartford, Connecticut, got a boost to his young business when the Texas Rangers ordered 1,000 of his Colt Walker single-action revolvers during the 1846-1848 Mexican–American War. The 1847 Colt Walker was the largest and most powerful black powder repeating handgun ever made, and the Colt M1911 pistol, chambered in .45 ACP (for Automatic Colt Pistol) is currently the longest-standing military and law enforcement service handgun in the world and is still used today.
National Brewing Company, now owned by Pabst, introduced Colt 45 malt liquor in 1963. Previously, the only major national brand of malt liquor was Country Club. The label was designed with a kicking horse and horseshoe, a reference to its “extra kick” compared to competing brands.
Listed on the Pabst website as a “Fun Fact”, Colt 45 was named after running back #45 Jerry Hill of the 1963 Baltimore Colts and not the .45 caliber handgun ammunition round. Believe that if you like.
Horseshoe crab blood, which is bright blue, is worth an estimated $15,000 a quart. Every drug certified by the FDA must be tested using the horseshoe crab derivative known as Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL). The LAL extract made from horseshoe crab blood is used to test drugs and vaccines for possible bacterial contamination.
Jerry Hill is the name of a state senator in California. His 1989 book “Divorced Father: Coping with Problems, Creating Solutions” claimed that he had a “Ph.D. in behavioral sciences.” Apparently, that claim was based on a degree from La Jolla University, a non-accredited university. Hill, whose official Senate biography notes that he holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a teaching credential from San Francisco State, said he has never included his doctorate in the resume he has presented to voters. This info is courtesy of John Diaz and his posting at http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/diaz/article/Is-it-Jerry-Hill-Ph-D-Is-there-a-doctor-in-the-5318804.php
ETA Don’t know if Hill met a horseshoe bend.