British-born writer and pamphleteer Thomas Paine wrote of “the Winter Soldiers” as being those loyal to the Patriot cause during the American Revolution even in its darkest, coldest, least-promising times, not like those whom we might today call fair-weather friends.
“General Winter”, also known at times as General Frost or General Snow, refers to Russia’s harsh winter as a factor in the military failures of several invasions of Russia. In a letter to his wife, the Empress Marie Louise, explaining his defeat in Russia, Napoleon Bonaparte wrote: “The winter was our disaster. We became the victims of Russia’s climate.”
Ded Moroz (“Grandfather Frost”) is a Slavic fictional character similar to that of Father Christmas. Ded Moroz brings presents to children and often delivers them in person on New Year’s Eve.He is accompanied by Snegurochka (“Snow Maiden”), his granddaughter and helper, who wears long silver-blue robes and a furry cap or a snowflake-like crown. Ded Moroz wears a heel-length fur coat, a semi-round fur hat, and valenki on his feet. He has a long white beard. He walks with a long magic staff and sometimes rides a troika. His residence in Russia is considered to be the town of Veliky Ustyug, Vologda Oblast.
In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on January 1. This was also the case both in the Roman calendar and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it.
During the Middle Ages in western Europe, while the Julian calendar was still in use, authorities moved New Year’s Day, depending upon locale, to one of several other days, including March 1, March 25, Easter, September 1, and December 25. Beginning in 1582, the adoption of the Gregorian calendar meant the various dates for New Year’s Day changed to using one fixed date, January 1.
J.R.R. Tolkien had the Fellowship of the Ring leave Elrond’s sanctuary of Rivendell on its quest to destroy the One Ring on December 25, approximately 6,000 years ago, by his reckoning. Tolkien was a devout Catholic.
Former Boston Celtics coach Rick Pitino, tired of fans complaining of the team’s lack of success on local sports talk radio, coined the term “Fellowship of the Miserable” for them. Pitino’s tenure may be better known, however, for his “Larry Bird’s not walking through that door, fans” rant.
The following players played for the Boston Celtics (and are among the earliest I remember watching; this list from memory): John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Paul Silas, Don Nelson, and Jojo White.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, a magna/anime that is very popular in Japan, tells the story of the Joestar family, a family whose various members discover they are destined to take down supernatural foes using unique powers that they possess. The manga is split up into 8 unique parts, each following the story of one member of the Joestar family, who inevitably has a name that can be abbreviated to the titular “JoJo”.
NBA Hall of Fame player Jo Jo White of the Boston Celtics had two if his jerseys retired: #15 of the University of Kansas Jayhawks, and #10 of the Boston Celtics. He won two NBA championships, in 1974 over the Milwaukee Bucks, and then in 1976 over the Phoenix Suns in the Celtics’ 13th Championship in 14 attempts.
Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw was once married to figure skater Alicia “JoJo” Starbuck. With partner Kenneth Shelley, she is a three-time United States pair skating champion (1970–72) and two-time Olympian (1968, 1972). During this time she also became well known as the face of Cup of Noodles, introducing millions of Americans for the first time to ramen.
Starbuck’s, the coffee-shop giant, has a store on the CIA campus in Langley, Virginia. The nine baristas who work at there have to be escorted by official “minders” anytime they leave their work area and are throughly investigated and vetted.
There is a Dunkin Donuts store in the basement of the Library of Congress.
“Librarie” is a false friend / faux ami for anglos learning French. In spite of its similarity to the English word “library” it actually means “bookstore”.
A “library” is “bibliothèque” in French.
Shakespeare and Company was a bookstore in Paris, at 12 rue de l’Odéon in the 6th arrondissement, founded by Sylvia Beach. During the 1920s, Beach’s shop was a gathering place for many then-aspiring writers such as Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, Djuna Barnes, James Joyce and Ford Madox Ford. It closed in 1941 during the German occupation of Paris and never re-opened, although another store by the same name is in operation today, at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, in the 5th arrondissement. Since the shop opened in 1951, more than 30,000 people have slept in the beds found tucked between bookshelves. The shop’s motto, “Be Not Inhospitable to Strangers Lest They Be Angels in Disguise,” is written above the entrance to the reading library.
American poet Ezra Pound turned to fascism in the early 1930s, met Mussolini and spoke admiringly of him. He recorded anti-U.S. and anti-Semitic broadcasts for Rome Radio. Seized by anti-Mussolini partisans in the waning days of World War II, he was turned over to the U.S. Army and held for several weeks in Italy before being returned to the U.S., charged with treason and eventually institutionalized for what appeared to be mental illness.
In 1527 King Henry VIII switched to the lighter troy pound for measuring sterling silver, but even with this change, by 1601 62 shillings of silver pennies were minted from one pound.
Some medical historians trace King Henry VIII’s later obesity and mood swings to a jousting accident in 1536, which may have caused brain damage in addition to his injured leg. He died at age 55; his father and predecessor, Henry VII, lived to 90.
Michael Hart’s famous list of the 100 most influential persons in history includes only two women. These two are one of Henry VIII’s mothers-in-law and one of his daughters.
While Michael H. Hart is best known for compiling the list of the 100 most influential persons in history, Michael S. Hart is known as the inventor of the e-book and the founder of Project Gutenberg, which is the first project to make e-books freely available via the Internet.
Michael J. Hart, born in Quebec, was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1931, largely because he opposed the Volstead Act (Prohibition of Liquor).