Benjamin Bradlee was the executive editor of The Washington Post from 1968 to 1991. He fought to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971 and won a Supreme Court 6-3 ruling in New York Times Co. v. United States. The story was in the movie The Post (2017) directed by Steven Spielberg.
St Stephen is the proto-martyr, that is, the first martyr. It is recorded in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, where he is stoned to death in Jerusalem after speaking publicly of his vision of Christ enthroned in Heaven. Saul of Tarsus held the cloaks of some of those who did the stoning.
Stephens Passage in Alaska was named in 1794 by George Vancouver, probably for Sir Philip Stephens. Stephens Passage is a channel in the Alexander Archipelago in the southeastern region of the state that is about 100 miles long. Juneau is near its north end, on Gastineau Channel.
Georgia Congressman Alexander Stephens, a strong unionist before the Civil War and a main proponent of the Henry Clay-brokered Compromise of 1850, nevertheless was elected Vice President of the rebel Confederate States of America under former US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. Stephens is best known to history for his Cornerstone Speech, explaining how secession was due to the slave states’ desire to maintain the “Peculiar Institution” against the threat of the northern abolitionists.
*Cornerstone *was a newspaper and later a magazine published by Jesus People USA, focusing on topics of evangelical Christian faith and engagement with politics and culture. It began as an 8-page black-and-white newspaper in 1971, and grew to a circulation as a magazine of 250,000 copies sold per issue. It ceased publication in 2003.
Not in play: Alexander Stephens was a most interesting character, to quote from Wikipedia: According to Bruce Catton, he was “given one of the most haunting nicknames ever worn by an American politician: ‘The Little Pale Star from Georgia.’”
Along Route 66 there are statues of Jesus, in Canute OK, in Groom TX, Oklahoma City OK, and in Tulsa OK at Oral Roberts University.
Touchdown Jesus is a giant mosaic overlooking the football field at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Intended to appear as if he is delivering a benediction, his gesture with upraised arms resembles that of a referee signaling a touchdown.
Dropkick Me Jesus was a song by country singer Bobby Bare, which included the lyric:
Dropkick me Jesus through the goalposts of life
And over end neither left nor the right
Straight through the heart of them righteous uprights
Dropkick me Jesus through the goalposts of life
The last successful drop kick in the NFL, the only one since the 1940’s, was an extra point performed by New England Patriots quarterback Doug Flutie on New Year’s Day 2006, on the last play of his career.
Although Doug Flutie won the Heisman Trophy in 1984, he wasn’t drafted until the 11th round in the 1985 NFL draft. He played in 13 seasons in the NFL, but he achieved his greatest success in the Canadian Football League, where he led his teams to 3 Grey Cup victories. Flutie was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player a record six times.
(Ninja’d but this still works) I remember that drop kick — very cool.
New England Patriots Doug Flutie’s drop kick was in December 2006 in a meaningless game against the Miami Dolphins. It was the NFL’s first successful drop kick for points since 21 December 1941, two weeks after Pearl Harbor. ESPN reporter Chris Berman played a key role in the event.
According to the NFL Hall of Fame’s site, ex-Bears quarterback Jim McMahon begged his coach for a chance to attempt a drop kick in a game. But his coach, Mike Ditka, denied the request. But when Chris Berman mentioned to Patriots coach Bill Belichick that he’d seen Flutie drop kick, the coach called his quarterback into his office and asked if he could do it.
“I said, ‘I could do it,’” Flutie said. “‘There’s no real application for it, but I could do it.’”
The drop kick remains in the NFL’s official rule book, even though it is rare. Rule 3, Section 8 defines the drop kick as “a kick by a kicker who drops the ball and kicks it as, or immediately after, it touches the ground.”
Irish-American punk rockers Dropkick Murphys, effectively the Boston Red Sox house band, took their name from an old-time wrestler. Their first mainstream hit was “Tessie”, a remake of a song that the Royal Rooters fan club would sing continuously to rattle the Red Sox’s opponents (they were partly responsible for Pirates third baseman Honus Wagner’s shabby performance in the 1903 World Series). The Murphys’ version came out during the Red Sox’ 2004 season, in time to be the theme of their first World Series win since 1918.
Richard **Wagner **was well known for his anti-Semitism and his status as Hitler’s favorite composer. Early in his career, he stated his resentment at the success of Jewish composers such as Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer and blamed them for his lack of success, particularly after his stay in Paris in 1840–41 when he was impoverished and reduced to music copy-editing. Ironically, at the same time Wagner was friendly with Meyerbeer, who loaned him money, and used his influence to arrange for the premiere of Rienzi, Wagner’s first successful opera, in Dresden in 1842. Meyerbeer later said he was hurt and bewildered by Wagner’s written abuse of him, his works, and his faith.
The Wagner Motorcycle Company manufactured motorcycles in St. Paul MN from 1901 to 1914. The daughter of founder George Wagner, Clara Wagner, is the world’s first documented woman motorcyclist. She rode a 1909 “drop frame” Wagner motorcycle.
The horse of Major General Phil Sheridan during the Civil War was named Rienzi. Sheridan famously rode Rienzi from Winchester, Va. to the Battle of Cedar Creek in 1864, rallying his troops after an initially-successful Confederate attack, and led them in pushing back and defeating the Confederate army under Gen. Jubal Early. Rienzi was stuffed and mounted after he died, and is now on display in the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
ETA: Washington, D.C. is named after George Washington, himself a general, and the first President of the United States.
The skeleton of Napoleon’s horse Marengo, named for one of his victories, is on display in London at the National Army Museum, Chelsea. The building is adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, home of the “Chelsea Pensioners” and the Chelsea Flower Show, the world’s largest. Bonaparte rode Marengo in the Battle of Austerlitz, the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, the Battle of Wagram, and the Battle of Waterloo, where the horse was captured.
What? Really? ![]()
The National Museum of the US Army is planned as the official museum for the history of the United States Army and is under construction just outside Washington, DC at Fort Belvoir. Ground was broken in September 2016, and it is expected to open in 2020.
The Smithsonian Institution, established on August 10, 1846, is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. Originally organized as the “United States National Museum,” that name ceased to exist in 1967.
The Institution has nineteen museums, nine research centers, and a zoo, mostly located in the District of Columbia. The Institution’s thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge.
According to this article, a portion of the original pavement of Route 66 is an artifact of the Smithsonian.
The National Museum of the Marine Corps is near Quantico VA. It’s in Triangle VA.
The National Museum of the Air Force is in Riverside OH.
The National Museum of the Navy is in Washington DC.
The National Museum of the Army is not open yet. It is near Washington DC, at Fort Belvoir.
While there is no National Museum of the Coast Guard yet, there are plans in progress for construction of one in New London, Connecticut, an historic seaport at the mouth of the Thames River on Long Island Sound that is the home of the United States Coast Guard Academy.