The US Virgin Islands are the only jurisdiction of all the US states and territories where cars drive on the left side of the road.
Guyana and Suriname are the only countries in South America where you drive on the left.
Bobby Bloom’s 1970 song “Montego Bay”, about returning to his Jamaica home (he was a white guy from Brooklyn, ftr), begins
Vernon will meet me when the BOAC lands
Keys to the MG will be in his hands
Adjust to the driving and I’m on my way
It’s all on the right side in Montego Bay
Billy Joel’s song, “We Didn’t Start The Fire” came out 30 years ago today. 59 people are namechecked in it. Only 5 are still alive: Queen Elizabeth II, Brigitte Bardot, Chubby Checker, Bob Dylan, and Bernhard Goetz.
The latest person in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Stop the Fire lyrics to become the late was Doris Day, who died on May 13, 2019. She is the second person named in the song, which starts:
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong officially proclaimed the existence of the People’s Republic of China. He named himself Head of State, and named Zhou Enlai as Premier.
The United States extended formal diplomatic recognition in 1979.
Starting in 1949, the New York Yankees would win a record five World Series in a row: 1949, 1952 and 1953 against the Brooklyn Dodgers, 1950 against the Philadelphia Phillies, and 1952 against the New York Giants.
The recent box-office flop Men in Black: International, starring Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Emma Thompson (no relation) and Liam Neeson, takes place in New York City, London, Paris and Marrakesh. But not Philadelphia.
Among the early films for Liam Neeson (born 1952) were Pilgrim’s Progress (1978) and Excalibur (1981).
In Excalibur, John Boorman directed his daughter, Katrine, in a sex scene. That must’ve been awkward.
Katrine Boorman played Ygraine, Duchess of Cornwall and King Uther Pendragon’s illicit lover and later the mother of his only son Arthur, in the 1981 John Boorman movie Excalibur. It is implied that Arthur was conceived at the moment of the death of his mother’s husband, the otherwise-unnamed Duke of Cornwall.
The session musicians backing vocalist Tom Jones for his 1965 hit “It’s Not Unusual” include guitarist Jimmy Page (later of Led Zeppelin) and a piano player named Reginald Dwight, who had some success when he changed his name to Elton John.
Forty years ago, on September 27, 1979, Elton John collapsed onstage during the second performance of a 10-date stint at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. John had to be carried off the stage, but returned just 10 minutes later and finished the show.
As a teenager, although normal-sighted, Elton John began wearing horn-rimmed glasses to imitate Buddy Holly.
Elton John, Paul McCartney and Andrew Lloyd Webber have all been knighted by Queen Elizabeth. Hence the name of the show highlighting their songs: Music of the Knights, a play on Phantom of the Opera’s big hit Music of the Night.
When Paul was knighted, he and his big ego insisted that Ringo call him Sir Paul. It’s a bit of Beatles mythology, which is most likely true, but not 100% verifiable.
Ronald Reagan and George Bush were both knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 was operated by the Cunard Line from 1969 until 2008. She was built in Clydebank, Scotland, and served as both a trans-Atlantic liner, and as a cruise ship, as well as serving as a troop transport during the Falklands War in 1982.
The QE2 was retired after a final trans-Atlantic cruise, on October 22nd, 2008. The ship is now owned by a Dubai firm, PCFC Hotels, and has operated as a floating hotel in Dubai since 2018.
Constructing Dubai’s Palm Islands required 94 million cubic meters of sand. The Empire State Building is only 37 million cubic meters. That’s enough sand to fill the Empire State Building 2.5x.
gImages — https://is.gd/vVrPmm — Palm Islands, Dubai - beautiful!
gImages — https://is.gd/euz7hP — Palm Islands, Dubai - beautiful!
gImages — https://is.gd/0cKS9b — Palm Islands, Dubai - beautiful!
The Empire State Building has, per Wiki, been featured in more than 250 TV shows and movies since King Kong was released in 1933. It only started becoming profitable in the 1950s, when it was finally able to financially break even for the first time.