Why am I not surprised?
In play: The Phoenix Shot Tower, located near downtown Baltimore, was built in 1828. At the time, its height of 234 feet made it the tallest building in the country. It was designed to produce shot for firearms.
The NBA team formerly known as the Baltimore Bullets was so named in honor of the tower’s role of producing shot.
The Colt Armory building in Hartford, CT, is a historical landmark, easily recognizable above the Connecticut River with its blue onion dome topped with a gilded rampant colt. It consists of several structures built throughout the years. The Fire Shop and the Foundry still stand from Samuel Colt’s original 1855 factory; the signature East Armory was rebuilt in 1867, and the South and North Armories and the Machine Shop were built in 1916 for the buildup to World War I. Although these physical structures exist, it has not been operated as firearm factory since 1993.
The first expansion of modern major league baseball took place in 1962, with the creation of the New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s. The Colt .45’ changed their name to the Astros when they moved into the world’s first domed stadium four years later.
The 1911 45 ACP pistol is one of the most popular semiautomatics ever made. From 1911 to 1986 is was the standard-issue sidearm for the US military. American units fighting Moro guerrillas in the Philippine–American War of 1899 - 1902 used the then-standard Colt M1892 revolver, .38 Long Colt, and found it to be unsuitable for the rigors of jungle warfare, particularly in terms of stopping power as the Moros often used drugs to inhibit the sensation of pain. The Colt 45 ACP won a competition to replace the M1892.
In the U.S., the term “malt liquor” is used to describe a beer with a high alcohol content (typically 6% to 9%, though the exact definition varies by state).
Popular brands of malt liquor, such as Colt 45, Olde English 800, Mickey’s, and King Cobra, are often specifically marketed towards young African-American and Hispanic men (such as Colt 45’s well-known campaign featuring actor Billy Dee Williams). This has led to criticism of the brewers for targeting groups which are more likely to suffer from alcohol-related health issues.
The British Royal coat of arms includes the arms of the three component countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: the English (three gold lions on a red field, shown twice), the Irish (a gold harp on a blue field) and the Scottish (a red lion on a yellow field with a red heraldic frame). The Welsh arms (a red dragon on a green and white field) is not shown, as Wales is considered to have been legally subsumed into England.
Mickey’s big mouth malt liquor was my beer of choice in my college days.
Mickey’s big mouth malt liquor was originally brewed by Sterling Brewery in Evansville, Indiana, from 1962 through 1972. It is now brewed by Miller Beer. It comes in a barrel shaped, green glass bottle nicknamed a grenade because of its size and shape.
For the past three years, SAB Miller has been a subsidiary of Anheuser Busch InBev, a Brazilian-Belgian entity that controls virtually all popular beer sales in the Westrn hemisphere. The merger replaces Heiniken as the world’s largest brewer.
Baia do Sancho is a beach in Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago of 21 islands and islets in the Atlantic Ocean of Brazil (Wiki — Baia do Sancho - Wikipedia). Baia do Sancho frequently rates among the most beautiful beaches in the world (images — https://www.google.com/search?q=Baia+do+Sancho&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=minv&sxsrf=ACYBGNSkB-2e7aMlhBK7BLW8Z3WVMrnkxQ:1578573964353&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJiJajxvbmAhWWBc0KHRaeAL0Q_AUoAnoECBAQAg&biw=768&bih=921). The water there is quite warm due to the South Equatorial Current that pushes warm water from Africa. Diving to depths of 100 feet does not require a wetsuit. Underwater visibility in the clear waters can reach up to 150 feet.
Every C in “Pacific Ocean” is pronounced differently.
I C what you did there.
Playing on…
The Pacific Ocean covers more area than all land masses in the world combined. 75% of the world’s active volcanoes are located in the Pacific Ocean basin. The second largest island in the world is New Guinea, in the Pacific Ocean. Greenland, in the Atlantic Ocean, is the largest island in the world. Point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean is widely acknowledged as the most remote place on earth. Located smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and 1,450 nautical miles from any landmass, many nations deorbit their satellites and old spacecrafts over this point. Point Nemo is in the South Pacific, at lat/long 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W, or -48.876667, -123.393333, or gMap Google Maps.
Long before Disney and Pixar set out to find Nemo, the French author Jules Verne created the character known as Captain Nemo. Nemo appears in two of Verne’s novels, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island.
Nemo, omen, Moen (faucets; moen.com), and Nome (Alaska) are anagrams of each other. Wyatt Earp once lived in Nome AK. Earp came to Alaska looking for gold. While there he ran the Dexter Saloon (not to be confused with the Dexter Roadhouses along the Iditarod trail). Today, Nome City Hall is on the spot where the Dexter Saloon once made its home as the “only second class saloon in Alaska.”
Written by Tillman Franks and Johnny Horton, “North to Alaska” topped Billboard magazine’s Country Singles chart, reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and eight on Norway Singles Chart. However, Johnny Horton died in an automobile accident on November 5, 1960 shortly after the song was released, so he never got to experience his biggest triumph.
Written on my church friend’s book, that he had in high school, is the autograph of Muhammad Ali. The book title is Beowulf, and I don’t remember the author. Its value is up for debate but Ali’s autographs can fetch a lot of money. An example is below. Muhammad Ali claimed he was “The Greatest”. I believe him.
My church friend died last night, way too young. May he rest in peace, and if you’re the praying sort please pray for the family. Needless to say it will be rough on them. Here he is with that great smile of his, holding Ali’s autograph: Muhammad Ali's autograph on a Beowulf book - Album on Imgur
E.g., $890 > https://www.amazon.com/Muhammad-Signed-Boxing-Autograph-Foreman/dp/B00N9CLLLS
Added: Ali signed the book when my friend was in high school.
My condolences, Bullitt.
The Beatles met Muhammad Ali in Miami Beach, Fla. in Feb. 1964 and clowned around with him for the press.
Thank you, Elendil’s Heir.
Here is Ali clowning around with Michael Jackson > Clowning around Muhammad Ali & Michael Jackson - YouTube
In play: Muhammad Ali, The Greatest (imgur > https://imgur.com/a/THhSEQD) was crowned “Sports Personality of the Century” by the BBC. He was born in 1942 in Louisville KY. In his youth he won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union National Title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. At the age of 22 he was the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion when he defeated Sonny Liston in a major upset in 1964. He refused to be inducted into the armed forces, stating publicly, “No Vietcong ever called me nigger”.
The ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ is an award given annually by the BBC. The winner is the sportsperson, judged by a public vote, to have achieved the most during that year.
The winner of the first award, given in 1954, was Christopher Chataway, a distance runner who later became a television broadcaster and politician. Runner-up in that first competition was Roger Bannister, who had run the first sub-four-minute mile that year. Ironically, Chataway was one of the ‘pacers’ during Bannister’s record-setting mile race.