In 1930, Continetal Baking used a variety or Rohwedder’s invention and introduced Wonder Bread as the first commercial mass-produced brand of sliced bread. The wide availability of bread sliced to a consistent thickness spurred sales of the pop-up toaster, which had been introduced in 1926 by the Waters-Genter Company of Minneapolis.
In December 1783, after the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolution with British recognition of U.S. independence, George Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army, tendering his resignation to Congress, which was then gathered in Annapolis, Md.
A Continental tire is an external, vertically-mounted spare tire over the rear bumper of a Fifties car, named for the Lincoln Continental which made it distinctive (Nash designs frequently had them too). The 1956 Thunderbird had a “Continental Kit” made available after Henry Ford II complained that he couldn’t fit a bag of golf clubs in the trunk otherwise, but the added aft weight detracted from its handling.
The concluding dance routine from the Astair/Rogers musical, The Gay Divorcee, was titled “The Continental.”
Different states have different legal grounds for granting a contested divorce including abandonment, adultery, cruelty, drunkenness, impotence, imprisonment, and insanity. But no state recognizes one partner realizing he or she is gay as grounds for divorce.
Judy Garland’s gay accompanist who became her daughter Liza Minnelli’s gay husband Peter Allen co-wrote the song Between the Moon & New York City with Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. It was later tweaked by Christopher Cross and recorded as Arthur’s Theme for the movie Arthur, which co-starred Minnelli. She has never released a version, but Stephanie Bloch sang it as Liza Minnelli with Hugh Jackman as Peter Allen in the jukebox musical The Boy From Oz .
Liza Minnelli first appeared on screen in the final scene in the film In the Good Old Summertime as Judy Garland’s baby daughter.
“Bloody” Mary and Elizabeth I were both queens of England, reigning in that order. They were half-sisters; each was a daughter of Henry VIII. Mary was Catholic and married the King of Spain; Elizabeth was Anglican and never married, earning the (probably inaccurate) nickname “the Virgin Queen.”
Robert Dudley is considered to have been the great love of Elizabeth I’s life. His brother and father were executed for treason for their role in the Lady Jane Grey uprising (his brother was Grey’s husband) but he received several titles from Elizabeth. He fell from favor due to his affairs and marriages and enemies at court but she never stopped loving him. His stepson by his second (or third- there’s debate) wife, Lettice Knollys (Elizabeth’s maternal cousin) was Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, who became Elizabeth’s companion after Dudley’s death until his own rebellion got him beheaded.
One of the oldest active newspapers in the US, The New York Times, is nicknamed “The Grey Lady.”
Times Square in NYC is closed for only two annual events: the ball dropping on New Year’s Eve and Broadway on Broadway, the free concert to open the heatre season. This year’s date is Sunday, September 12th.
Prior to the New York Times locating its headquarters there in 1904, Times Square was known as Longacre Square. It was named after a neighbourhood in London because both areas were carriage making districts.
The lowering of the ball (the current crystal one was made by Waterford) in Times Square on New Year’s Eve is based on a British practice of lowering a ball at noon (or 1 PM) on a mast on a prominent building in port. This allowed ships’ navigators to set their chronometers in the age before wireless radio. The first time ball was installed in Portsmouth in 1829. In some ports, such as Hong Kong or Edinburgh, a gun was used instead.
A Countess from Hong Kong was both the final picture and the only color movie directed by Charlie Chaplin.
Hong Kong Phooey was a martial arts performing mutt who starred in a cartoon series and was voiced by Scatman Crothers, an actor whose biggest movie role was probably the psychic chef in The Shining but who was also a regular on Chico and the Man.
Garrett Morris of the original cast of Saturday Night Live played the character of Chico Escuela, an infielder with the New York Mets and author of the book Bad Stuff About the Mets. His catchphrase was the heavily accented line, “Biessboll been berry berry good to me.”
Theodore Roosevelt is the only President to have been born in New York City. He later served as police commissioner of the city, and as a legislator and governor of the state before his Federal service.
The series Barney Miller ended when it was discovered the 12th Precinct used to be the old office building of former president Theodore Roosevelt. The building was quickly turned into a landmark and everyone transferred.
Ron Glass (Detective Harris on Barney Miller) later played Felix in a the TV series The New Odd Couple, Shepherd Book in the cult series Firefly, and most recently Uncle Duncan in the remake of Death at a Funeral.
Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in less than six weeks. It opened on Broadway in 1949 and starred Lee J Cobb as Willy Loman.