Gloria Vanderbilt’s husbands included Leopold Stokowski (who was 44 years her senior and the father of her two oldest sons), filmmaker Sidney Lumet, and writer/editor Wyatt Cooper with whom she had Anderson and his older brother (who committed suicide). Contrary to popular conception she did not design the clothing or merchandise that bore her name nor did she own the company- she licensed and later sold the use of her name for it; she is now essentially broke and for a time lived with Anderson.
The 1949 Looney Tunes release “Long-Haired Hare” featured Bugs Bunny pretending to be a symphony conductor named Leopold (closely resembling Stokowski), who makes opera singer Giovanni Jones (who has previously annoyed him by interrupting his banjo playing) sing and hold a high G until he virtually explodes, and the Hollywood Bowl theater collapses. The send-up of Stokowski was likely a tweak by Warner Brothers of Disney, which used him to conduct in “Fantasia”.
John Paul Jones’s ship, the Bonhomme Richard, was so badly damaged in its 1777 battle with the HMS Serapis that Jones had to transfer his crew to the Serapis after the British warship’s capture. The Bonhomme Richard then sank, and its wreck has not been located since.
The Bonhomme Richard was named as a nod toward Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac, which had the title of Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard when it was published in France.
Bonhomme de Carnaval, a snowman (? here’s a pic- you be the judge) is the mascot of the Quebec Winter Carnaval and was appeared last week on the cover of McLeans carrying a suitcase full of money as a graphic for an article on corruption in Quebec. The cover caused a stir and the Carnaval’s promoters have threatened lawsuit for logo infringement.
The flag of Quebec is a blue field with a white cross, and a white fleur-de-lis in each quarter, a reminder of the province’s long time under French rule.
The flag of Nepal is the world’s only national flag that is non-quadrilateral in shape.
Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! was a 1980s comic book about Reuben Flagg, a former actor who became head of the security forces for Chicago, set in 2076 when the US has broken up. The comic was critically acclaimed in its first year, but started losing esteem the second year as Chaykin left the writing and art to others.
Officers of the National Reconnaissance Office presented President John F. Kennedy with the first aerial surveillance photos of Soviet missile emplacements on the island of Cuba in October 1962. In addition to Chicago, Washington, New York City and Miami, in a bit of black humor the NRO mapmakers included the town of Oxford, Miss. on a specially-prepared U.S. map showing the projected range of the Soviet missiles. The troubled integration of the University of Mississippi was weighing on the President at the time, and he might almost be relieved at the town’s nuking.
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman, a recent defector, who the radar guns show can throw a baseball well over 100 mph, is nicknamed “The Cuban Missile”.
MASH* character Corp. “Radar” O’Reilly’s actual first name was Walter. He was played by Gary Burghoff in both the movie and the TV show.
Despite being born with a deformed left hand, Gary Burghoff was a jazz drummer before turning to acting. As drummer for a band called The Relatives, he backed singer Lynda “Wonder Woman” Carter.
The still-obscure rock group The Miami Relatives take their name from one of the factions contending for custody of 6-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez, who had been orphaned during his escape attempt with his mother, in 2000. Ultimately, the Clinton administration, represented by Florida native AG Janet Reno (whose mother was a professional alligator wrestler) sided with his father rather than the anti-Communism-first faction in the Cuban exile community who were behind the “Miami Relatives”.
Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, of the Wall Street Journal, commented that the dolphins near his inner tube “surrounded him like a contingent of angels” and were “possible evidence of the reasonable assumption that God’s creatures had been commanded to protect one of God’s children.”
Miami University is located in Oxford, Ohio. The University of Miami is in Coral Gables, FL.
Indiana University and California University are located in Pennsylvania.
Among Ben Franklin’s many official titles during his long life was President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania (1785-88), and first Postmaster General of the U.S. (1775-76).
While residing in England, Ben Franklin was a regular and enthusiastic attendee of a “Hellfire Club” hosted by Sir Francis Dashwood (the Earl of Sandwich was another member).
I do so love Wiki. 
Hugo Black was the first of nine FDR appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. He was briefly a member of the Ku Klux Klan while an Alabama politician in the 1920s, something he always regretted. He served on the Court until his death in 1971.
Drummer Jimmy Carl Black was “The Indian of the Group” with the Mothers of Invention. He later formed his own band, Geronimo Black. In the movied 200 Motels, he performed “Lonesome Cowboy Burt.”
“The Indian of the group” The Village People was Felipe Rose. Other original members were: Victor Willis (the police officer character), Randy Jones (the cowboy), Glenn Hughes (the biker), David Hodo (the construction worker) and Alex Briley (the G.I.). The US Navy briefly used their hit “In the Navy” in a recruitment video before somebody took pity and explained it to them.