The three notes that have always been used as the signature music for NBC broadcasts are “G E C”, legendarily standing for General Electric Company, which was soon forced to divest RCA and NBC due to antitrust regulation, but was able to buy it back in the 1980’s. The General Electric Company of the UK, called GEC to distinguish it from the unrelated US company, bought Marconi Electronic Systems in 1968, sold it to BAE in 1999, but kept the Marconi name for itself. The Swedish firm Ericsson later bought Marconi and retired the name.
In 1929, RCA bought the Victor Talking Machine Company, whose products included the Victrola, a name once popularly used as a synonym for “phonograph” in the way “Kleenex” is often used to refer to any facial tissue.
The celebrated remark “We are not amused” is frequently attributed to Queen Victoria, but there is no direct evidence that she ever said it, and she denied ever doing so.
The Caprivi Strip is an area in the north of Namibia that juts off sort of like a handle to reach Zambia. The Germans received the area in a trade with the UK specifically to gain access to the Zambezi River, with the eye of using it as a trade route to the Indian Ocean. Alas, they neglected to notice that the Zambezi flows over Victoria Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the world, making shipping a wee bit impractical. The tip of the Caprivi Strip touches Zambia and Botswana and is extremely close to Zimbabwe; some think the four countries touch there, but it has not been surveyed to determind if they actually do.
“Victrola” led to “Victoria”? Hmm…
The British and U.S. militaries share the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. It is a major regional base for the two allied countries.
Well, actually “Victor” did. The Victor Talking Machine Company.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) was the only movie directed by Sam Peckinpah that he had final cut on. All the others were recut by the studios.
Richard M. Nixon’s August 1974 letter resigning the Presidency was addressed to Henry Kissinger, who at the time was both U.S. Secretary of State and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. President Gerald R. Ford, who succeeded Nixon, made Kissinger give up the latter title, appointing Brent Scowcroft to the post.
Brent Crude, sourced from the North Sea fields, is the largest of the several classifications of crude oil used on the commodities market. It is used to price two-thirds of the world’s oil market. The name “Brent” comes from the naming policy of Shell UK Exploration and Production, operating on behalf of Exxon and Shell, which originally named all of its fields after birds (in this case the Brent Goose).
Shell Oil got its name from its origins as a company that sold painted seashells and other import-export items in the UK. They bought some oil tankers early on and became involved in the petroleum business.
The number 710.11345 entered into a calculator with a standard seven-segment display, either LED or LCD, will appear to read “SHELL OIL” when held upside down. This fact was remarkably amusing to the first generation of geeks to emerge from slide-rule days.
Make that 710.77345, of course. :smack:
Back in the day when it was considered a vulgarism, we in Boston used to tell people to go to “7734 upsidedown.”
You must have been quite the scamp, Annie. 
The 1999 film H-E Double Hockey Sticks, starring Rhea Perlman as Ms. Beelzebub, who comes to Earth to steal the soul of a young hockey player, was based on the opera “Griffelkin” by Lukas Foss.
Itzhak Perlman once broke a string on his violin while playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in Saratoga Springs, NY in the mid-80s. Unperturbed, he turned to the concertmaster, borrowed his violin, and finished the movement while his violin was restringed.
There’s also an urban legend about this . . . .
Itzhak Perlman is a native of Tel Aviv, the city that noted Kaballah scholar Madonna referred to as ancient and holy during a concert she gave there in 2004. (The city was founded in 1909 and isn’t considered any holier than most other cities founded that year.)
Heide Perlman was a writer for the sitcom Cheers, which featured her sister Rhea as wisecracking, oft-married waitress Carla Tortelli.
Dan Hedaya played Nick Tortelli (Carla’s ex husband) on Cheers and in a brief spinoff with Jean Kasem as his second wife; other notable Hedaya roles include (the character) Cher’s father in Clueless and Richard M. Nixon in Dick.
Dick is a political comedy about the Nixon White House. There is a scene in the movie where Nixon enjoys (unbeknownst to him) hash brownies baked by two of his young female interns, and insists visiting Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev try some, too.
Spotted dick, far from being something to avoid catching on your Thailand holiday, is actually a tasty British dessert.
Dick Nixon had a penchant for giving Brezhnev expensive cars as gifts, since Brezhnev had an extensive collection of them. He gave him a Cadillac as a gift in 1972, a Lincoln the next year, and a Chevrolet Monte Carlo the next (Not as impressive, but it had been named “Car of the Year,” so Brezhnev wanted it.
Brezhnev’s collection also included a Citroen-Maserati, at least two Rolls Royces, a Mercedes sedan, and Brezhnev’s favourite, a Mercedes 300SL roadster.