Kong was the nickname of one-dimensional slugger Dave Kingman.
A stretch of old U.S. 66 in Kingman, AZ is name for the town’s favorite native, actor Andy Devine.
Andy Devine was actually a native of Flagstaff. He moved with his family to Kingman when he was one year old.
The first radio show to be syndicated in the US was Amos and Andy.
Amos was the name of the mouse who secretly gave Ben Franklin all of his best ideas in Robert Lawson’s children’s historical fantasy Ben and Me, first published in 1939. Disney made a short film of it in 1953.
Of the 267 major league baseball players with 1000 RBI, Amos Otis is the only player who hit a sacrifice fly to account for 10% or more of his RBI.
Elisha Otis patented his first elevator in 1852. The concept of the elevator had been around and used (especially for freight) for a long time but his innovation was safety features. Otis Elevator is by far the largest manufacturer of elevators as well as escalators and moving sidewalks.
Otis provided the original elevators for both the Eiffel Tower (steam powered!) and the World Trade Center.
Helen Keller’s papers and glass prosthetic eyeballs were destroyed on 9-11; they were housed in the archives of the American Foundation for the Blind in the WTC.
Despite numerous attempts, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series has never made it to the silver screen. Morgan Freeman is said to be a fan of the books.
In Stephen King’s novella Rita Haworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, the story’s narrator, is written as a middle-aged Irishman with greying red hair. Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman and Robert Redford were all considered for the role in the movie, but director Frank Darabont cast Morgan Freeman for his authoritative presence and demeanor. He stated that he could not see anyone else as Red.
In the course of a long career, actor Morgan Freeman has played a drug dealer, a prisoner, a Civil War infantry sergeant, the President of the United States and God.
The Battle of Saratoga – a decisive American victory in the Revolutionary War – actually consisted of two battles: The Battle of Freeman’s Farm, where British forces were stopped in their attempt to drive south to Albany, and the Battle of Bemis Heights, where the British failed in their attempt to break the Continental forces before the British ran out of supplies. Both were losses by the British, led by John Burgoyne. The American forces were led by Horatio Gates, but much of the battlefield leadership was due to the actions of Benedict Arnold. After Bemis Height, Burgoyne attempted to retreat but was stopped by the Continentals and forced to surrender.
Benedict Arnold was branded a traitor after attempting to betray the U.S. fort at West Point N.Y. to the British. West Point was later the site of the United States Military Academy.
Benedict Arnold fled the Continental lines when his perfidy was discovered, boarding a British warship named HMS Vulture. George Washington later approved a plan to kidnap Arnold, but it failed. Arnold left for London after the British lost the American Revolution in 1783, and never returned.
Peter Brady (Christopher Knight) faced social stigma in the schoolyard for portraying Benedict Arnold in a school play in an episode of The Brady Bunch.
In Stephen Vincent Benet’s 1937 short story “The Devil and Daniel Webster”, Benedict Arnold was away on other business and so could not serve on Jabez Stone’s jury, but he was the foreman in the 1941 RKO film with Edward Arnold as Webster and John Huston as Mr. Scratch.
Other jury members included:
Walter Butler, a Loyalist (foreman in the short story)
Simon Girty, a Loyalist
Indian chief Metacomet, referred to as “King Philip.”
Governor Thomas Dale
Thomas Morton, a rival of the Plymouth Pilgrims.
The pirate Edward Teach, also known as “Blackbeard.”
Reverend John Smeet
Anthony Hopkins played Daniel Webster in the movie The Devil & Daniel Webster, which sat on a shelf unreleased for years before going to video as Shortcut to Happiness. The Earthly scenes of the movie are set in modern times and it was directed and co-starred Alec Baldwin.
Anyone publishing a dictionary in the US can call it “Webster’s.” The word was never trademarked. Mirriam-Webster publishes the dictionary that traces its roots back to Noah Webster.
Bill Cosby played Noah in a famous early comedy routine of his, taking directions from God (also played by Cosby) as to how to build an ark. Noah initially doubts that it’s God at all, and then has to ask what a cubit is.