The original four provinces of Canada were Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
Linda Harrison got the job as “Nova” in “Planet of the Apes” because she was dating one of the producers. Similarly, Natalie Trundy got roles in the four sequels because she was married to one of the producers.
The legislature of Nova Scotia is the oldest in North America still operating under its original constitution. It was created in 1758 by King George II by an instrument under the royal prerogative.
King George III drafted but did not sign or issue an instrument of abdication when Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown to Lt. Gen. George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau in October 1781, so closely was the monarch associated with the failed British war policy.
Actor Richard Dreyfus co-wrote with Harry Turledove the alternate world history The Two Georges, in which George Washington and George III made peace without the US breaking away from England, with a plot centered on a painting of the two men shaking hands.
In 1763, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation setting up the government of Quebec and restricting westward expansion of the British colonies in North America unless treaties were made with the indigenous Indian populations. Because of the restrictive effects on westward expansion, it became one of the grievances of the 13 colonies, but in Canada it forms part of the recognition of aboriginal title in the Constitution of Canada.
George Washington took breaks during the deliberations in Philadelphia over what became the U.S. Constitution to visit his nearby former military camp at Valley Forge, and to go fishing.
The Parma City School District in suburban Cleveland features two high schools (Valley Forge and Normandy) whose names reflect American military history.
The Canadian Army was the only Allied force that met all of its assigned targets on the first day of the Normandy landings.
James Doohan, later to play Chief Engineer Scott in Star Trek, was injured by friendly fire while serving with Canadian forces on D-Day.
James Doohan studied acting at the Neighborhood Playouse in New York where he became friends with fellow Canadian Leslie Neilson. Neilson served as Best Man at Doohans second wedding.
Leslie Nielsen (note spelling) served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and once worked as a DJ. He appeared in Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure.
Playing off the name of the military branch in which Nielsen served, the comedy troupe formed in 1970 and originally known as the Jest Society changed its name to the Royal Canadian Air Farce by the end of 1973.
Leslie Neilsen was born in Regina Saskatchewan. His father was a Mountie and his brother was Deputy Prime Minister of Canada.
One major school of literary thought says there are only four genres of story: Comedy, Tragedy, Romance, and Farce. The problem with that (not counting the ordinary problems with dividing up everything into 2/3/4 categories) is that it it only works under widely variant and archaic definitions of Romance and Comedy (and genre, sort of), and so is only likely to confuse modern students.
Neilson was a heroic leading man before being switching over to comedy later in his career. His best-known dramatic role to today’s audiences is the captain of the ship in Forbidden Planet, but kids who grew up in the 50s and 60s may remember him as Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion in Disney’s The Swamp Fox stories.
Nielsen, people, it’s Nielsen!
A highly fictionalized version of Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion was played by Mel Gibson in the 2000 movie The Patriot. Heath Ledger, later to go on to greater fame playing The Joker, plays Gibson’s character’s son.
While some people call him the Space Cowboy, others call him the Gangster of Love and still others call him Maurice - at least in his 1973 platinum single The Joker - he’s most widely known as Steve Miller, lead guitarist and vocalist of the Steve Miller Band.
The Emperor Maurice was the last Emperor of the East who had substantial control of the western portion of the Roman Empire. After he was deposed, no subsequent Emperor had the same degree of control over the west. His fall is one of demarcation points between the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
Maurice Cheeks played for the NBA’s Eastern Conference in four all star games representing the Philadelphia 76ers.