Anthony “Tony” Blair was Brown’s predecessor at 10 Downing Street, the office and residence of the British prime minister.
Alexander Blair was required to change his name to William Cochrane as a condition for marrying the daughter of the otherwise heirless Chief of Clan Cochrane.
Lord George Germain, in charge of British policy in the colonies during the American Revolution, changed his name in order to inherit a fortune.
George Germain’s commanding officer, the 3rd Duke of Marlborough, had a grandson (5th Duke) who changed his surname from Spencer to Churchill, as a result of a royal order.
The Kentucky Derby is always run on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
The town of Churchill, Manitoba, is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World.
Louisville is the home of YUM! Brands, a restaurant holding company which owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silvers, and A&W.
Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame was never a Colonel, it was an honorary title given to him by Governor Ruby Laffoon in 1935.
Coke first used a polar bear ad in 1993
Ruby Laffoon was a man! He was succeeded in the office of Kentucky governor by A.B. “Happy” Chandler, who was the 44th and 49th Governor of Kentucky, a U.S. Senator, the second commissioner of Major League Baseball, from 1945 to 1951, and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Happy’s grandson, Ben, is currently a Member of Congress.
Happy Chandler succeeded the first commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was named after the Civil War battle in Georgia that cost his father his leg.
Uniting the two branches:
Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton of Georgia.
Pepsi-Cola was invented in New Bern, NC by pharmacist Caleb Bradham, who originally named it “Brad’s Drink”.
Pepsico is one of the largest American corporations with a female CEO- Indra Nooyi.
Never mind. Nothing to see. Move along.
Pepsi’s original claim was that they were the bargain cola. Their jingle “Pepsi Cola hits the spot/twelve full ounces, that’s a lot/ twice as much for a nickel, too/Pepsi Cola’s the drink for you” was one of the first radio ad jingles.
Before he became a bestselling author, James Patterson was the CEO of the J.Walter Thompson ad agency, and wrote the “I’m a Toys R’ Us Kid” ad jingle.
Will Thompson, a songwriter from East Liverpool, Ohio, wrote the popular hymn “Softly and Tenderly,” which was later covered by many artists including Elvis Presley, and was featured in the 1985 movie The Trip to Bountiful. Thompson made a fortune by selling the sheet music to the hymn.
Mr. Magoo had a dim nephew named Waldo, who was constantly getting into trouble with his scheming friend Presley.
*The Where’s Waldo? *series created by British illustrator Martin Handford, rose to huge popularity in the late 1980s, featuring a bespectacled Waldo in a cap and striped pullover.