Despite its name, the British Columbia Liberal Party promotes a “small-c conservative” ideology.
The second Premier of British Columbia was originally born William Smith, but changed his name to Amor de Cosmos while living in California. He translated it as “Lover of the Universe”.
Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (The Kaiser of California), a 1936 film, was the first Western shot in Nazi Germany, although some set-up scenes were shot in the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. It tells the story of the heroic Aryan John (Johann) Sutter, who is shown as creating his fortune by hard work and family values, only to have it taken away by the decadent squatter miners who invaded his land. The film won the 1936 Mussolini Cup for best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival.
Karl May was a hugely popular German writer who wrote about the American southwest; Hitler was a huge fan when he was young. May’s Chief Winnetou is referenced during the “Who am I?” game scene of Inglorious Basterds.
White Sox outfielder Carlos May is the only man in the history of Major League Baseball to have his birthday written on the back of his uniform. Born on May 17, he wore number 17, and – like all players on the team – had his last name written above his number.
Benjamin Franklin was the 15th of his father Josiah’s 17 children, the last 10 of them with Benjamin’s mother, Abiah Folger. Josiah was a maker of candles and soap, both made from the fat of animals, consequently the house would have had an extreme stench several days per week.
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington has the world’s largest collection of early printed Shakespearian works, including 82 copies of the First Folio. It was founded by Henry Clay Folger, former president of Standard Oil, and his wife Emily.
In the mid-1980s, Folgers Coffee became the first Nascar sponsor not to be affiliated with an automotive, tobacco or beer company.
Poker player Thomas Austin Preston, Jr., better known as Amarillo Slim, was famous for “coffeehousing.” This term refers to misleading one’s opponent with verbal comments, and derives from the fact that coffee houses were a common setting for informal gambling games.
Lloyd’s of London, the famous insurance syndicate, gets its name from a coffeehouse run by Edward Lloyd, started in 1688 in London. It became a meeting-house for sailors, merchants and insurers.
The shipping conglomerate Hapag-Lloyd was formed by the merger of 2 Hamburg-based firms: the Hamburg-Amerikanische Paketfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (or Hamburg-America Line), and Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL). Hapag lost its pre-WW1 fleet as reparations, including the then-world’s-largest “Big Three” ships: Vaterland, Imperator, and Bismarck.
Critic James Agee was responsible for listing the “big four” of silent film comedians in an article in Life Magazine titled “Comedy’s Greatest Era.” He selected Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Harry Langdon.
Four Star Productions was formed in 1952 by Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer. The company declined after Dick Powell’s death and most of its properties are now owned by 20th Century Fox Television.
Ida Lupino actually joined Four Star Productions after Joel McCrea and Rosalind Russell had dropped out of the company.
In Western Canada and parts of Ontario and the upper midwest, a Bismarck is a jelly-filled doughnut, referred to as a Berliner elsewhere.
Sinking the Bismarck on its first and only foray into the Atlantic Ocean was considered a great victory, despite that HMS Hood, the pride of the British fleet, was sunk with all but three hands lost. Contrary to Johnny Horton’s claims, the Bismarck was neither the largest battleship (Yamato was launched 8 August 1940) nor the fastest battleship (HMS Hood itself, albeit technically a “battlecruiser”, was faster before damage and refitting in the 1930’s) that ever sailed the seas.
[off-game comment] sorry - I missed the fact that a new page had started; my post 10254 was responding to the last post on the previous page.
[back on game, responding to post 10255]
The Moties in “The Mote in God’s Eye” have three hands.
George Burns was the star in the movie Oh, God! with John Denver.
Lord Peter Wimsey’s older brother was the Duke of Denver. Wimsey saved him from the gallows in “Clouds of Witnesses”, which culminates in the Duke being tried for murder by the House of Lords.