For at least 250 years, the ordinary English foot soldier has been given the name “Tommy Atkins.”
The rock opera Tommy by The Who was recorded at IBC Studios in London.
Historic Abbey Road Studios in London is for sale, with the hope that it can be turned over to the National Trust.
“Northanger Abbey” was the first novel Jane Austen ever sold. She received the whopping sum of 10 pounds for it from Crosby and Company, who never bothered to publish it.
The game of “baseball” is mentioned in Northanger Abbey- leading some to theorize that America’s Pastime might well be British.
Baseball was a popular game played by soldiers during the American Civil War.
Most historians don’t believe that Abner Doubleday, a Union general who made his name at the Battle of Gettysburg, actually invented baseball.
In Al Capp’s popular cartoon, Lil’ Abner made his living as a mattress tester, meaning he slept practically all day.
[del]Tour guides at Ft. Sumter state that the shape of the yard (aerial view) where Abner Doubleday and other soldiers played the game during the siege inspired the baseball diamond. (I don’t know if the fact is true, but I know the tour guide part is.)[/del]
Cockney cartoon character Andy Capp (begun by Reg Smythe) is used on a brand of hot fries and other snack foods.
Andrew Jackson was known as “Andy” and “Old Hickory” by his political allies. His Tennessee home still stands, and is known as the Hermitage.
South Carolina and North Carolina both claim to be the birthplace of Andrew Jackson; he was born on the border of the two but the exact location is unknown.
On The Andy Griffith Show, Griffith’s character’s full name was Andrew Jackson Taylor.
Mayberry was based on Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mt. Airy, NC, which was the home for many years of the Siamese Twins Chang and Eng Bunker and their large families.
After earning a fortune as a trial attorney, John Edwards served a single term as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He ran for President in both 2000 (when he served as John Kerry’s running mate) and 2008. He still maintains a residence in the state.
Purported psychic John Edward has hosted two different television programs, Crossing Over and John Edward Cross Country, in which he allegedly contacts the spirits of deceased loved ones of audience members.
“Spirit in the Night”, a song by Bruce Springsteen, appeared on his album, Greetings From Asbury Park, in 1973.
Not so. Abner didn’t work, and though he applied to be a mattress tester once when he needed money for new shoes to avoid being caught on Sadie Hawkins day, he was thrown out, so had to earn it by working in the turnip fields for Softhearted John.
Back to the thread:
Spirit was an LA-based rock group of the early 70s.
*Spirit in the Sky *was written and produced by Norman Greenbaum in 1969. Greenbaum had no background in gospel music, but the song sold more than 1,000,000 copies. Greenbaum’s follow-up single was Canned Ham.
The name of Ham, the first ape in space, came from the initials of the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, where the chimp was prepared for his flight.
Noah cursed the descendants of his son Ham, who had seen him drunk and naked.
P.S. And I’m not at all persuaded that my Lil’ Abner tidbit was incorrect.