The Union Jack also features the Cross of St. Patrick, to symbolize the addition of Ireland (now only Northern Ireland) to the United Kingdom. Wales is not represented on the Union Jack, as it is considered entirely under English rule; hence Prince Charles, born in England, holding the title Prince of Wales.
The longest officially-recognized place name in the United Kingdom is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a village in Wales. The name means “St Mary’s Church (Llanfair) in a hollow (pwll) of white hazel (gwyngyll) near (goger) the swirling whirlpool (y chwyrndrobwll) of the church of St Tysilio (llantysilio) with a red cave ([a]g ogo goch)”.
According to several legends and some experts, the rocks at Stonehenge (a dolerite bluestone) where quarried from near the village of Pembroke in Wales, though another theory is that they were brought to England by glaciers.
From Imdb: “There’s a common misconception that the ‘too small Stonehenge’ disaster is a parody of Black Sabbath’s oversized Stonehenge sets from the Born Again tour. This is impossible, the Stonehenge Spinal Tap scene existed as early as 1982, when the film existed as a 20-minute short, and Black Sabbath didn’t begin using their Stonehenge sets until 1983.”
The Black Sabbath was a legendarily a Satan-worshipping perversion of the Catholic Mass or Holy Eucharist.
Black September was the Palestinian terrorist group responsible for the murders at the Munich Olympics and also fictionalized in the novel and movie Black Sunday.
The novel Black Sunday, about a terrorist attack on the Super Bowl, was written by newspaper reporter Thomas Harris, who later created Hannibal Lecter.
One of Hannibal’s most famous achievements was at the outbreak of the Second Punic War, when he marched an army, including war elephants, from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into northern Italy.
However, one of my college history profs told us only one elephant was still alive by the time he got to Italy.
Vergil’s ***Aeneid ***implies that the Punic Wars were inevitable, after the bitter breakup of Aeneas and Carthage’s queen Dido.
The geographic center of the state of Mississippi is 9 miles northwest of Carthage.
Church of Latter Day Saints founder, Joseph Smith & his brother Hiram were abducted from the jail in Carthage, IL and lynched by an angry mob.
Well, that might be redundant, lynch mobs by nature are angry.
Hiram Lodge is the richest man in Riverdale and is married to the former Hermione something.
Beavers build dams and nest in lodges.
The Eskimo Yupik tribe uses dried beaver testicles as a pain anesthetic.
The Cleveland Indians baseball team is referred to affectionately as “the Tribe.” The traditional team symbol is Chief Wahoo, whose cartoon appearance has grown more flattering over the years but who still draws protests for being racist.
The Indians were named after a popular former player for the Cleveland Spiders, Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian from Maine.
“Remember the Maine!” was a rallying cry during the immediate build up of the Spanish-American War.
“Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” were the battle cries of Houston’s forces at San Jacinto, which was also the scene of the event that inspired “The Yellow Rose of Texas”.
[not for play]
nitpick: they were shot and Joseph was defenestrated but they weren’t lynched.
Sam Houston was governor of Texas at the time his state seceded from the Union. He remained loyal to the United States and was forced from office. He warned of the folly of secession and the inevitable ruin of the Confederacy before retiring to his home.
New York City’s Houston Street is pronounced “HOW-ston,” rather than “HYEW-ston.”