George Washington Custis Lee was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee and, like his father, a Confederate general during the American Civil War. After Robert E. Lee served as president of Washington College, the school was renamed Washington and Lee University, and G.W. Custis Lee succeeded his father as president.
The George Washington Bridge connects the northern tip of Manhattan with Fort Lee, New Jersey. The upper deck carries express traffic (well, it’s a relative term), while the lower deck, locally nicknamed “Martha”, carries local traffic.
The first recorded account of the use of a deck of cards was in the Orient, sometime in the 12th century. The Chinese replaced their bone or ivory playing cards (tiles) they used to play the game of Dominoes with, with a heavy paper kind of playing cards.
The English and French word tarot derives from the Italian tarocchi, which has no known origin or etymology. One theory relates the name “tarot” to the Taro River in northern Italy, near Parma; the game seems to have originated in northern Italy, in Milan or Bologna. Other writers believe it comes from the Arabic word طرق turuq, which means ‘ways’.or it may be from the Arabic ترك taraka, ‘to leave, abandon, omit, leave behind’. According to a French etymology, the Italian tarocco derived from Arabic طرح ṭarḥ, ‘rejection; subtraction, deduction, discount’.
Tarot card readers, jugglers and street entertainers are common sights in Jackson Square, New Orleans.
Tarot was one of the “Hellions” in Marvel Comics. She had a Tarot deck from which she could cause pictures to come alive. She also claimed that she could tell the future with it.
The Canadian comic duo Wayne and Schuster once did a spoof on the “Picture of Dorian Grey”, in which Grey, played by Wayne, is a compulsive eater. Rather than aging, the painting grows more and more obese. At one point, Wayne leads a group of friends through a London fog, carrying flaming shish kabobs as torches.
Marion Morrison was given the stage name of “John Wayne” after the Revolutionary War general “Mad Anthony” Wayne. Director Raoul Walsh wanted him to be named “Anthony Wayne,” but the studio head vetoed it and changed it to John. The decision was made without Wayne being present.
Wayne Newton, who was discovered by Jackie Gleason, was once sued by singer Tony Orlando after Newton locked him out of the Branson, Missouri nightclub the two co-owned.
Vice-presidential candidate Opus the Penguin spoke at the conference of “Americans for Wayne Newton”, but declined to pledge to have Mr Newton appointed to head the special presidential commission on the fine arts, exclaiming, “Are you pulling my leg?”
Two US vice presidents have served under different presidents: George Clinton under both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and John Calhoun under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.
John Quincy Adams served as his father John Adams’s aide and as a diplomat before being elected to his single term as President of the United States. After leaving the White House, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the only former President to do so.
Eight presidents had more than one VP. FDR had three VPs:
#3 Thomas Jefferson: Aaron Burr and George Clinton
#4 James Madison: George Clinton and Elbridge Gerry
#7 Andrew Jackson: John Calhoun and Martin Van Buren
#16 Abraham Lincoln: Hannibal Hamlin and Andrew Johnson
#18 Ulysses Grant: Schuyler Colfax and Henry Wilson
#25 William McKinley: Garret Hobart and Theodore Roosevelt
#32 Franklin Roosevelt: John Garner, Henry Wallace and Harry Truman
#37 Richard Nixon: Spiro Agnew and Gerald Ford
Four presidents did not have any VP:
#10 John Tyler
#13 Millard Fillmore
#17 Andrew Johnson
#21 Chester Arthur
Both of Madison’s Vice-Presidents died in office: Clinton in April, 1812, and Gerry in 1814.
Did Madison have alibis??? (I keed, I keed! :D)
In the movie Splash, the mermaid took on the name “Madison” from the street sign for Madison Avenue. The use of the name in the film led to an enormous jump in popularity for the name in real life, peaking at the third most popular name around 2000.
The first known mermaid stories appeared in Assyria circa 1000 BC.
In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brave Sir Robin was unable to name the capital of Assyria, and thus was thrown from the Bridge of Death.
Assur (also called Ashur) and Ninevah were, at different times, the capitals of Assyria. (If only Brave Sir Robin had had Wikipedia!)
Robins are friendly birds and very popular in Europe. They can also be found in the Azores, Canary Islands, North Africa, central Russia, Turkey and Iran.
The American Robin is a migratory bird and a member of the thrush family. Some other thrushes and Old World flycatchers are also referred to as robins.
It is the male American Robin that sings a lovely and continuous song often described as a cheerily carol. And these robins are said to be among the last songbirds heard singing as evening sets in.