The sinking of the U.S.S. Maine (believed, though never proven, to be the result of Spanish saboteurs) helped to ignite the war between the United States and Spain in 1898.
The Whigs were inspired for the 1840 presidential election by an upset win in Maine’s state-level elections two months earlier. The slogan they used was: “Oh, have you heard how old Maine went? She went hell-bent for Governor Kent, and Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!”
Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln were both Whigs. Lincoln became a Republican when the Whigs diminished to near-irrelevance.
The original British Whigs were opponents of King James II, and were the leaders of the “Glorious Revolution,” in which James was ousted by William (of Orange) and Mary.
The American Whig Party was formed by ardent opponents of Andrew Jackson, who regarded him as a tyrant in the mold of James II.
The iconic introduction to The Adventures of Superman (e.g., "Superman. Strange visitor from another planet . . . " ) was first spoken on radio by announcer Jackson Beck.
Jeff Beck, the British guitarist, is a vegetarian.
The British Royal Navy calls shore bases “stone frigates,” and they are given names as Her Majesty’s Ships just as actual ocean-going warships are.
James Bond got married in the movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but his bride Theresa (played by Diana Rigg) was murdered by Blofeld in the movie’s final scene.
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“Carats” was not in your post in play. But again, no matter.
In play: Telly Savalas, who played Blofeld, was Jennifer Aniston’s godfather.
Marlon Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Godfather but he turned down the Oscar.
George C. Scott was the first actor ever to refuse an Academy Award, for Patton (1970).
Jean-Paul Sartre refused the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964.
The Curie family has received the most prizes, with five.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie – Physics (in 1903) and Chemistry (in 1911).
Pierre Curie (husband), shared the 1903 Physics prize with her
Irène Joliot-Curie, --Chemistry Prize in 1935 together with her husband Frédéric Joliot-Curie.
Marie Curie’s Son-in-Law, Henry Labouisse, --l Peace Prize in 1965
When man-made fires heat magnetite to beyond its Curie Temperature, a snapshot of the Earth’s magnetic field is made, dateable via the fire’s charcoal. Recently, researchers led by Gillian Turner confirmed that the ovens of the ancient Maori people were sufficiently hot for such measurements.
The capital of South Dakota is spelled P-I-E-R-R-E (which is the French word for stone), but is generally pronounced “peer.”
When Jesus said to Peter, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,” his is making a pun. Peter’s name – Petra in Greek – is also the same word as “rock” or “stone.”
As a child, Walt Disney played Peter Pan in a school function.
The avante-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire,whose most famous poem might be one about the Mirabeau Bridge in Paris, frequently mentioned Pan, the Greek God of shepherds, in his poems.
I thought Peter didn’t exist as a forename until Jesus called Simon “the Rock.” No?
Disgraced former Starfleet officer Tom Paris was in custody in a rehabilitation center in New Zealand when he was released at the behest of Capt. Kathryn Janeway in the series premiere of Star Trek: Voyager.