The author’s name was Edgar Allan Poe not Edgar Allen Poe. He was born Edgar Poe but when he was orphaned, he was taken in by John and Frances Allan and he subsequently changed his name.
Dick Francis received more Edgar Awards for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America than any other writer. He received that honor for*** Forfeit***, Whip Hand, and Come to Grief.
Ed McBain, who held the Mystery Writers of America’s coveted Grand Master Award, was the only American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association’s highest award.
Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was arrested on Friday the 13th of October, 1307, and charged with heresy, sodomy, etc. He was eventually executed by slow fire near Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris.
The Atomic Knights was a DC science fiction comic about a post-nuclear-apocalypse world of 1992. The knights discovered a handful of ancient armor that was impervious to radiation, and tried to bring order to the fragmented society.
HG Wells and Jules Verne are both often referenced as the “father of science fiction.”
Hg is the symbol for the element Mercury, which is the only elemental metal which is liquid at room temperature.
Although oxygen gas is colorless, the liquid and solid forms of oxygen are blue.
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about several wizards: Saruman the White, Gandalf the Grey, Radagast the Brown, and two blue wizards, but to the end of his days he never quite decided who they were or if they turned to evil after heading into the east of Middle-earth.
The Mandarin name for China, Zhong guo, means “middle (or central) kingdom”, implying that the land is at the center of civilization.
The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World contains Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Main Street USA and Tomorrowland.
The director Orson Wells had a lifelong interest in magic. During World War II, he had his own magic show that he presented for members of the US armed forces. His assistants at times included such stars as Rita Hayworth and Marlene Dietrich.
Rita Hayworth’s first significant film role was in Only Angels Have Wings, in which Cary Grant runs a shoestring airline in South America. For some reason, a brief line in which Grant addresses Hayworth’s character, became the signature quote “Judy, Judy” used by amateur impersonators.
Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire danced together in the film You Were Never Lovelier.
John Fred and His Playboy Band was a one-hit wonder with “Judy in Disguise (with Glasses).” The title was influenced by “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
The 1975 hit “Fallin’ in Love” by the trio Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds, was the only single ever released on the Playboy Records label to reach #1 on the Billboard charts.
By the time this single charted, however, the band’s name was an anachronism, as founding member/pianist Tom Reynolds had been replaced by Alan Dennison three years earlier.
Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. magazine, worked briefly as a Bunny at the New York Playboy Club, to do research for an article exposing the seamy inside story for Huntington Hartford’s *Show *magazine. The cover photo showed her in full regalia.
Woody Guthrie died of Huntington’s Chorea, a hereditary nervous disorder that was once widely known as “St. Vitus’ Dance.”
City of New Orleans is closely associated with singer Arlo Guthrie, who sang and released it in his 1972 album, Hobo’s Lullaby. The song was written by Steve Goodman who sang and released it in his self-titled 1971 album. Goodman performed it until his death in 1984. The song has also been covered by Willie Nelson, John Denver, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Jerry Reed, Chet Atkins, Hank Snow, and others.
There have been five U.S. Navy ships named after the Crescent City. The current USS New Orleans is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, commissioned in 2007 and currently in active service.