Because New Year’s Day used to be in March, British scientist Sir Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day in 1642 by the Old Style 1643 by new style; George Washington was born in 1731 OS, 1732 modern style.
Fig Newtons are not named after Isaac Newton; they are named for the town of Newton (originally Newtown) in Massachusetts, where they were first baked.
Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote America The Beautiful and Samuel F. Smith, who wrote the “My country 'tis of thee” lyrics which changed God Save the King into America both lived parts of their lives in Newton.
Keith Emerson and the Nice burned the U.S. flag on stage at the Royal Albert Hall, while playing “America” from the musical West Side Story.
Playwright Terrence McNally wrote the female lead in Frankie & Johnnie, a comedy-drama about two unattractive middle aged lovers, with his friend Kathy Bates in mind and she originated the role on Broadway; when the movie version was filmed the role of the overweight frumpy middle aged Frankie was played by Michelle Pfeiffer (who was then 33).
Atty. Michelle Robinson was asked to supervise a young new lawyer named Barack at the Chicago law firm where she worked. They later married and had two children; he now holds a government job and they all live in Federally-subsidized housing.
Rudyard Kipling’s classic poems “Gunga Din”, “Danny Deever”, and “Mandalay” appeared first in “Barrack Room Ballads”
The flying fishes don’t play on the Road to Mandalay – it’s not near the ocean.
Mandalay is a city in the country known as either Burma or Myanmar.
Burma Shave shaving cream came to national fame in the U.S. with its gimmick advertising consisting of a series of signs containing a humorous rhyme which ended with the Burma Shave brand name.
The Burmese concubine Tuptim in the movie The King and I was portrayed by Rita Moreno, in real life Puerto Rican and perhaps best known for her role in West Side Story.
In 1978, Eddie Figueroa of the Yankees became the first Puerto Rican pitcher to win 20 games in a season.
George M. Cohan personally chose James Cagney to play him in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).
Loretta Swit played Chris Cagney in the TV movie “Cagney and Lacey.” Meg Foster played her the first season of the series. Foster was replaced by Sharon Gless who (coincidentally?) married the producer. Though the show was widely hailed by feminists, Foster was replaced, in part, because surveys showed she was regarded as insufficiently feminine.
The role of Major Margaret J. “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the MASH television series was given to Lorreta Swit after Sally Kellerman (who played Houlihan in the movie) turned it down.
The only regular from the movie who reprised their role on the TV series was Gary Burghoff (Radar O’Reilly)
Sally Kellerman, who appeared with Burghoff in the MASH* movie, also appeared in the second Star Trek pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” playing Dr. Elizabeth Dehner.
Gary Burghoff previously played the title role on Broadway in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”.
The song Charlie Brown was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It became a top-ten hit for the Coasters in 1959.
Lieber and Stoller’s biggest early success was “Hound Dog”, originally by Big Mama Thornton and later rearranged for Elvis Presley.