Uncle Fred, Earl of Ickenham in the Wodehouse universe, once played the confidence trick on a pink chap in the street, conning the pink chap into giving Uncle Fred his wallet. Uncle Fred’s interest was purely scientific, and he popped the wallet in the post to return to the pink chap the next day.
Unfortunately, the pink chap happened to be Viscount Bosham, son and heir of the Earl of Emsworth, whom Uncle Fred and his long-suffering nephew, Pongo, were to visit. Complications naturally ensued, in part involving Bosham’s fondness for his shotgun.
Off-Play:
The Irish Rovers have always been based in Canada, being formed in Toronto and performing in Canada all their career. You don’t have to live in Ireland to be Irish!
Then-Lady Diana Spencer’s father was the Earl Spencer. Although frail and in ill health, he was able to walk her down the aisle for her wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1981.
The Rideau Canal, built between 1826 and 1832 and which contains 47 locks, was built for military reasons. It links Ottawa with Kingston, which is located on Lake Ontario. Ottawa in turn is connected to Montreal by the Ottawa Rivier. The Rideau Canal ensured that if the Americans ever invaded and seized control of the St. Lawrence between Kingston and Montreal, there would be an alternative water route for military transport.
A root canal is the space within the root of a tooth. Part of a naturally occurring space within a tooth, it consists of the pulp chamber (within the coronal part of the tooth), the main canal(s), and more intricate anatomical branches that may connect the root canals to each other or to the surface of the root.
The most successful pulp magazines of the 1920’s-1930’s were* Argosy*, Adventure, Blue Book and Short Stories described by some pulp historians as “The Big Four”.
During a 50 day visit with King Thespius, Hercules impregnated 49 of Thespius’s 50 daughters (with his host’s consent and blessing). A 50th daughter refused to sleep with him, becoming instead a virgin priestess of Hercules’ temple after his death.
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules, assembled in Marietta, Georgia, has been in production continuously since 1954, setting the record for longest production run by a military aircraft. The civilian record is held by the Beech Bonanza, assembled in Wichita, Kansas, which was introduced to the market in 1947.
Eduard Shevardnadze was the last Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev, and the first President of the newly independent Georgia, following the break-up of the USSR. Pizza is now available in the independent Georgia, a clear sign of peaceful progress.
Well, the Ukraine girls really knock me out,
They leave the West behind.
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia’s always on my my my my my my my my my my mind …
The West Coast offense, popularized by Chargers coach Don Coryell and Niners coach Bill Walsh, is characterized by short, horizontal passing routes in lieu of running plays to “stretch out” defenses, opening up the potential for long runs or long passes. The name was coined by Bill Parcells, derisively, after his NY Giants easily beat the Niners in a playoff game.
Marguerite Henry’s Newbery-winning children’s book Misty of Chincoteague exposed the world to Pony Penning Day, the annual wild horse roundup/swim on the island of Chincoteague, Virginia, on the Delmarva Peninsula.
The Avalon Peninsula is connected to the island of Newfoundland by the narrow Isthmus of Avalon, only 5 km wide. The peninsula was named for Avalon in England, near Glastonbury, and was one of the earliest areas of Canada to be settled by Europeans.
Avalon or Ynys Afallon in Welsh (probably from the Welsh word afal, meaning apple) is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 1136 pseudo-historical account Historia Regum Britanniae (“The History of the Kings of Britain”) as the place where King Arthur’s sword Excalibur (Caliburnus) was forged and later where Arthur was taken to recover from his wounds after the Battle of Camlann.
