The “Dry” in Canada Dry’s name refers to not being sweet, as in a dry wine. When it originated it was less sweet than other ginger ales of the day.
The establishment of the North Fork of Long Island as a wine growing area is due to the efforts of Louisa and Alex Hargrave, who chose Cutchogue, NY as the location for their new winery in 1973. Grapes hadn’t been grown in the area in a century, which meant that there were few pests that might attack the grape plants, and the location – between Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay – was much like the grape growing region of Bordeaux. Though ridiculed at first, Hargraves wines were well regarded and successful enough so that there are over 40 wineries in the area. The Hargraves sold their winery in 1999 and it’s currently being operated as Castello di Borghisi.
A Long Island Iced Tea is made with vodka, gin, tequila, and rum, usually along with Triple Sec and cola for coloring. with an alcohol content around 22 percent. Although its origins are naturally obscure, Robert “Rosebud” Butt claims to have invented the drink as an entry in a contest to create a new mixed drink including Triple Sec in 1972 while he worked at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island, NY.
The Long Island Islanders hockey team won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships between 1980 and 1983, the seventh of eight dynasties recognized by the NHL in its history. Also between 1980 and 1984 they won 19 consecutive playoff series, a feat still unparalleled in the history of professional sports.
Billy Joel’s song Downeaster Alexa was written to bring attention to Long Island (and other) fishermen who were financially devastated due to depletion of traditionally harvested fish from overfishing and the protection of other fish species by conservationists; the title comes from a kind of boat, a downeaster, and the name of Billy Joel’s daughter, Alexa.
Several key scenes in John Irving’s bestselling novel A Widow for One Year are set on Long Island.
Albert Einstein spent the summer of 1939 at Nassau Point on Long Island. While there he was asked to write a letter to FDR written by Leo Szilard, urging the development of the atomic bomb. Szilard had never visited the area before and had to ask directions. Perhaps this is why the letter’s return address was listed as “Old Grove Road” when the address was actually “Old Cove Road.” The road has since be renamed to “East Cove Road,” confusing those who try to find the house where Einstein stayed.
The Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann was the first person to synthesize, ingest and learn of the psychedelic effects of LSD, in Basel, Switzerland. He synthesized it on November 16, 1938, then set it aside for 4-1/2 years until trying it on April 19, 1943, and boy was that one helluva bicycle ride home that evening, so much so that April 19 subsequently became known as Bicycle Day among certain groups.
Albert I, King of the Belgians, took personal command of the Belgian Army and stayed with his troops throughout World War I, in the tiny strip of unoccupied Belgium. His wife, Queen Elisabeth, served as a nurse, and he allowed his young son and heir to enlist as a private in the Army and fight in the lines.
Upon the liberation of Belgium, the royal family returned to a hero’s welcome.
Agatha Christie’s immaculately dressed and meticulous private detective Hercule Poirot was often mistaken for a Frenchman but, as he invariably noted, he was, in fact, Belgian.
The film version of Cole Porter’s Broadway musical Fifty Million Frenchmen, about a couple of Yanks enjoying Prohibition-free life in Gay Paree, omitted the songs, including the classic “You Do Something to Me”.
Robert Goulet’s movie debut was as a voice in the animated Gay Purr-ee, which was also Judy Garland’s only role as voice talent.
Their characters were respectively Jaune-Tom and Mewsette.
The overall race leader in the Tour de France wears le maillot jaune, the yellow jersey.
An all-yellow flag is, when flown from a ship, the symbol of quarantine.
Justice of the Peace Roy Bean (he was never officially a judge) named the west Texas community he lived in Langtry and his saloon/courtroom the Jersey Lilly, both in honor of actress/royal mistress Lillie Langtry.
Rowan Atkinson of Mr Bean fame has suffered with a stammer for many years and hence does not like giving interviews.
Each lima bean contains a small amount of cyanide, though not enough to cause any effect.
With a population approaching nine million, Lima is the capital and most populous metropolitan area of Peru, and the fifth largest city in the Americas.
The Lima, Ohio Army Tank Plant, built in 1941, is the sole producer of the M1 Abrams.