A very rough flight among Presidential candidates zipping around Iowa airspace before the crucial Iowa caucuses is known as a “La Bamba,” in honor of Richie Valens.
In The Final Days, it’s mentioned that when Nixon was on his 1974 visit to the USSR, the press were on an Aeroflot plane, following Air Force One. The flight was rough, including a blown tire on take-off. At one point, the navigator came out of the flight cabin and went to the stewards. He got three vodka shots and downed one of them immediately. He took the other two shots back to the flight deck, presumably for the pilot and co-pilot.
On 11 October 1910, Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to fly in an aircraft, although at the time of the flight in an early Wright Flyer from Kinloch Field (near St. Louis, Missouri), he was no longer in office, having been succeeded by William Howard Taft. The record-making occasion was a brief overflight of the crowd at a country fair but was nonetheless the beginning of presidential air travel.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to fly in an aircraft while in office.
In 1936, FDR broke with tradition by flying to the Chicago and giving an acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention. Prior to that, candidates avoided the convention (unless they were there as a delegate), and never gave acceptance speech, since it was believed that “the office should seek the man” and showing too much interest in getting nominated showed bad form.
Both 1948 conventions, in the first presidential campaign in 20 years not involving FDR, were held consecutively at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, “The Grand Dame of Broad Street”, with the same furnishings and decorations. It became notorious as the birthplace of “Legionnaire’s Disease” after an outbreak at a 1976 convention of the American Legion.
Legionnaires from DC Comics’ the Legion of Super-Heroes included such winners as Matter-Eater Lad, Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet, Quislet, Calamity King and Porcupine Pete.
King George VI was the last British monarch to hold the title “King-Emperor,” as India won its independence during his reign.
Nitpick: Calamity King and Porcupine Pete only tried out for the LSH. They didn’t make the cut.
On Game: In the film version of Gone With The Wind, India Wilkes is played by Alicia Rhett (as in Butler).
Wilkes Land, a large section of Antarctica formally but ineffectually claimed by Australia, extends from Cape Hordern to Pourquoi Pas Point. It is named for USN Lt. Charles Wilkes, commander of the tumultuous 1838–42 United States Exploring Expedition, which among other things established that Antarctica is a continent.
“Pourquoi Pas?” means “Why not?” in French.
The French Open, also called Roland Garros, dates back to 1891.
Syphilis acquired its nickname “the French disease” after an outbreak in Naples following a French invasion in 1494-5, and its subsequent spread by the returning troops.
Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II.
Young Elvis Presley bombed in his one and only appearance at the Grand Old Opry in 1954, and was told by one Opry VIP that he should stick to driving a truck.
Singer Elvis Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus. He had his name legally changed to Elvis Costello in 1977, then to Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus in 1986. Post-1986, he used both names for professional purposes but usually performed under the Costello moniker. “Aloysius” was not one of his original middle names.
St. Aloysius was a 16th century Italian aristocrat who joined the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of an epidemic.
The first all-brother outfield in major league baseball was made up of Felipe, Matty, and Jesus Alou, who played together for the San Francisco Giants in 1963. All three had long major league careers.
The San Francisco Giants have won the most games of any team in the history of American baseball, and any North American professional sports team. They have won 22 National League pennants and appeared in 19 World Series competitions – both records in the National League. The Giants’ 7 World Series Championships rank second in the National League.
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants 7-3 on July 30, 2013, ending their eight-game losing streak in a home game.
And my son and I were there!
The MLB record for consecutive successful pinch hits is held by Dave Philley, then with, of course, the Phillies, in 1959-60. Philley holds the record for the most at-bats in an American League regulation-inning doubleheader, with 13 AB’s for the White Sox against the St Louis Browns on 5/30/50.