Mary Queen of Scots was also Queen of France until 1560 when her husband King Francis II died at the age of 16. Rue Marie Stuart in Paris’ 2eme Arrondissement is named after her. Before it was closed to automobile traffic, the minimal legal “round the block” auto trip touching Rue Marie Stuart required visiting seven separate streets.
The BBC Radio broadcast of “The Death of Mary, Queen of Scots” introduced Monty Python’s “Penguin on the television” sketch.
In Lyle Lovett’s song “Penguins,” the original lyrics were “I don’t go for fancy cars/For diamond rings/Or movie stars.” After his marriage to Julia Roberts ended, he stopped singing the words “movie stars” when performing it. He hums instead.
The famous kitchen of Julia Child was donated by her, moved to the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. and reassembled there, and is now open for visitors.
Julia Child was a civilian researcher for the OSS during World War II.
The principle of civilian control of the military is essential to democratic government, which is why the Framers wrote it into the Constitution, making the elected civilian President the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military.
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl of Kitchener, was Secretary of State for War in the UK when World War I broke out, after having served as commander-in-chief in India. He was the model for the famous “[picture of Kitchener] Wants You!” poster, which was later appropriated for the US war effort, replacing his picture with that of Uncle Sam.
Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario hosts an Oktoberfest, based on the German version, and called Canada’s Greatest Bavarian Festival.
Bavarian mustard is a spicy-sweet mustard containing brown sugar and horseradish.
(and is DELICIOUS, which is not a fact, merely this mustard connoisseur’s opinion)
Helen, Georgia is a small mountain town with buildings designed to look like a [vaguely] Alpine village and whose biggest event each year is a Bavarian Oktoberfest.
“Helen Wheels,” a song on the Band on the Run album, took its name from Paul McCartney’s car.
Paul McCartney was actually in a band prior to Wings! (Joke trivia. But that was an actual comment I heard in the 1970s, said by a VERY young girl to her friend while they were waiting to buy Wings tickets. There was definitely an exclamation mark in her voice. :smack:)
Here’s the real one: McCartney’s song “When I’m 64” was written for his father Jim on his 64th birthday.
John Paul Jones, after winning glory in the American Revolution for the patriots’ cause, was hired by Catherine the Great of Russia to command her fleet against the Ottoman Turks. He died in Paris, but his remains were exhumed many years later and reinterred in Annapolis, Md., at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Catherine the Great never slept with a horse, that was a vicious rumor started by her enemies. Though her ladies is waiting did ‘tryouts’ for her future lovers.
Suetonius’ history, The Lives of the Caesars, says that the Roman emperor Caligula tried to have his favorite horse, Incitatus, made a consul. Modern historians are divided over whether this is true; some think Caligula was capable ruler who has been unfairly portrayed.
Caligula’s real name was Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus; Caligula was a childhood nickname meaning “Little Boots” because his father (stepson of Augustus and a military hero) had a miniature Roman legionnaire’s uniform, including miniature soldier’s boots (caliga), made for him.
Legionnaires’ disease first acquired its name in July 1976, when an outbreak of pneumonia occurred among people attending a convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia.
In July 1976 West Point and Annapolis admitted women for the first time.
The final College All-Star Game (an exhibition football game, pitting the previous season’s NFL champion team against a team of college all-stars) was played in Chicago on July 23, 1976. The game was suspended late in the third quarter, with the Pittsburgh Steelers leading the all-stars, 24-0, due to heavy rain. After unruly fans stormed the field, and tore down the goal posts, the decision was made to not resume the game.
John Carroll founded Georgetown University, the first Catholic college in the United States. Carroll later became the first Catholic bishop in the United States.