The flag of Nepal is the only national flag that is not a rectangle. It can also be made (including designs) by straightedge and compass by following the directions in the Nepalese Constitution.
Nepal has the densest concentration of World Heritage Sites. The Kathmandu Valley alone – one of my favorite places – has seven World Heritage Cultural sites within a radius of 15 kilometers.
The World President gives the robot Andrew a prize in Isaac Asimov’s novella “The Bicentennial Man.”
This year is the Bicentennial of, among many other things, the Battle of Leipzig at which Napoleon was dealt a major defeat, the Massacre at Fort Mims in Alabama which set off the Creek Civil War that is usually counted as part of the War of 1812 due to the involvement of Andrew Jackson, and the publication of Pride and Prejudice.
Brad Whitaker, the villain of the James Bond film The Living Daylights, had several life-size wax figurines of himself dressed as “famous commanders” from history such as Napoleon, Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan. When visiting General Pushkin described them as “butchers”, Whitaker corrected, "Surgeons. They cut away society’s dead flesh."
One of Adolf Hitler’s last public appearances was presenting medals to the little boys who were vainly trying to defend Berlin from the Soviet Army’s advance.
Harpo Marx’s first name was “Adolph.” He changed it to “Arthur” in the 1911, after being teased because it sounded so German.
Ginger Rogers, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, and Tennessee Williams were all born in 1911.
One of Ginger Rogers’ demands that was in her contract for the movie Roxie Hart (the inspiration for the musical Chicago) was the building of a metal staircase for one dance number, in exchange for which she agreed to dance the Black Bottom (a number she didn’t want to do).
Jack Black, whose full name is Thomas Jacob Black, often competes for the same parts with Philip Seymour Hoffman. On the The School of Rock (2003) DVD audio commentary, he jokingly calls Hoffman “my nemesis.”
George Henry Thomas, whose loyalties were suspect in the North at the outbreak of the Civil War because of his Virginia birth, was repeatedly asked to swear newly-revised loyalty oaths to the United States. He told a friend, “I’d take an oath before every meal if it meant that I could serve my country.” He rose to the rank of major general in the U.S. Army.
After the Speech from the Throne, the Prime Minister of Canada moves first reading of a pro forma bill, “An Act respecting Oaths of Office,” which has no content and is never considered again in that session.
The bill is purely symbolic, to emphasise the independence of the Commons, which decides what matters it will discuss, and when, rather than proceeding immediately to the matters requested by the Crown in the Throne Speech.
The official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada is the gated and wooded waterfront mansion 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa. Unlike the White House, it functions only as a residence and does not symbolize the office of its occupant.
Although President George Washington picked the site for the White House and supervised its construction, the first person to live in it was his successor, John Adams. It was still incomplete, drafty and cold when Adams moved in.
Abigail Adams hung laundry to dry in the East Room of the White House–no doubt taking advantage of the drafts.
Early presidents paid for their own White House servants, which is why slaveholding Presidents usually brought some of their domestic slaves with them. In spite of the presidential salary being a huge income for the time, Thomas Jefferson went into the hole due to the size of his staff (including a French chef) and his entertainment and wine budget. Servants quarters were in the basement.
By coincidence, you wrote this on the 212th anniversary of the date he moved in.
Marlo Thomas – who is 75! :eek: – remained friends with That Girl costar Ted Bessell until his death in 1996. Thomas insisted Bessell see a doctor (which he did), when he complained of chest pains only days before he died.
Ted Bessell played the First Husband, a former astronaut, in the short-lived 1980s sitcom Hail to the Chief which starred Patty Duke as the first female president.
Ted Danson likes to tap dance.
Tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson held the world record for the 100-meter dash backwards.