Canada’s Constitution Act of 1867 provides that any act of a provincial legislature must be promptly sent to the Governor General and that the governor general-in-council (federal Cabinet) may disallow any such Act (wipe it off the statute book) within one year. One hundred and twelve provincial Acts have been disallowed, in every province except PEI and Newfoundland, for a variety of reasons: they were considered unconstitutional, “contrary to Dominion policy” or “Dominion interest,” or “contrary to reason, justice and natural equity.” The last disallowance was in 1943.
French Provincial furniture is marked by cabriole legs and simple scalloped carving. Dining chairs often have a wheat pattern carving, a ladder back, and a woven rush seat.
French warships under the command of the Comte de Grasse were vital to the success of George Washington’s Yorktown campaign in the fall of 1781, keeping Lord Cornwallis’s British army from being resupplied or evacuated by sea.
The Province of Saskatchewan produces 10% of the world’s wheat crop. Historically, much of that crop went to British markets, but Saskatchewan wheat now is sold world-wide.
Like the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League, the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League are community-owned. The team’s most recent Grey Cup win was in 2013.
The SkyTrail Bridge in Outlook, Saskatchewan is the longest pedestrian bridge in Canada. It is part of the Trans Canada Trail. The bridge spans over 914 metres (3,000 feet) and is over 45 metres (over 150 feet) above the South Saskatchewan River.
With a deck height of 955 feet (291 m), the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado is the tallest bridge in the United States, and was the tallest bridge in the world between 1929 and 2003. It’s primary purpose is not for transportation, but as a tourist attraction for the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park. The park was devastated in the 2013 Colorado wildfire season, and while the bridge itself was not significantly damaged, it remained closed until March 15, 2014 when it was reopened on a limited basis. The park is expected to fully reopen by August 2014.
At 11,158’ high, the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 at Loveland Pass in Colorado was the highest vehicular tunnel in the world when it opened to traffic on March 8, 1973. Today it is still the highest vehicular tunnel in the United States, and the longest mountain tunnel and the highest point on the Interstate Highway system. It is about 50 miles west of Denver.
New York City has four vehicular tunnels leading into Manhattan: The Holland Tunnel, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (officially the Hugh Carey Tunnel, but no one calls it that). The latter is the longest continuous underwater tunnel in the world.
The Manhattan cocktail — traditionally made with rye (or bourbon), sweet vermouth, aromatic bitters, and a maraschino or brandied cherry (for garnish) — is one of five cocktails named after the boroughs of New York City. The other four are the Brooklyn Cocktail (rye or blended whiskey, dry vermouth, dash of maraschino liqueur, dash of Amer Picon or Torani Amer or Punt y Mes), the Bronx Cocktail (gin, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, orange juice, orange bitters & orange twist), the Queens Cocktail (gin, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, pineapple juice) and the Staten Island Ferry (Malibu rum & pineapple juice in a highball glass filled 2/3 with ice.)
Three of the boroughs of New York have different names than the counties they are located in. Manhattan is in New York County. Brooklyn is in Kings County. Staten Island is in Richmond County. Only The Bronx and Queens have the same names as the counties they are located in.
Bobby Darin is the only Bronx HS of Science graduate in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
All other NYC boroughs are islands, or parts of an island, except for The Bronx.
MST3K movie Escape 2000 is actually a sequel: to 1990: the Bronx Warriors.
City Island, which is part of the Bronx, has some of the best seafood restaurants in the state, and in summer resembles a small New England shore town.
The New England state of Maine is the only state with a one syllable name.
Although “Down East” is used to refer to Maine by people “from away”, within the state it specifically means the coastal region from Penobscot Bay east to the Canadian border, which coincidentally is the easternmost point in the contiguous US.
The explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor was used by yellow journalists as a way to scare up public opinion in favor of going to war with Spain, especially since early investigations said it was blown up by a mine. However, the explanation was disputed even before the official US report came out by an investigation by Spanish authorities, which was ignored in the US. Later investigations have concluded that the most likely cause of the explosion was a fire in the coal bunker, which was next to the ammunition supply, and historians consider that to be the best explanation today.
The 3rd order Fresnel lens at West Quoddy Head in Lubec, Maine (the easternmost point of the contiguous United States) is the only 3rd order and one of only eight Fresnel lenses still in use on the Maine Coast.
Oh, me father was the keeper of the Eddystone Light
And he slept with a mermaid one fine night.
From this union there came three,
A porpoise and a porgy and the other was me.
Yo ho ho,
The wind blows free,
Oh for the life on the rolling sea.