The Canary Islands were named after. . .
Beats the hell out of me.
Most sources say they were named after local dogs (Insula Canaria, “Island of Dogs” or “Dog Island”).
Pliny believed that they were named after the local savages, yclept Canarii after their dog-like eating habits (whatever that meant).
There’s some other speculation that they were indeed named after dogs, but the “dogs” were actually an extinct species of seal.
On the one hand, “Jet” was founded by John H Johnson. OTOH, I always thought that BET was a branch of Johnson Publishing. Live in Chicago for a while and you start thinking anybody named Johnson is one of those Johnsons, like anybody named Pritzker is one of those Pritzkers.
Love that book! Almost went into urban planning because of it, too.
Not quite. Castle of the Otter. I happen to own a copy from the Science Fiction Book Club printing. Not the most entertaining read, to be sure.
Noted jazz musician Billy Tipton was found, at the time of his death, to have actually been female: Billy Tipton - Wikipedia
Bea Kauffman, who wrote Up The Down Staircase, is the maternal granddaugher of Shalem Alecihem.
Bock & Harnick should really turn that book into a musical.
The U.S. Supreme Court lacked a quorum when it first met in a Philadelphia tavern, so it immediately adjourned. It had so few cases in its first few years that its decisions were published at the back of the Pennsylvania courts’ reporters (case books).
It’s so easy to look at the picture (in the linked article) and say, “Well, of course!”
Key West was originally named Cay Huesos(sp?) or Island of Bones. Supposedly the original discoverer found a huge pile of bones on the island.
Bimini is supposedly the Spanish word for the Garden Of Eden.
Here’s a recent bit of trivia, it would have been more appropos if you had posted that bit about Peter Jackson and Sir Christopher Lee. 
The main “Killer Hippie Terrorist” in the Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry vehicle “The Enforcer” was played by DeVeren Bookwalter, wearing a headband to clearly convey “Killer Hippie Terrorist.”
He was also the lead in Andy Warhol’s minimalist “Blow Job,” (image SFW) a 35-minute filmed close-up of Bookwalter’s face as he received fellatio, performed out of the camera’s view. According to imdb.com, but never confirmed by Warhol, the eponymous act was performed by experimental filmaker Willard Mass.
Mass and his wife Marie Menken were Edward Albee’s inspiration for George and Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
In an early draft, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective hero was named Sherrinford Holmes.
Wilbur and Orville Wright attended high school with black poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. The Wrights later invested in Dunbar’s newspaper for the black community of Dayton.
The Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, was born in Ireland while his father was a British government official there. He was not fond of the Irish, though, and emphasized his English heritage. He is often quoted as saying, “Just because you were born in a barn doesn’t mean you are a horse.”
What? google “tom selleck indiana jones”?
Because it’s mmm, mmm, good. Had some today, in fact.
Wikipedia:
See? The readers of Playboy weren’t just looking at the pictures!
AB
Avowed fan of the Carpenter’s, so nyeah!
(and kudos to the bear right, left frog)
Halle Berry was named for a Cleveland department store.
Kobe Bryant was named for a Philadelphia Japanese restaurant.
Weird Al Yankovic is NOT related to Frankie Yankovic, The Polka King.
You all know from elementary school about the water cycle: liquid, solid, and vapor. Just learned yesterday, at a science museum, the ratios for how much of the world’s water is in each state at any given time:
Liquid: 97%+
Solid: 2%+
Vapor: .001%
And King was the only Vice President to take the oath of office outside the United States and never set foot in the county during his whole term. From Wikipedia:
