Friday, May 22, 2015

Trivia Bits 22 May

 

Larry Adler

American musician, Larry Adler (pictured) who was widely acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled harmonica players was black balled during the McCarthy era and later wrote his autobiography It Ain't Necessarily So in 1985.

Although it was a hoax gone awry, scientists originally believed Drake's Plate of Brass to be genuine, based on initial metallurgical studies with the Plate of Brass purported to be the brass plaque that Francis Drake posted upon landing in Northern California in 1579

The hardest grade of pencil is 9H a very hard, light-marking pencil whilst the very soft, black-marking pencil is graded as 9B.

A papal envoy who carries insignia or presents of honour to newly appointed cardinals or civil dignitaries are called Apostolic ablegates and are of higher rank than those designated pontifical.

Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tasmania Sydney Orr, after falsifying his academic record in his application, the University dismissed him in 1955 for sexual relations with an undergraduate student which was denied but appeals to the Tasmanian Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia were unsuccessful.

Sculpted in 1984, the largest statue of a mosquito is a roadside attraction in Komarno, Manitoba, the Mosquito Capital of Canada, is made of steel and has a wingspan of 15 feet also a weathervane, swivelling in the wind.

16th Century Italian scholar Antonio Bosio, the first systematic explorer of the Catacombs of Rome was known as the Columbus of subterranean Rome.

A 1942 American period drama, The Magnificent Ambersons was directed by Orson Welles after Citizen Kane, was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and starred Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins, with Welles providing the narration.

Released in 2014, The Silver Moon: Reflections on Life, Death and Writing is the memoir of Australian best-selling author Bryce Courtney.

The capital of Portugal was moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at that time a colony of Portugal, from 1807 until 1821 while Portugal was fighting France in the Napoleonic Wars.

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