Both Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince set records as the fastest-selling books in history.
American Idols
The “most admired people of the 20th century,” compiled by the Gallup Organization:
- Mother Teresa
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- John F. Kennedy
- Albert Einstein
- Helen Keller
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Billy Graham
- Pope John Paul II
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Winston Churchill
- Dwight Eisenhower
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Nelson Mandela
- Ronald Reagan
- Henry Ford
- Bill Clinton
- Margaret Thatcher
Bite, Please
Tyrannosaurus rex closed its jaws with a force of 4 tons, the strongest bite of any dinosaur.
In a Word
rutilant
adj. shining; glowing ruddily
“I Travelled Among Unknown Men”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth used to roam the hills and coast of southwest England on long night walks; eventually the local villagers began to whisper that they were spies for the French.
The government sent an agent to investigate; he reported that they were “mere poets.”
Casting a Shadow
When the Eiffel Tower was first built, it was regarded as an eyesore.
Guy de Maupassant ate regularly at a restaurant at the tower’s base — he said it was the one place in Paris he could be sure he wouldn’t see it.
Duck!
Famous people who have been hit with pies:
- Pat Buchanan, politician and columnist (hit with a salad)
- Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, monarch
- Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and chairman
- Jean-Luc Godard, filmmaker
- Calvin Klein, clothing designer
- Helmut Kohl, former chancellor of Germany
- Ralph Nader, American Green party politician
- Oscar de la Renta, fashion designer
- William Shatner, then-Star Trek star
- Jeffrey Skilling, Enron CEO
- Sylvester Stallone, action movie star
- Andy Warhol, artist
Big Shoes
Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park, was 6 foot 9.
Starting Early
A is an Abolitionist —
A man who wants to free
The wretched slave — and give to all
An equal liberty.
B is a Brother with a skin
Of somewhat darker hue,
But in our Heavenly Father’s sight,
He is as dear as you.
C is the Cotton-field, to which
This injured brother’s driven,
When, as the white-man’s slave, he toils,
From early morn till even.
— From The Anti-Slavery Alphabet, a children’s book printed for an anti-slavery fair, 1847
Looking for the Next Best Thing
When singer Warren Zevon (“Werewolves of London”) was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, he said he just hoped to live long enough to see the next James Bond movie.
He did.
The film was called Die Another Day.