Borley Rectory

The Borley Rectory, a mansion built in 1863 in Essex and burned to the ground in 1939, had a reputation for being haunted by various spirits. Paranormal researcher Harry Price named it "the most haunted house in England" and wrote two books on the subject. Spooky!

DHL is a international express delivery company, founded in 1969 and purchased by Deutsche Post in 2002. The name comes from the three initials of the last names of the founders.

The Baby Ruth candy bar was originally named the Kandy Kake when it debuted in 1916. The name was changed in 1921 to Baby Ruth, and the company claimed that this was not in honor of the baseball great but actually for the young daughter of president Grover Cleveland, Ruth Cleveland. However, she had died in 1904, and Babe Ruth was popular then, so draw your own conclusions.

Stonewall Jackson

Thomas Jackson, a Confederate general, got his nickname 'Stonewall' at the first battle of Bull Run, in July, 1861. He was accidentally wounded by Confederate soldiers in 1863, at Chancellorsville.

The Storting is the parliament of Norway, which was first constituted in 1814.

The Seychelles are a republic archipelago located north of Madagascar and east of Zanzibar. The capital city is Victoria. It has the smallest population of any African country.

The Juice Box is a nickname for Houston Astros’ home field, Minute Maid Park. The ballpark was first christened as Enron Field in 1999. After big scandal, the field was renamed Astros Field in 2002 until June 5, when Houston-based Minute Maid acquired the naming rights to the stadium for 28 years at a price exceeding $100 million.

Mr. T's birth name is Laurence Tureaud, which he briefly spelled Tero.

John André

John André was a British officer hanged in 1780 as a spy during the American Revolution. Admired even by the American commanders, he wrote a poem while awaiting execution that ends with the lines, "A few more setting suns at most / Shall land me on fair Canaan's coast / Where I shall sing the song of grace / And see my glorious Hiding Place."

Lake Pontchartrain

Lake Pontchartrain, located in Louisiana, is the second-largest salt lake in the United States.

'La Maja desnuda' ("The Nude Maja") is a painting by Francisco de Goya. It depicts an unclothed woman reclining on a bed, and is considered the first non-religious, full-size female nude in Western art. It was confiscated by the Inquisition, and Goya painted a 'Clothed Maja' in 1803.

Sirius

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky (though not the closest), found in the constellation Canis Major.

It's seriously bright

A mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple time named after a region and sub-ethnic group, the Mazurs from Mazuria.

Alvin Toffler

Alvin Toffler was a writer and futurist, best known for his works Future Shock and The Third Wave. He predicted how technology will shape how people feel and interact in a post-industrial society.

The Original Six are the NHL teams which made up the league in the 25 seasons before the expansion in 1967. The teams are: Montreal Canadiens (founded in 1909), Toronto Maple Leafs (1917); Boston Bruins (1924); New York Rangers (1925); Detroit Red Wings (1926); and Chicago Blackhawks (1926)

The Miss America competition began as a beauty contest in Atlantic City in 1921. It moved to Las Vegas in 2006.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt van Rijn was thought to have produced over ninety self-portraits, but more modern estimates put the figure at closer to forty paintings, plus thirty etchings. Modern scholarship puts his total painting output at around 300 pieces, with an equal number of etchings.

Most innings in an MLB game

The longest game by innings in Major League Baseball was a 1-1 tie in the National League between the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers in 26 innings, at Braves Field in Boston on May 1, 1920.

Boston Celtics NBA championships

The Boston Celtics have 17 NBA championships, with a record eight straight win in the years 1959-1966 (and two more wins in '68 and '69).

"To take silk" is an expression meaning to become a senior barrister (appointed Queen's Counsel).

Hermann Goering was Hitler's commander of the Luftwaffe and was a WWI ace, with 22 confirmed kills. He committed suicide by cyanide at Nuremberg.

In golf, a birdie is one under par, while an eagle is two under. The best is the "condor." A score one over par is a bogie.

Pierrot

Pierrot is a stock character of French and Italian mime and Commedia dell'Arte. His character is that of the sad clown pining with unrequited love for Columbine, who leaves him for Harlequin. He is also in the song 'Au Clair de la lune."

Martin Van Buren has several factoid-related bits. (1) He was the first president to be born an American citizen, born 1782, after the Revolution. (2) He was the first president not of British descent. (3) He was nicknamed "Old Kinderhook," or O.K., from the village where he was born. (4) Along with Thomas Jefferson, he served as Secretary of State, VP, and then president, the 'Triple Crown' of US politics. (5) He was the only president to see both the US Revolution and the Civil War, living from 1782 to 1862.

The Gold Coast

The Gold Coast was the old colonial name for present-day Ghana.  Its flag had an elephant.

Black and gold are the colors for all of Pittsburgh's professional sports teams. Exempli gratia, the Steelers, the Pirates, the Penguins.

"Miserlou" (or "Misirlou") is best known as a surf-rock instrumental by Dick Dale (later covered by the Beach Boys and many others), but its roots are far older, being a Turkish-Greek song about a Muslim Greek woman.

The ultraviolet catastrophe was an incorrect prediction in early 20th-century physics that an ideal black body at thermal equilibrium will emit radiation with infinite power. Max Planck's law was later found to "solve" this problem, showing that electromagnetic energy is emitted in discrete packets of energy proportional to the frequency. Also, "ultraviolet catastrophe" would be an excellent band name.

Aldo Moro was a two-time Prime Minister of Italy who was kidnapped off the streets of Rome by the Red Brigades in 1978 and killed by them.

Aberdeen is known as "The Granite City" because of the amount of the rock found in the vicinity.

Mugwumps were Republican political activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884.