St. Lawrence River

The St. Lawrence River connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.  Jacques Cartier arrived there on St. Lawrence's feast day, thus the name.

Domestique in biking

In bike racing, a domestique is a rider who rides for the benefit of a team rather than trying to win the race.  The most typical example is a someone who rides ahead of the leader to reduce wind resistance.

Memphis

Memphis is located on the Mississippi River.  The river is the western border of the city.

Oscar de la Renta

Born on July 22, 1932, fashion designer Oscar de la Renta was raised alongside six sisters in a middle-class household in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Patrice Lumumba of the Congo

Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first Prime Minister of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo from June until September 1960. He played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic.  He was assassinated in a CIA plot in 1961.

On How Life Is

On How Life Is was the 1999 debut album by Macy Gray.

Shaggy's real name

The rapper Shaggy (not Norville Rogers) was born Orville Richard Burrell in Kingston, Jamaica in 1968.  He was a U.S. Marine!

King of Great Britain in WWII

George VI was the ruler of Great Britain from 1936-52, and at the outbreak of WWII became a symbol of British resistance and determination, as dramatized in the film The King's Speech.

Christmas tree lights

In drag racing, the system of starting lights is called a Christmas tree.

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada.

Bryology

Brylogy is the study of mosses and liverworts.  From the Greek byron, a moss or liverwort.  Johann Hedwig is the father of bryology.

The first neon sign

The first neon sign was said to have been used in Paris in 1913 to make letters for Cinzano vermouth.  This is disputed.  Was it for a hairdresser?  Maybe a barber.