Click Random

They don’t look like much, but this “fourth party” caused a bit of a stir. ( Source ) You still there? Well, if you are, you might not be after this. It’s time for politics — bear in mind that the man voted as “Greatest Briton”, Winston Churchill, was heavily influenced by his father’s politics and beliefs. If you stick around, we’ll get to more scandals with Jack the Ripper. I’m dragging this out a bit, aren’t I? After his graduation in 1870, Randolph first entered the House of Commons in 1874 when he became a Conservative Member of Parliament for Woodstock. His first speech in the House of Commons was said to have grabbed the attention of Benjamin Disraeli, the then Prime Minister. He even wrote to Queen Victoria about Randolph’s “energy and natural flow”. However, contrary to Wikipedia, it is suggested that his maiden speech made no impression on the Commons. Either way, Queen Victoria seemed unconvinced , as she opposed Randolph’s appointment of Chancellor of th...

Just imagine Winston Churchill with a tache like that. He could have rivalled Stalin. ( Source ) It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for, my one on one blog with Lord Randolph Churchill! My, what a lot of information you have, Randolph. Enough for two parts, so here’s the first part to wet your whistle. Since this is the largest Wikipedia article that I have researched so far, we will give this some structure — this will be longer than my usual blogs, so if you don’t like reading, why the hell aren’t you on YouTube? Let’s start at the beginning, before the birth of his son and Jack the Ripper, let’s begin our story at 3 Wilton Terrace, Belgravia, London, or maybe he was born at Blenheim Palace — who should we trust, Wikipedia or NNDB.com ?  Born on the 13th of February, 1849, to the 7th Duke of Marlborough and Lady Frances Vane, Randolph was their third son. Shockingly, Randolph was privately educated at home as well as attending Tabor’s Prep School...

Josephine’s reaction to reading this blog. The self-deprecation continues. ( Michael Chow-USA Today Sports ) Ask anyone that knows me, they will tell you that I am the biggest football fan you will ever meet, so this one will be fun. Strikes, spares (another word for a substitute), turkeys (another word for the over-payed players), I know it all. Josephine Chukwunonye  — why does Wikipedia love giving me these complicated names? — is a Nigerian football player in the defender position. But before she became an international athlete, she was selling bananas on the busy market streets of Lagos, Nigeria. Her mother, the owner of the fruit stand and with whom Josephine lived with in a one-room shack along with six others, would allow Josephine to keep ten cents of every dollar she earned to buy her football boots. “It’s so loud you hear nothing. It smells bad — it smells like everything.” Not sure if Josephine is talking about the marketplace or the women’s locker room ...

In Russia, we wash paintbrushes with vodka, not water like puny Americans. Wouldn’t be Russian without a strong tache. With a name like Pyotr Pertsov , it’s not surprising that this guy is Russian. Pertsov was a poet, a publisher , a literary and art critic . A person of the arts. So if you’re not into poetry, you’ve come to the wrong place. Well, actually, don’t worry too much, I couldn’t find any of his poems. I did look for them, promise. I might have found them if there was a standard way of writing his name! Petr? Pyotr? Piotr? Pete? What is it?!? Pertsov’s probably rolling in his grave as I write this post. Pertsov began his literary career by publishing his poems for Nedelya (“Week”) and Novosti (“News”). Then he contributed to magazines linked with political, social, and artistic movements including Russian Symbolism , which were influenced by irrationalism and mysticism — think God and ghouls. Spooky. It was spurred by a movement away from the aristocracy...

Two plus Two is Four, Two plus Two is Four. 5318008 Mr. Dunkl , that’s Professor Emeritus (i.e. retired, but has retained his title) to you, is a mathematician who worked at The University of Virginia since 1970. He graduated from The University of Toronto with a First Class BSc in Physics and Mathematics as well as an MA in Mathematics. He then completed a PhD in Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1965. That’s more information than you would get on Wikipedia. Along with writing several articles and books that can cost over £100 or $130 or 75,382 Somali Shillings, Dunkl introduced the Dunkl Operator, which represents a meaningful generalization of partial derivatives.  Dunkl Operator  aka gobbledygook to me. No? Me neither. This is practically a foreign language to me. It’ll take me more than a day to research and understand this one. If anyone cares to explain like I’m five or translate like I’m an alien in the comments, go a...

Not quite the burning wagon I was thinking of. Chanaranges , of course not to be mistaken with the Persian word for “general”, was Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire military officer notably serving under Emperor Justinian the First whose reign lasted from 527AD to 565AD. This is quite appropriate, as I briefly wrote about Ostrogoth king and rival to the Eastern Roman Empire, Totila, who reigned at a similar time. Chanaranges’ actions were mostly documented by Greek poet and historian Agathias . Chanaranges’, an Armenian native, was first mentioned in late 554, serving general Narses . Chanaranges took part in a campaign against the Franks (another set of Germanic people, although I like to imagine an evil and calculating army of Frank Underwoods from House of Cards) near Casilinus . Their intention was to prevent casual pillaging by the Franks and enabling movement by removing the Franks from a nearby bridge. The campaign was a resounding success — I’m sure an...

DBAA — Don’t be an “ask hole”. This is a leader, right? Our first Click Random list , so for this I will give some descriptions of the books and the author without going into too much detail about John C. Maxwell or a particular book — who knows, these might be random articles in and of themselves. Okay, so, John C. Maxwell is a pastor, leadership coach, or what some might call a motivational speaker. He looks like your friendly, approachable boss who could blind you with his teeth, but has suspicious ties to the mafia and could leave you sleeping with the fishes in San Benito River . Maxwell has sold over 20 million books and has appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List with his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership . Although, this listing is slightly controversial, as marketing company ResultSource fiddled the books to make it look like the book had been purchased by thousands when in reality the company just bought a bulk order. Reminds me of that ep...

Search “Boxing” for royalty free images, and this is what you get. Completely unrelated, but I couldn’t pass on using this image! W e are sticking with the theme of sport for today’s post, but rather than a home run, this blog will be a knockout... I wish. Boško Drašković – a name that will require a number of copy and paste jobs throughout this piece – is a Montenegrin (a citizen of Montenegro) light heavyweight boxer and in 2012 he became the second ever Montenegrin light heavyweight competitor to compete in the Olympic Games. This means that he must have weighed 81kg or approximately 178.5lbs or 12.7st or 0.079 imperial tonnes. This is already more information than the English Wikipedia provides, as this article is considered a “stub”. Charming. Although, it is helpful to know that Boško Drašković is listed under the “Living people” category. Here’s hoping I’ll make that list one day. Sadly for Drašković, he lost to Nicaraguan Osmar Bravo in the first round. ...

“All I wanted to do was play baseball” A Harvard graduate and a Major League Baseball player from 1932 to 1934, pitching (throwing the ball) for the New York Yankees, Charlie Devens was the last surviving member of the 1932 World Series. A championship playoff famed for Babe Ruth’s accurate – though disputed – prediction that he would hit his last ever home run to centre field (straight ahead of the batter). Before we turn our attention to Charlie, here’s a question for you. Which future President of the United States threw the ceremonial first pitch during the third game of the 1932 World Series? Find the answer below the sources. Although part of the Yankees team in 1932, Charlie Devens did not have the honour of pitching during the 1932 World Series. Maybe the stress of not pitching gave him longevity in life, living until the ripe age of 93. In a 1933 interview, Devens’ himself describes the life of a baseball player “a lazy man’s existence”: “You rise at about...