What TV drama did George Clooney play ‘Ace’ in?

Most people know George Clooney from his role as Dr. Doug Ross in the TV medical drama “ER,” but years earlier he played an ongoing role as Ace, an emergency medical technician, in another show called “E/R.” The earlier “E/R” (distinguished by the slash in its title) was a medical sitcom that lasted for just 22 episodes in 1984-85. Like “ER” the drama, “E/R” the sitcom was set at a hospital in Chicago and Mary McDonnell was one of the series’ stars. Unlike “ER” the drama, “E/R” the sitcom was produced by the same company that produced “The Jeffersons.” Thus, Sherman Hemsley appeared in the pilot episode as George Jefferson.

Trivia question: Who typically signed off his broadcasts by saying “Good night, and good luck”?

A) Walter Cronkite

B) Edward R. Murrow

C) Dan Rather

D) Eric Sevareid

Fashionable women in 16th-century Venice bleached their hair blonde with concoctions made from ashes, white wine, barley straw and other less savory, more toxic ingredients. There even were accessories developed for the purpose, including applicator sponges, lightweight linen shifts and wide-brimmed hats without crowns. A woman would apply the bleach to her hair and put on the hat, which shaded her face but left her hair exposed. Then she’d sit on her terrace in the hot sun, wearing her loose-fitting white linen shift, letting the sun bake the goop into her hair.

From 1971 to 1997, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was called Zaire, ostensibly to reclaim its African identity after nearly a century of tragic history as a Belgian colony. From the Kongo word nzadi or nzere, Zaire is colorfully translated as “the river that swallows all rivers.” The Congo River was renamed the Zaire River, the capital Leopoldville (for King Leopold II of Belgium) became Kinshasa and Zaire’s leader Joseph-Desire Mobutu called himself Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, or “the allconquering warrior who goes from triumph to triumph.” When Mobutu was deposed, the country’s name was changed back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is its capital.

When is a bull’s-eye a star? When it’s Aldebaran, the giant star that constitutes the “eye” of the constellation Taurus, the Bull. Bigger and redder than our sun, Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus and was easily recognizable to ancient astronomers. Chinese, Hindu and Roman stargazers all spotted it and watched it, but Islamic astronomers named it. Aldebaran’s name comes from the Arabic for “The Follower.”

DoubleTree hotels give away more than 75,000 signature chocolate chipwalnut cookies to guests every day — an estimated 384 million warm, chewy cookies a year. The tradition began in 1986 with cookies distributed as part of the hotels’ evening turndown service. Developed by the Christie Cookie Co. of Nashville, Tenn., the DoubleTree cookie recipe remains a secret, but the hotel company says it uses more than a million pounds of chocolate and 500,000 pounds of walnuts in its cookies each year.

The constitution of the kingdom of Bhutan specifies that at least 60 percent of the country’s area must be maintained as forestland “to conserve the country’s natural resources and to prevent degradation of the ecosystem.” Bhutan’s constitution also specifies that citizens “shall have the duty to preserve, protect and respect the environment, culture and heritage of the nation.” Until 1999, Bhutan didn’t have television service or internet access. Its capital, Thimphu, has about 100,000 residents, 44,000 cars and zero traffic lights.

Trivia answer: Edward R. Murrow signed off his broadcasts by saying, “Good night, and good luck.”

Elman