Paul Eggert said:
One bit of trivia I just discovered: the White House Oval Office desk that George W. Bush uses is made of timbers from the H.M.S. Resolute, the same Resolute that the town is named after. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolute_desk>
Resolute was part of a Royal Navy expedition searching for Franklin. Another RN expedition looking for Franklin was the H.M.S.Investigator, which started its search from Baring Island on the west coast of North America. The crew of the Investigator eventually reached a point on Melville Island which had already been reached from the east, thus proving the existence of the North West Passage. I mention this because one of my relatives - Sergeant John Woon - was on the H.M.S.Investigator. He was later awarded the Polar Medal. See <http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/DEVON/2001-05/0990296000>. [The W. in my initials stands for Woon; I was partially named after him.] -- Clive D.W. Feather | Work: <clive@demon.net> | Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 Internet Expert | Home: <clive@davros.org> | Fax: +44 870 051 9937 Demon Internet | WWW: http://www.davros.org | Mobile: +44 7973 377646 THUS plc | |