Ireland's Grand Lodge Building

In Ireland, the Grand Lodge building stands on the property where Richard Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse, Ireland's first Grand Master, once lived.

Wrong Place At The Wrong Time

John R. Thomas (1846-1914), Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois (1885), moved to Oklahoma to practice law after serving 10 years in congress. In a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, on January 20, 1914, MWB Thomas elected to meet with a client in the warden's office of the Oklahoma state prison in McAlester to discuss a case. At the same moment, three convicts who had obtained a gun made an escape attempt, but first headed for the warden's office to confront a parole officer. Brother Thomas was the first to die in the botched plot that ultimately saw the three convicts, the deputy warden and two other prison officials killed.

The First Shall Be Last...

Anson Jones (1798-1858), Holland Lodge 36, Houston (UD) was both the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas (1838) and the Last President of the Republic of Texas (1844-1846).

Arnold Palmer - Tennis Star?

In 1974, Arnold Palmer, professional golfer, Loyalhanna Lodge 275 of Labrobe, Pennsylvania, made a Cadillac commercial featuring his skills as, what else - a tennis player. Brother Palmer's tennis game, the commercial and 1974 Cadillac sales all proved to be lackluster. In future endorsements when it has come to sports, Brother Palmer has limited his activities to something he's pretty good at... golf.

White Christmas

Working late one night in 1940, poolside at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Irving Berlin, Munn Lodge 190, New York City, told his secretary, "I just wrote the best song I've ever written — heck, I just wrote the best song anybody's ever written!"  Brother Berlin was right on the mark.  He had just finished composing "White Christmas."  Having sold 50 million copies - and counting - it is the best selling single of all time.

Guthrie Scottish Rite Building

The iconic Guthrie Scottish Rite Building sits on grounds once designated for the Oklahoma State Capitol building.

Is Prince Hall On The $2 Bill?

There is a popular urban legend that a depiction of Brother Prince Hall appears on the back of the two dollar bill.  The back of the bill shows an etching drawn from John Trumbull's painting, “Declaration of Independence."  In the etching, a dark-complected figure sits in the middle of the front row of seated delegates at the Second Continental Congress and some believe this must be Prince Hall.  However, for all his accomplishments, Brother Prince Hall, as a historical fact, was not present at that meeting.  It turns out the dark complection of the man in question is a product of the etching.  Further examination of the painting from which the etching has its origin shows the person sitting in that position to be Robert Morris.