Walt and Ub.  

Mickey Mouse was created by and was the sole vision of Disney’s number one animator, Ub Iwerks. Iwerks created hundreds of "Disney" characters and was known as the fastest animator in the business. He single-handedly animated Mickey’s first short film, Plane Crazy (1928), in only two weeks. (That’s 700 drawings a day.) But  Disney did make a contribution– when sound films began later that year, he was Mickey’s voice. Iwerks eventually left Disney in a contract dispute and started his own studio.
And had he the business acumen of his former boss, we'd all be taking our kids to IwerksWorld today. And he was more than an animation innovator:  See:   http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/5-reasons-why-mickey-mouse-co-creator-ub-iwerks-is-awesome-81999.html


During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress (or the ‘United States in Congress Assembled’) chose Peyton Randolph as the first President.  Randolph was succeeded in 1781 by John Hancock, who presided over independence from Great Britain . After Washington defeated the British at the Battle of Yorktown, Hancock sent him a note of congratulations. Washington’s reply was addressed to “The President of the United States”. Eight years later,  Washington became America’s first popularly elected President – but strictly speaking, the FIFTEENTH !

Sushi does not mean "raw fish", it translates to "sour rice", or more specifically, vinegared rice.
And for those of you (like me) who have made Sushi at home, you know that getting the rice right is the tricky part. 

“Mind your Ps and Qs.”

Is it...

A.  A warning to watch out for cheating bartenders who would short you when you ordered a pint or a quart?

B.  From the French “pieds” (feet) and “queus” (wigs), or watch yourself from head to toe?

C.  The master printer reminding his young typesetters to distinguish between the letter P and the letter Q, which are virtually indistinguishable in lower case? 

I've been to three sources and found nothing definitive. The author of the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) prefers the interpretation from the French dancing master’s “pieds” and “queues.”

But I like  the printing shop origin. A typesetter in those days had to arrange the type in rows in mirror image, and a lower case (p) and a lower case (q),  are the backward versions of each other. Thus,  very easy to confuse. But since I can't find any conclusive answer to this one, you can pick your own favorite. 

The Word "MayDay" comes from the French M'aidez, or "Help Me."

Marconi

 The Oxford English Dictionary says it is a phonetic reproduction of the French that has become an international signal of distress. The International Radio Telegraph Convention of 1927 lists 51 Rules, and this is one of them. So the word “mayday” was officially born in 1927.

The correct French would actually be “Aidez-moi!”, but apparently, since Marconi was Italian and the International Radio Telegraph Convention was held in Washington--if there were any offended French delegates, they neglected to speak up, and so the bad grammar stuck.

Sunday Times Crossword was a rewarding challenge (though I suspect sis Debby had it sewn up before her first cup of coffee got cold)  Above is Rex Parker's  http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com solution. Since there is no "cents" symbol on the Querty keyboard, he used the image of a spider. And like Rex, it took me a while to realize after getting the dollar and cents symbol trick that so many of the answers were money related.  Very clever stuff--and I remain in awe of those who can construct such complex edifices of symmetrical logophilic delight.