Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Rock Start

New Moniker For Bill Clinton's Hometown

Tossing aside its old ``City of Roses'' slogan, Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, has unveiled its new tag. Mayor Jim Dailey revealed the new moniker, which is simply ``The Rock''. In his words, ``The Rock kind of portrays something pretty solid. There is something substantive about it.'' He says there is no danger that it might perhaps be confused with the former Alcatraz prison, or even the wrestler-turned-actor. I was intrigued by how Little Rock got its name, and discovered that it was named after a geographical landmark discovered by the French explorer Bernard de la Harpe while he was mapping the Arkansas River, back in 1722. Alas, the so-called little rock from Harpe's era is even smaller now - after part of it was subjected to dynamite during the construction of a bridge.

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