Helen Sobel Smith (1910 – September 11, 1969) was an American bridge player. She is said to have been the "greatest woman bridge player of all time" and "may well have been the most brilliant card player of all time" She won 35 North American Bridge Championships, and was the first woman to play in the Bermuda Bowl. She was a long-time partner of Charles Goren.

In a tribute former editor and publisher of The Bridge World Edgar Kaplan said:

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Helen was a chorus girl in her youth. She appeared in several stage shows, the best known being Animal Crackers with the Marx Brothers. Another chorus girl taught her bridge: she took to the game like a duck to water. From that moment on, there was no doubt about her future.

Helen Sobel Smith died in a Detroit hospital at the age of 59 after a long battle with cancer. The Bulletin remembered her as a player "without a peer among women and very few peers among men. Helen played like a man, it was true. But she also played like a lady."

Alexander Arthur "Alex" Van Halen is a Dutch-born American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. Originally, his brother Eddie had taken lessons for drums, while Alex practiced guitar. After spending time playing Eddie's drum kit, Alex became more skillful at the drums than Eddie.

In 1974, the Van Halen brothers, David Lee Roth, and Michael Anthony formed a band, simply called Van Halen. They were signed to Warner Brothers in 1977 and released their first album in 1978. The two brothers are the only members of Van Halen who have been in the band for its entire duration.

Alex Van Halen was born in Amsterdam. His Dutch father Jan (1920-1986) was an accomplished jazz saxophonist and clarinet player. His mother Eugenia (1914-2005) is an Indo (Eurasian) from Indonesia. He spent his childhood in Nijmegen in the east of the country. The family moved to Pasadena, California in 1962.

Both Alex and Eddie Van Halen were trained as classical pianists in their childhood. Although Alex is known as a professional drummer, he began his musical aspirations as a guitarist, with his brother Eddie taking up drums. While Eddie was delivering newspapers to pay for his drum kit, Alex would practice playing on them. When Eddie heard Alex's mastery of The Surfaris drum solo in the song "Wipe Out", he decided to begin learning to play the electric guitar. He was also influenced by Budgie drummer, Ray Phillips.