Richard Thomas' foot injury was real. He fractured his ankle filming a motorcycle scene for September 30, 1955 (1977).
Other than the stories about Ben's poker playing misadventures and the drunken judge, the headlines on the front page of the Blue Ridge Chronicle refer to actual events of 1937. "Golden Gate Bridge Opens In San Francisco" refers to the opening of the landmark bridge on May 27, 1937. "US Gunboat Fired on by Japanese" is the USS Panay Incident, a Japanese bombing attack on the U.S. Navy river gunboat Panay and three Standard Oil Company tankers on the Yangtze River on December 12, 1937. "Chicago Police Battle Strikers" refers to the Memorial Day Massacre of May 30, 1937, in which the Chicago Police Department shot and killed ten unarmed demonstrators during the Little Steel Strike.
When Judge Thornbury is trying to convince John-Boy not to print the embarrassing story about his car accident, he sarcastically quotes part of the poem "Sir Galahad" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson:
"My good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten
Because my heart is pure."
The first time scenes from the episode are shown before the credits.