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25.01.2022 When wealthy Parisian lady Madame de la Bresse died in 1876, her will instructed that 125,000 Francs be used to buy clothing. But for whom? The snowmen of Paris. Her relatives attempted to claim de la Beresse was insane, but a court upheld her will and Parisian snowmen were the beneficiaries. Source: Stupid History by Leland Gregory. ... Image of 19th century Paris in winter.

24.01.2022 Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness. American writer and humorist Mark Twain (1835-1910) Source: The Singular Mark Twain: A Biography by Fred Kaplan.... Image of Twain in London in 1907.

24.01.2022 In his fantasy entitled, The Year 2000, written in 1897, Frenchman Marcellin Berthelot, the pioneer of chemical synthesis, made some interesting prophesies about the future. What were these? Among other things, he forecast that chemistry would by then make agriculture and mining unnecessary; food would be eaten in the form of small synthetic pills; industry would be powered by inexhaustible energy from the sun and from the heat of the earth; man would be become gentler and mo...re moral because he would cease to feed himself by carnage and the destruction of living creatures. Source: France 1848-1945 Taste and Corruption by Theodore Zeldin. Image of Berthelot being used as a promotion for French chocolate.

22.01.2022 Who was the first recorded person to die at the Battle of Hastings in 1066? A Norman jester and knight named 'Taillefer'. He taunted Saxon soldiers, singing the 'Song of Roland', and juggling with his sword, before being engulfed by the oncoming Saxon lines. Source: William King and Conqueror by Mark Hagger.... Image of the Battle of Hastings.

22.01.2022 At around 800 BCE, there were, incredibly, over 1000 different states on the Chinese mainland. How many were there by 480 BCE? Fourteen. Then, between 480 and 222 BCE, bitter conflict took place such that only one state, the Qin, remained. Source: A History of China by Wolfram Eberhard. ... Image of Ancient China.

22.01.2022 It’s the best joke I’ve heard in years this talk of torpedoing the Lusitania. Who made this tragically ironic comment? Commander William Thomas Turner, captain of the Cunard ocean liner Lusitania sunk by German torpedoes in May 1915 in the North Atlantic, off Kinsale, Ireland. Some 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard were killed, leaving 761 survivors. This was Turner’s reported response when asked beforehand as to the risk to his ship from torpedoes. Commander Turner was one... of the survivors. The sinking turned international opinion against Germany. Source: The First World War by Professor Huw Strahan.

21.01.2022 What did US historian Craig Symonds call ‘one of the most consequential naval engagements in world history’? The Battle of Midway. This clash between American and Japanese navies took place in June 1942, six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The loss of Japanese aircraft carriers in particular meant that Japan theoretically lost the war at this time. Yet almost another three years of bloody fighting was to follow. Source: World War Two at Sea by Craig Symonds.

21.01.2022 During the early years of Henry VIII’s reign, England and France were keen to demonstrate their unity to counter the threat of the powerful Habsburg Empire. Which unusual way did they do this in 1520? A royal ceremony called the Field of the Cloth of Gold was organised. Held in France, the entire British ruling class, all 5000 of them, were shipped across the channel for the elaborate event, which included wine flowing from red and white fountains, days of music and the displ...ay of extravagant, luxury costumes. Henry and the French King, Francois, even engaged in a half naked wrestling match. Source: A History of Britain by Simon Schama. Image of a contemporary depiction of the royal ceremony.

20.01.2022 The common English words sister, bag, cake, dirt and knife can all trace their historical origin to which language? Danish. They are part of a wide variety of words which are the legacy of the Viking influence in England between 750 and 1050. Over 1,500 place names in England have Viking origins. Source: The English Language A Historical Introduction by Charles Barber. ... Image of medieval depiction of Vikings.

19.01.2022 What was the rationale, so many historians aver, for the Ancient Egyptians’ practice of mummification? After death, Egyptians believed, your ba, or spirit, would leave your body but only temporarily. The ba would need to return to your remains periodically, possibly every night, and for this reunion to be fruitful the body had to be intact, hence the need for mummification. Source: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkin.

18.01.2022 What was significant about the funeral held in London in 1824 of brilliant but controversial English poet Lord George Byron, who was described, amongst other things, as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’. Many of London’s aristocracy sent their empty carriages to be driven past the funeral service, as a final act of contempt for Byron. Source: Centre for Byron Studies, University of Nottingham... Image of Byron being received at Missolonghi in Western Greece.

17.01.2022 Ivory handled six-gun toting World War Two US General George S Patton died prematurely, and in an unusual way, for a ‘blood and guts’ four star general tank commander. How did he die? Through injuries suffered in a car crash in December 1945, after the war was over, while travelling in the rear passenger seat of his Army-provided Cadillac. Source: General Historical Texts.... Image of General Patton's Cadillac.

17.01.2022 At the 1919 Treaty of Versailles peace conference in Paris held after World War One, how did US President Woodrow Wilson describe dogged and irascible Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes? A ‘pestiferous varmint’. Hughes replied to Wilson's irritation by saying, "Mr President, I speak for 60,000 dead Australians." Source: ‘Paris 1919’ produced by Canadian Broadcasting.... Image of the key players at the peace conference. With Wilson in the centre, foreground, next to the moustached Clemenceau, and the diminutive Hughes at the rear, far right.

16.01.2022 In 1911, widely respected English historian G P Gooch published ‘History of Our Time 1885-1911’. Then, five million men were under arms in Europe. What was his judgment at the time one which turned out to be brutally ironic on the outlook for Europe? ‘We can now look forward with something like confidence at the time when war between civilized nations will be considered as antiquated as a duel, and when the peacemakers shall be called the children of God.’ Four years lat...er Europe and the world were plunged into the greatest cataclysm of all time, the First World War. Source: History of World War One by A J P Taylor. Image of the German soccer team which played England in Berlin on April 14, 1911. By the middle of 1914, players on both sides could well have been facing each other in opposing trenches. The match was a draw, which many Germans were to later say was the real result in 1918.

16.01.2022 The Battle of Manila (July 26 August 13 1898) was fought between Spain and the United States. What was unusual about it? The battle was a sham, jointly planned by Spanish and American leaders. The purpose was to allow Spain to surrender with dignity while ensuring the city didn’t fall to the Philippine Revolutionary Army. Source: Philippine History by Maria Christine N. Halili... Image of ‘Raising the American flag over Fort Santiago, Manila, on the evening of August 13, 1898’, a drawing from Harper's Pictorial History of the War with Spain.

14.01.2022 Despite the Hollywood portrayal, the American West was never a truly violent place. How many murders took place for instance in the infamous Dodge City, Kansas, shown below, at the height of the ‘Wild West’? Fifteen between the years 1877 and 1886, at an average of 1.5 a year. You were far more likely to be killed in Baltimore or many East Coast American towns than in Dodge City. Source: Gunfight by Adam Winkler.

14.01.2022 English private schools have been described as gentlemen’s factories. But this was not always the case. What are some examples of these schools’ disheveled past? At the turn of the nineteenth century English public schools had little to recommend them. A general atmosphere of unruliness was the norm. One observer said that the operating philosophy of many of these learning bodies was ‘anarchy tempered by despotism’. One Westminster school alumni writing two hundred years ago ...said, ‘The boys fought one another, they fought the masters, the masters fought them, they fought outsiders; in fact we were ready to fight everybody.’ Anarchy and violence was in the DNA of many of these schools. In 1710 Winchester boys mutinied over beer rations. At Eton, between 1768 and the 1830s, there were seven, what were termed, ‘uprisings’. In 1771 the carriage of a visiting Harrow governor was attacked and the school closed for nine days. In 1797 an Eton staff member was taken prisoner, precipitating the reading of the Riot Act, resulting in soldiers, special constables and armed farmers being called in. Source: Modern World Encyclopedia. Image of Eton in the 18th century.

13.01.2022 The son of the last French Emperor died in unusual circumstances in 1879. What were these? Napoleon, the Prince Imperial was the son of Emperor Napoleon III, who was deposed in 1870. The Prince Imperial served in the British Army under Lord Chelmsford in South Africa and was killed by Zulus on June 1 of that year. The Zulus later said that if they knew who he was they would have spared him. Source: General Historical Texts. ... Image of the death of the Prince Imperial.

12.01.2022 "People who try to commit suicide don’t attempt to save them! China is such a populous nation, it is not as if we cannot do without a few people." Chinese Leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) Source: Mao's Last Revolution by Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals.... Image of Mao with admirers.

12.01.2022 Germany has invaded France three times in the past 150 years 1870, 1914 and 1939. But how many times did France invade Germany between 1785 and 1813? No fewer than fourteen. Source: The Fall of Paris The Siege and the Commune 1870-71 by Sir Alistair Horne.... Image of the 1870 Franco Prussian war. One of the ones where France didn't do the invading.

11.01.2022 During the First Opium War (1838-1842) China intended to use a curious method to defend the coastal city of Ningbo against attacking British ships. What was it? They proposed attaching firecrackers to monkeys and then flinging them onto the British warships, hoping to ignite the ships’ powder magazines. The plan failed before it had even begun, however, as when the British attacked everyone fled, including the animal keeper, and the monkeys were never used. Source: The Opium ...War by Julia Lovell Image of the East India Company steamship Nemesis - right background - destroying Chinese war junks during the Second Battle of Chuenpi, 7 January 1841.

11.01.2022 Whereas the Virginia and Plymouth colonies are often viewed as the first British American settlements, there was in fact a British settlement established before these two. What was it? The Roanoke Colony, established in modern day North Carolina in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618). It is believed to have lasted only five years before being abandoned, though the reason remains unclear. Source: Roanoke by Lee Miller. ... Image of a later depiction of the colony.

10.01.2022 ‘This melancholy London. I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air.’ W.B. Yeats (1865-1939), Irish poet and dramatist. Source: Letters to Katherine Tynan by W.B. Yeats.... Image of London in 1910.

10.01.2022 How did Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) describe the press? Our chief ideological weapon. It’s duty is to strike down the enemies of the working class. Source: Dictionary of Quotable Definitions edited by Eugene E Brusell.... Image of Khrushchev speaking at the general assembly of the UN on October 13, 1960.

10.01.2022 Threat of a Royal cousinly punch settles the dukedom This week’s HistoryWow Amazing History Tale currently being played on US radio. https://mcusercontent.com//HistoryWow_s_Amazing_History_Ta

08.01.2022 The USS Panay was an American gunboat sunk by the Japanese while anchored in the Yangtze River. What was unusual about when this actually took place? It occurred on December 12, 1937, four years before Japan and the United States would formally be at war. Japan apologized, stating they did not see the American flags on its deck, and subsequently paid an indemnity. Nevertheless, the issue led to a deterioration of American-Japanese relations, with many historians now maintaining the attack was intentional. Source: The United States in Asia by David Shavit.

07.01.2022 On 18 January 1871, the King of Prussia, William I, was declared German Emperor at the Palace of Versailles in Paris. One would expect he would be pleased with this. He was not, however, being worried that the Prussian Monarchy would be undermined. What did he say to Otto von Bismarck the night before his coronation? ‘Tomorrow is the unhappiest day in my life. We will bury the Prussian monarchy and you, Prince Bismarck, are responsible!’ Source: Cambridge History of Germany b...y Martin Kitchen. Image of the Versailles proclamation.

07.01.2022 On 28 July, 1835, Giuseppe Marco Fieschi failed in an attempt to assassinate the French King Louis-Phillippe. The weapon Fieschi used was one he had made himself, which he dubbed the ‘infernal machine.’ What was it? The weapon consisted of twenty gun barrels tied together, to be fired simultaneously. The device was so unwieldy that it nearly killed Fieschi himself. Eighteen were killed and many others wounded. The king suffered minor wounds. Fieschi was condemned to death and guillotined on 19 February 1836. Source: Encyclopedia Britannica by Hugh Chisholm.

06.01.2022 Where, and what was, the settlement of Eredo? A city state in southwest Nigeria, believed to have held prominence in the ninth century. Only recently publicised, it was surrounded by a wall 100 miles long and in sections 70 feet high. The internal area was an incredible 400 square miles. Much of the wall still surrounds the modern day town of Ijebu Ode. Source: Kingdoms of the Yoruba by Robert Sydney Smith.... Image of a section of the wall today.

05.01.2022 What was the ‘Great Stink’ in London in July and August 1858? Hot weather exacerbated long term sewage contamination of the River Thames. The smell was said to be so strong that it made walking near the river unbearable. Unsurprisingly the British Parliament, situated on the banks of the Thames, rushed through in 18 days a law to build a new sewer system. Source: The Great Stink of London by Stephen Halliday... Image of a contemporary depiction of the event.

04.01.2022 How did Samuel Ajayi Crowther (1806-1891) make history in 1864? Crowther was ordained as the first African bishop of the Anglican Church, by Charles Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral. Crowther had been born in Osoogun, modern day Nigeria, and been freed from slavery before studying languages. Source: The Journey of the First Black Bishop Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther by Jacob Oluwatayo Adeuyan.

01.01.2022 Al Capone (1899-1947) was one of the most ruthless and notorious gangsters in American history. Careful to cultivate his public image, he wanted to be depicted as a modern day Robin Hood. For instance what establishment did he surprisingly open in Chicago in 1931? A soup kitchen. During the height of the Great Depression, the ‘Capone Free Soup Kitchen’ at one time served over 120,000 meals a day. Source: Capone The Man and the Era by Laurence Bergreen.

01.01.2022 On the eve of Prohibition’s introduction in 1919, some American towns were so certain that alcohol was the root cause of crime that they did what? Sold their jails. The irony of this perspective was brought into sharp focus by the prospering of organised crime that subsequently came about supplying illegal alcohol to thirsty American. Prohibition ended in 1933. Source: Alcohol and Alcoholism in Iowa by Harold Mulford.... Image of Prohibition prospering gangsters who had no fear of being jailed in some US cities.