January 2012
222 posts
New Year's Traditions
It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago.
The Druids gave a gift of twigs from the mistletoe. It would bestow on the recipient a fruitful year in the number of children, as well as the amount of cattle and the amount of crop.
In Australia New Year is a day for outdoor activities such as rodeos, picnic races and surf carnivals. Many also go to the beach, since January 1 is...
December 2011
83 posts
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Clarification:
Hockey is the official winter sport of Canada. Lacrosse is the official summer sport. Thanks to burymeinanalog for letting me know.
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Why I Don't Trust The News
“Light crosses space with the prodigious velocity of 6,000 leagues per second.”
– La Science Populaire, April 28, 1881
“A typographical error slipped into our last issue that it is important to correct: the speed of light is 76,000 leagues per hour — and not 6,000.”
– La Science Populaire, May 19, 1881
“A note correcting a first error appeared in our issue number 68, indicating that the...
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“Don’t waste your time on the branches small,
Said the farmer to his son,
“But...”
– Newton Mackintosh, Precious Nonsense!, 1895
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Chrysler built B-29’s that bombed Japan, and Mitsubishi built Zeros that tried to shoot them down.
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Alexander the Bighead
Alexander the Great was the first Greek ruler to put his own face on Greek coins. Previously, Greek coins had shown the face of a god or goddess.
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Why Superheroes Don't Work
During the Great Depression, many people tried apple selling to avoid the shame of panhandling. In New York City alone, there were as many as 6,000 apple sellers. This was partially funded by an apple company selling its stock at extremely low prices to try to alleviate the depression. This didn’t work, the company went broke, and more people than before were jobless.
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“A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task...”
– Samuel Johnson
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Linguistic Acrobatics
Charles Ollier observed that GHOTI can be pronounced “fish”:
GH as in laugh
O as in women
TI as in nation
Melville Dewey, who devised the Dewey Decimal System, suggested that GHEAUGHTEIGHPTOUGH spells “potato”:
GH as in hiccough
EAU as in beau
GHT as in naught
EIGH as in neigh
PT as in pterodactyl
OUGH as in though
This sort of thing can get out of hand quickly. In his 1845 Plea for...
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Drunkards, Causing Riots Since 1855
The first recorded social disturbance in Chicago was caused by the social lubricant of society – alcohol. The Lager Beer Riot happened after the city mayor, Levi Boone, renewed the enforcement of an old law that mandated taverns be shut on Sundays and the cost of a liquor license was raised from $50 to $300 a year. Naturally, the move didn’t go over too well with the local populace –...
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Identities assumed by Ferdinand Waldo Demara (1921-1982), “The Great Impostor”:
sailor
civil engineer
sheriff’s deputy
assistant prison warden
doctor of applied psychology
hospital orderly
lawyer
child-care expert
monk (Benedictine and Trappist)
editor
cancer researcher
teacher
surgeon
hospital priest
When asked for his motivation, he said, “Rascality, pure rascality.”
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“[Walter Scott] was scrupulously careful … to answer all letters addressed to...”
– William Shepard Walsh, Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities, 1892
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And I Thought I Hated Cleaning
Vacuum cleaners in the early 20th century were large, powered by coal, and required three people to operate them. Other early vacuums cleaners had to be parked outside a building and had long hoses that went through the windows. Yet another early version of the vacuum was installed in the house cellar and connected to a network of pipes that led to each room in the house. No wonder they did not...
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dfamador asked: Where are you from?
congruencerespectsmultiplication asked: i enjoy your tumblr very much =D filled with such amazing facts. I was wondering whether you have any favourite artworks, that were created during historical times or are historical themselves?
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“Men always want to be a woman’s first love. That is their clumsy vanity. We...”
– Oscar Wilde
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Other Things That Happened On The 4th Of July
Ever wondered what significant things have happened on the 4th of July? No? Well, I’m going to tell you.
Brightest known super-nova, the Crab Nebula, starts shining, lasting twenty-three days (1054)
Angelo Correr becomes Pope Gregory XII (1415)
Murad III, sultan of Turkey (1574-95) is born (1546)
City of Providence, Rhode Island founded (1636)
George Washington gives Ft Necessity to...
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Native American Immigration in American History →
This is a graphic map of the loss of Native American-controlled territory over United States history. It is informative and slightly depressing. Thankfully, there is a hopeful ending.
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“Then having said a few words to himself, as he stood, with hands and eyes lift...”
– an anonymous account of the execution of Charles I, king of England, for high treason against the realm.
nlnnet asked: Do you have a G+ account?
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If Looks Could Kill
In Nazi Germany, some forms of reconstructive surgery were mandated to enable the “too ugly” solder to become a “real” soldier. Because of course, looking good is necessary to kill other people. Benito Mussolini’s Italy (1880-1945) also used plastic surgery to increase the performance of military officers, such as correcting drooping eyelids. But at least that served a purpose, instead of being...
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“In 1499, a bear which had been terrorizing a German village and had killed...”
– Thomas J. Gardner and Victor Manian, Criminal Law: Principles, Cases and Readings, 1975
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“The next best thing to being clever is being able to quote someone who is.”
– Mary Pettibone Poole
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lord-shine-a-light asked: What do you think are some of most significant novels that have been written throughout history? I understand that's a grand question, but I think of works like The Jungle, The Republic and the Bible (of course).
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A History of Pantyhose
The terms hosiery and stocking derive from the Anglo-Saxon words hosa, meaning “tight-legged trouser,” and stoka, meaning “stump.” When the upper part of a trouser leg was cut off, the remaining stoka became “stocking” (what does that say about women’s legs?) and hosa became “hosiery.” We don’t have any records of what is today pantyhose...
Correction
The photo I just posted does not contain Theodore Roosevelt. Thank you to Dead Presidents for the correction (and for any history fans, or fans of presidents, or fans of political discussion in general, he has an amazing tumblog that I highly recommend).
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“The things I saw beggar description…The visual evidence and the verbal...”
– General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces
Ohrdruf concentration camp
April 15, 1945
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The Andrews Sisters
During WWII, three sisters (a brunette, a blonde, and a redhead, coincidentally) topped the music charts. Here are some facts about this trio
Their hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” was nominated for an Oscar.
In modern times, the tune and the trio were used as inspiration for Christina Aguilera’s “Candyman”
They served with the United Services...
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The Battle of Zama
This is the battle that ended the Second Punic War, between Rome and Carthage. Basically, Hannibal and his rebel army had been pillaging the Italian peninsula, but was never strong enough to take on Rome itself. Rome decided to attack Carthage to force Hannibal out (Carthage was on the coast of Northern Africa, for those who don’t know.) It worked, and Hannibal was recalled to save his...
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