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I remember hearing (hearing, mind you, so it could be wrong) that the only European country that never had anti-Jewish laws on the books was Scotland.
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Nov 4, 2015 17:57
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 15:33 |
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The Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismark, once challenged a member of the German government to a duel. His opponent chose sausages as the weapon.
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Nov 5, 2015 18:53
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It's not really a major historic fact, but I always found it strangely nice that the best known British song about Napoleon Bonaparte just tells his history and doesn't actually insult him at all.
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Nov 9, 2015 12:07
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I can see why they didn't put THAT city in Assassin's Creed 2.
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Nov 12, 2015 10:50
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There's a recording of Otto von Bismark's voice.
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Nov 13, 2015 15:40
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Whybird posted:
It's the little smirk on the scribe's face that does it for me. Repin did a number of paintings of Russian history. They were pretty much all fantastic.
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Nov 15, 2015 20:07
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One of Scotland's greatest national heroes, Robert Bruce, literally stabbed a potential supporter of his cause to death in a church when the latter laughed at his plans.
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Dec 22, 2015 13:51
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One of the most terrifying things I recall reading about Stalin was that he was REALLY good with kids - not in any 'paedo-allusion' stuff (you can get that from him being 20 years older than his first wife), but that kids of his immediate circle used to love him because he was... Cheekily child-like with them? Like (before he came into power) taking them to movies or having food-fights at the dinner tables. Apparently the parents were terrified the kids might let something slip about them because of this, too.
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Dec 27, 2015 10:21
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Comrade Koba posted:Why is this terrifying? I would say it was because Stalin was one of the worst mass-murderers in modern times, and almost all major autocrats at that time, Mussolini, Franco, Hitler, Mao... when they are described usually you can see a lot of social isolation in them. They were never really noted as being sweet or nice in private with anyone other than who they knew intimately. I just found the idea of a person who could happily send people to die in their thousands for nothing other than paranoid fantasies or unrealistic ideologies to be seen as a benevolent-uncle figure, and NOT due to propaganda reasons, as pretty unnerving. Samovar has a new favorite as of 13:33 on Dec 27, 2015 |
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Dec 27, 2015 10:48
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Captain Postal posted:You can't mention that without mentioning Visingsö Who... who sent the letter?
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Jan 16, 2016 12:08
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Do you know that there has been a recorded instance of a navy losing to a cavalry charge? Well, now you do.
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Mar 2, 2016 23:11
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10 Beers posted:I'm only on page 8 of this thread, but I legit want a picture of this hanging on my wall. Any clue what it's called? Ilya Repin might be one of my favourite painters, especially since he did a number of paintings of historical moments, including my personal favourite of Ivan the Terrible having killed his son.
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Mar 21, 2016 19:58
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The Mentalizer posted:He was basically the guy Fleming wanted to be. Hence not being riddled with syphillis.
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Jun 28, 2016 18:52
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Werewolf!
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Oct 31, 2016 21:28
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Cumslut1895 posted:fun historical fact: Slavery good?!?!? Fun historical fact: Cumslut1895 unfunny.
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Nov 15, 2016 10:22
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Yvonmukluk posted:Also, Churchill's writings (books, articles, etc.) are credited Winston S. Churchill, since there was an American novelist who was also called Winston Churchill, and so Winston Spencer Churchill used his middle initial to differentiate himself. He was also the first recorded user of the phrase OMG, apparently. Tho that did come from QI, so...
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Nov 28, 2016 14:56
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steinrokkan posted:The myth comes from the fact that Louis refused to take "medical baths" which were performed by a physician and included a regimen of blood letting, enemas and other terrible treatments. Enemas were quite startlingly popular back in the day, at least in hoi-polloi Europe.
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Dec 7, 2016 11:17
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yo rear end is grass posted:So what you're saying is that she didn't have a good head on her shoulders. No, more that she should have quit while she was still ahead.
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Dec 8, 2016 11:59
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Wheat Loaf posted:Probably the only time a Chancellor of the Exchequer has ever evoked such a reaction. Have you been listening to the When Diplomacy Fails podcast? Actually, I was just thinking of a piece of medical history, but not been able to find it online because the descriptions are too vague for Google. I read it in an old book, but cannot remember the title beyond it being about Scientific anecdotes. Basically, it was back in the day before Nitrous oxide was known to work as an anaesthetic. Scientists knew that nerves worked by electrical methods (Volta and his frog legs being a perfect example thereof) and so people surmised they might be the way to prevent pain during surgery. Apparently, one scientist got it into his head to try and over-stimulate a nerve to prevent further signals. So to test it, he put an electrical current through a nerve in his tooth. Been trying to remember who it was, but with no success.
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Dec 9, 2016 12:49
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Wheat Loaf posted:No, I've actually not heard of that. What is it about? It's a podcast about the political/religious settings that lead to major wars, primarily in Europe. There was a series on Britain throughout the Victorian age that quotes the passage highlighted. Pretty interesting stuff.
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Dec 9, 2016 18:24
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Josef bugman posted:I remember reading a book called "Leviathan" which all but called Herman Melville gay. Though the guy writing it wasn't a proper historian. Anyone got any sources on that? Well, if Ishmael is supposed to be the author-stand-in, then the first encounter with Queequeg is pretty revealing
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Dec 15, 2016 12:16
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Ensign Expendable posted:ThyssenKrupp. Hope you didn't take an elevator recently. No, no. You mean Schindler's. Edit: A more serious comment - Babylonians were able to count up to 60 in their hands, using the knuckles of four fingers on one hand and the five digits on the other as multiples of 12. That's why there are still some methods of measurement dependent on 60 or subdivisions thereof. Samovar has a new favorite as of 16:33 on Jan 9, 2017 |
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Jan 9, 2017 16:30
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Carbon dioxide posted:Schindler was the guy who hid jews from the nazis, if I remember the film correctly. Sorry, was a bad joke on the fact that there's a company called Schindler's Lifts.
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Jan 10, 2017 14:45
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Aesop Poprock posted:I'm still gonna finish it but between that stuff and the "everyone is somehow fascinated by Islam and is weirdly in love with it because it's the correct religion" stuff every 10 or so pages it's more of a slog than I was expecting Yeah, that reminds me of the memoirs of Ibn Batutu, when he wasn't beating up Jews or marrying and divorcing multiple women in Indonesia. Basically what I'm saying is that Marco Polo was the better explorer, even though they were both pretty credulous.
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Feb 19, 2017 11:55
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This has probably been mentioned before, but I still find it absolutely amazing. Back during the years of WWI, there was a sizable population in Russia ethnic to the Slovak regions. When war broke out, they organised a petition to the Russian Empire to form a legion to liberate their home territories from the rule of Austria. However, they didn't manage to reach full strength until 1917, whereupon the Bolsheviks had taken over Russia and brought forward peace plans with the Central powers. The heads of the legion still wanted to fight for liberation, but the peace movements from Russia, plus Central power naval blockades and control over the Western front (well, Western for the Russians) meant that to get to where they wanted to go, this legion decided to go to France from Ukraine via Vladivostok. This is like... going from Virginia to Florida via California. On this trip, they had a whole rigmarole of incidents and adventures, often fighting against armies of their host country and occupying the Trans-Siberian railway. Their whole trip is something I wish I could speak with more authority than what I've seen on wikipedia, but I've not been able to get a single book on the subject specifically.
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Feb 19, 2017 18:58
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:Thankfully Belushi turned things around after meeting Prez Rickard. I don't know what's worse. One, you made that reference, or two, I recognised it. (Trick question both are bad)
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Feb 23, 2017 10:48
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Why the heck did he list 'a herring' twice?
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Mar 6, 2017 10:13
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Your Gay Uncle posted:Maybe the first one was a red herring. Nice.
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Mar 7, 2017 15:44
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PMush Perfect posted:Puns like this always end up strangling discussion. I prefer my discourses going full-throttle.
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Sep 22, 2017 04:14
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Trabant posted:"So you're a soldier?" Surely that was the job of the Hebrew slaves!
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Dec 16, 2017 14:39
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zidane13 posted:I think you'll still be dead, if someone comes to chop off your hand or dick when you're dead. Do the ol' welching on a Scottish drug dealer method - hammer and chisel.
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Dec 27, 2017 23:50
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Alhazred posted:In ancient China you actually had to collect a certain number of heads in order to be promoted. Hard to get ahead in those days...
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Dec 28, 2017 17:17
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Nth Doctor posted:Got that red hand on my family's coat of arms. I'm informing the IRA.
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Dec 30, 2017 11:06
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Alhazred posted:During the Napoleonic Wars a french ship was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool. The only survivor was a monkey wearing a french uniform. Having never seen a monkey before the hartlepudlians thought it was a french spy and gave it a fair trial, followed by a first class hanging. People from Hartlepool are still known as "monkey hangers". The most recent time the U.K. was invaded was during the Napoleonic war. The invading force was driven off by a very angry Welshwoman with a pitchfork. Edit: Actually, since we're talking about WW2, I have an interesting fact that is thankfully not about tanks. The U.K. 'trained' a bunch of militiamen to act as immediate defence against Nazi invaders, particularly around areas thought to be vulnerable to paratrooper attack - you may have heard them jocularly known as 'Dad's army's, due to the average member being a bit long in the tooth. They were given pretty shoddy equipment and were often more a hindrance than a help. But the thing is, they were totally unnecessary. At no point during operation Sealion was a paratrooper assault considered. Samovar has a new favorite as of 17:12 on Feb 2, 2018 |
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Feb 2, 2018 17:05
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Did you know that one of the responses to the formation of the Soviet Union was a Hyper-Monarchist trying to reform the Mongolian empire? Now you do.
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May 30, 2018 07:09
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Does anyone care to take a guess how long the longest, uninterrupted naval battle took? A week? A fortnight? A month? The correct answer is 252 days, between the Weymouth and the Königsberg and their supports in Tanzania, a battle which pioneered naval air recon to boot. This battle ended with a British victory, but which ended up helping the German armies in Africa, since the German cruiser's guns were reclaimed and used as mobile artillery. A very bizarre history. Samovar has a new favorite as of 13:47 on Dec 5, 2018 |
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Jun 2, 2018 17:47
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Turns out, my home town in Scotland is famous for being the site of the first recorded instance of a political assassination by gun. Yet I don't remember ever hearing about in our local history lessons.
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Jun 11, 2018 07:40
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Alhazred posted:There was actually some instances were egyptians not only sold themselves into slavery but paid a monthly fee in order to remain slaves. They became temple slaves because that protected them against forced hard labor such as digging canals. See also people buying their way into Ottoman beauracratic slavery so as to avoid other social obligations.
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Jul 2, 2018 08:49
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Say Nothing posted:I find roman emperor Maximinus Thrax interesting solely based on the fact that his reported height was 8'6". I'm guessing there is some extreme exaggeration there, but he does look like he had gigantism. Michael Shannon?
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Jul 20, 2018 17:39
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 15:33 |
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People received coats of arms that often alluded to their work. With that in mind, can anyone guess what Steven Varallyay's job was? (please note, v. NSFW)
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Aug 1, 2018 18:27
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