ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - April 4th
British History
On this day in history in 1660, almost-King Charles-Not-Yet-The-Second proclaimed The Declaration of Breda, promising a pardon for crimes committed during the Civil War.
Included were the crimes committed against his father. In particular the one involving the removal of his head from his body.
The Declaration of Breda was the first step in the restoration of the monarchy. And just because Charles-Will-Be-Second-And-Will-Get-His-Vengeance believed you can't commit regicide and get away with it, a lesson he was taught by reading Game of Thrones, doesn't mean he will hunt down and kill every git who had anything to do with his father's murder.
Although he will. And did.
Russian History
On the 4th of April 1866, Tsar Alexander suffered his first assassination attempt. It was a cold day in St. Petersburg when Dmitry Karakozov decided he'd had enough of the Emperor.
Alexander was out for a walk in the Summer Garden of St. Petersburg admiring a couple of humping hedgehogs when Dmitry Karakozov fired at him six times. The hedgehogs, unknown to Karakozov, were secret ninja hedgehogs. They interrupted their activities and leapt into action.
Each of the first five shots were either punched or kicked away from Alexander, doing the Russian Emperor no harm. The sixth shot was deflected by the male hedgehog with its fun-stick. It ricocheted off the tip and impacted a wall three miles away, killing two thousand peasants on the way to its very speedy destination.
Wanting to keep the identity of the hedgehogs a secret, and not wanting their ninja abilities to become public knowledge, a local peasant by the name of Ossip Komissarov was asked to take credit for saving the Emperor's life.
A story was invented that made him the hero. He saw Dmitry Karakozov pull a gun from between his butt cheeks and rushed forwards to knock the gun from his hands.
After the attempt on his life, Alexander rushed to Kazan Cathedral and gave thanks for his narrow escape from death. It was said he was more peeved that the assassin was of noble birth, than an attempt being made on his life.
Karakozov attempted escape, but the Tsar's guards woke from their afternoon nap and captured him. Karakozov was then tried, found guilty, and finally hanged to death on the 3rd of September 1866.
Roman History
On this day in history in 188, the future Roman Emperor Caracalla was born.
As Evil Emperors go, Caracalla is probably one of the worst, most evil emperors you'll ever come across.
This guy was not just bad. Not just evil. He was total Whacko-Jacko, Someone-Didn't-Eat-Their-Greens-As-A-Kid evil.
In other news: On This Day In History
On this day in history in 1721, Sir Robert Walpole assumed the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Walpole was the first person to be titled Prime Minister. He also holds the record for being Britain's longest serving Prime Minister. He held office for over 20 years.
In comparison, Margaret Thatcher ruled for eleven and a half years, and Tony Blair for a fraction over ten years.
On this day in history in 1818, the flag of the United States is approved and adopted by the United States Congress. It originally had 13 red and white stripes, and twenty stars. Each star represents a state within the union.
On this day in history in 1841, William Henry Harrison became the first sitting President of the United States of America to die in office.
He died of pneumonia on day 32 of his tenure as President. This set a record still unbeaten of having the shortest term of office of any President in the history the Unites States.
No comments:
Post a Comment