History Fun Facts for October 9th

HISTORICAL FUN FACTS for October 9th

On This Day In History in 1514, King Louis XII of France was married to Mary Tudor.

 

Mary Tudor was, of course, the third daughter of King Henry VII of England, and the sister of the infamously big-bellied Henry VIII.

 

Although, it's worth pointing out, that in twenties, Henry VIII was quite dashing. He was no Chris Hemsworth, but women considered him to be reasonable. Maybe in line with Chris Hemsworth's brother, whatshisname?

 

Fun Fact you might not know about Mary Tudor: She was married to Louis XII of France, but he died, and she remarried, this time to Charles Brandon, the 1st Duke of Suffolk.

 

The two of them had four children, one of which was a daughter named Frances. And Frances was the mother of Lady Jane Grey, who claimed the English throne for nine days in 1553. Hence why Lady Jane Grey is known as the Nine-Day Queen.

 

On This Day In History, October 9th, in 1582, this day didn't exist in Italy, Poland, Portugal or Spain. See the previous couple of days to figure out why no one got their birthdays that year. It's all Greg's fault.

 

On This Day in History in 1708, Peter the Great defeated the Swedes, a vegetable army, at the Battle of Lesnaya.

 

Peter the Great began suffering problems with his urinary tract and bladder in latter life. In the summer of 1724, he called for a comic who began taking the piss out of him. Although the jokes were funny, and Peter the Great could take being mocked, that was not the urine extraction he needed.

 

He summoned for the doctors. They performed emergency surgery, releasing over four pounds of blocked urine.

 

Wowser, that was a lot of piss.

 

Peter the Great remained in bed for months recovering, until one day he'd had enough. He jumped out of bed and immediately started a tour in Lakhta, wanting to inspect the ironworks.

 

Legend has it, that whilst inspecting the ironworks, he noticed some soldiers in the water, and they appeared to be drowning. Living up to his Great name, Peter waded into the icy waters and rescued them.

 

However, the rescue and the icy waters took a heavy toll on Peter's bladder. It exploded, destroying not only his insides, but also the ironworks and a nearby anthill.

 

Unbelievably he survived, but in January 1725, he was once again struck with a urinary problem. And he died. Not before asking for a pen and paper which he was only able to write, "Leave all to..."

 

An autopsy on the body revealed his bladder was infected with gangrene.

 

On This Day in History in 1934 King Alexander I of Yugoslavia was assassinated.

 

Fun Fact: Alexander I of Yugoslavia was the last European monarch to be assassinated.

 

And to top it off, he was killed on a flipping Tuesday.

 

Alexander hated Tuesday's. Three of his family members had been killed on a Tuesday and he refused to do any public functions on a Tuesday.

 

What are the chances that the first time he does, he'd be killed?

 

On October 9th, 1934, a Tuesday - Oh, crap, I know where this is heading - he arrived in Marseilles, France, on a State visit.

 

As he was driven through the streets with the French Foreign Minister, Louis Barthou, a gunman jumped into the road and started firing his Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistol into the car. He shot the King twice, the chauffer, and the French Foreign Minister.

 

The King died instantly, slumped backwards in his seat with his eyes wide open. The chauffer died instantly as well, his foot jammed against the brakes of the car. The French Foreign Minister, Barthou was wounded, but he too died the following day as a result of his injuries and very poor medical treatment.

 

Although the exact moment of the assassination of Alexander I of Yugoslavia was not caught on film, the moments immediately before and afterwards were, as the incident occurred just a few feet away from the cameraman.