Historical Fun: Facts for November 12

History Fun Facts for November 12th

On This Day In History, 12 November, 1035, King Cnut, or Canute, died.

 

King Cnut is famous for being exceptionally tall and strong, and the handsomest of all men, except for his nose. His nose looked like a penis after a semi-good beating from a baseball which had then been left to marinate in vinegar for seven weeks.

 

Cnut ruled England between 1016 - 1035. He was also King of Norway and Denmark. And some of the Swedes.

 

King Cnut's father was Sweyn Forkbeard, famous for shoving forks in his beard to scare his enemies, and his grandfather was Harald Bluetooth, who was famous for inventing the hands-free device that allows you to talk on your phone whilst driving.

 

There is a famous story of Cnut, or Canute, raising his hand up to hold back to the tide which, first told by Henry of Huntingdon.

 

Cnut placed his throne before the sea and commanded the incoming tide to stop and not wet his feet and robes. The tide continued unabated and soaked him.

 

The King leapt up and dashed backwards, shouting, "It got my balls, they shrivelled up inside me. Will no one rub them to make them better?"

 

Nope, he declared, "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws."

 

He then dunked his donuts in the waters, hung his gold crown on a crucifix, and never wore it again, to honour the God, almighty King.

 

Also On This Day In History

 

On November 12th, 1912, the frozen body of Robert Scott, as well as his men, were discovered on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

 

Captain Robert Falcon Scott, of the Royal Navy, had led two expeditions to the Antarctic, the second turning into disaster for his group.

 

The first expedition was a great success. He made it to the Polar Plateau, somewhere near the south pole.

 

On his second expedition, he reached the South Pole on January 17th, 1912, but not first. He was four weeks behind Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian expedition.

 

Scott and his team were on the way back, only 150 miles from their base camp, they died from exhaustion, starvation and it being frigging freezing cold down there.