History Fun Facts November 25

HISTORICAL FUN: On This Day In History Fun Facts for November 25th

 

On This Day In History in 885, Vikings, yes, they are at it again, sieged Paris after sailing their fleet up the River Seine.

 

Vikings, Vikings, yes we are,

Sail our ships, we came so far,

To kill you.

Die non-Vikings, DIE.

 

On This Day in History in 1120, William Adelin was killed when his ship, The White Ship, sank in the English Channel.

 

William Adelin was the son and heir of King Henry I of England. His death caused a succession crisis after his father died without issue that caused a period in England called The Anarchy.

 

Read some Historical Fun with FUN FACTS ABOUT KING HENRY I of ENGLAND.

 

On This Day in 1487, Elizabeth of York was crowned Queen of England.

 

Elizabeth of York was the wife of King Henry VII of England and the first ever Tudor Queen.

 

She could also be the inspiration to George RR Martin for his character Sansa Stark in the popular Game of Thrones.

 

Elizabeth of York was not only wife of Henry VII of England and Queen Consort, she was also the daughter of King Edward IV of England. Plus, the niece of King Richard III of England.

 

And to top it off, she was the mother of the only Henry that matters (nope, not the hoover), we're talking the King of the Many Numbers, King Henry VIII of England and loads-of-pies.

 

This made Elizabeth of York, wife, daughter, sister, niece and mother of successive Kings of England. 

History fun facts November 22

HISTORICAL FUN: HISTORY FUN FACTS FOR NOVEMBER 22

 

On This Day in 1718, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, the infamous and notorious and bulbous Pirate, was defeated in battle.

 

The boarding party, led by Royal Navy Lieutenant, Robert Maynard, found Blackbeard and ran him through real good, resulting in the pirate's death.

 

Edward Teach was born in or around 1680, and in or around the English city of Bristol. There really isn't much to go on when it comes to Edward Teach's early life. We do know he was born as a baby which had an extraordinary amount of facial hair, even for a baby from Bristol, which is saying something.

 

Did you know: Blackbeard could read and write.

 

Now, I know what you're thinking. Big deal?

 

Well, it actually was at the time. Education back then wasn't as freely available as it is today. This means we could assume Edward Teach, "if that's even your real name," was born into a reasonably respectable and wealthy family.

 

We know he could read and write as he communicated with merchants, made contracts, and when he was killed, he had a letter addressed to him from the Chief Justice and Secretary of the Province of Carolina.

 

Edward Teach had been a pirate for years when he captured a large French merchant vessel called La Concorde. He renamed the ship the Queen Anne's Revenge, refitted it from head to toe, stern to bow, and installed 40 guns.

 

For the next few years, Teach pirated the living daylights out of anything and everything he could. Movies, music, Game of Thrones. He didn't care what he pirated. His reputation for ruthlessness spread and soon every ship that sailed the seven seas, and some rivers, and a few bathtubs, feared him.

 

The guy was actually crazy.

 

And I really do mean Nutso-Whacko-Jacko crazy. To give an example, he tied lit fuses under his hat to frighten his enemies. Seriously, lit fuses. They go Kaboom.

 

"You were only supposed to blow the bloody hat off."

 

He actually retired at one point.

 

Yep, he'd had enough. He sailed the Queen Anne's Revenge aground on a sandbar and retired with a royal pardon.

 

The quiet life didn't agree with him, though. He returned to sea, as it's a pirate's life for me. Yo-Ho-Ho, and a bottle of rum, me matey.

 

He was killed on the 22nd November 1718 after a ferocious battle of battles. There was something wrong with his Poop Deck. It had been blown off. Ouch.

 

His ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was sunk and lost to the sea.

 

Check out Fun Facts About the Pirate BLACKBEARD and the story of his last battle.

 

Also on this day in history

 

On This Day In History in 845, Nominoe, build them up and knock them over, the first King of all Brittany, defeated the Frankish King Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon.

 

Ironically, despite being Frank, Charles the Bald wasn't happy about the constant references to his lack of hair. This led to him being distracted during the battle after chasing his wig after a strong gust of wind blew it off his head.

 

On This Day In History in 1869, the clipper Cutty Sark was launched from Dumbarton, Scotland. It was one of the last clippers built, and the only surviving one to this day.

 

On This Day in History in 1963, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, was assassinated in Texas by Lee Harvard Oswald.

 

On This Day In History in 1975, Juan Carlos was declared King of Spain after the death of Francisco Franco.

 

On This Day in 1990, Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, pulled out of the Conservative Party Leadership election, ending her reign as Prime Minister.

 

On This Day in 1995, Toy Story was released. It was the first feature-length movie created entirely by using CGI.

History Fun Facts November 21st

Quick History Facts for November 21st

On This Day In History in 164 BC, Judas Maccabeus restored the Temple in Jerusalem and is now commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.

 

On This Day in 1877, Thomas Edison announced he had invented the phonograph, a magical machine that captured the souls of the living. Or, at least, their voices. Burn the witch.

 

On This Day in History in 1922, Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia took the oath of office to become the first female senator in the United States of America.