Historical Fun

Historical Fun Facts for October 28th On the 28th of October, 1919, the United States Congress, in their infinite wisdom , passed the Volstead Act, even though the American President, Woodrow Wilson, vetoed it.   This act paved the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.   Of course, for those who don't know, Prohibition was the banning of Alcohol. Not a great day for, well, pretty much everyone. Because, as everyone knows, the three things humans need for survival and sanity are Alcohol, Bacon, and a decent WiFi signal.   On the 28th of October, 1958, John XXIII was elected Pope of the Planet Earth.   Legend has it, that when a Pope is elected, he has to sit on a chair which has a hole in the centre, whilst wearing no under-crackers, so that his testicles dangle through the hole.   The Cardinals then have to look up as he is carried through the hall to check they do, in fact, dangle.   This is due to the unfortunate e...

HISTORY FUN FACTS OCTOBER 10th Thanks to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, October 10th didn't exist in Spain, Poland, Portugal and Italy. On This Day in 1846, William Lassell discovered Triton, Neptune's largest moon.   One day he was peering through his telescope and realised, better to do this at night.   So, that night he peeked through his telescope and said, "Oh, my god, that is massive."   He then stopped peeping through his neighbours bedroom window and pointed his telescope to the skies.   And said, "Holy cow, that's one massive moon."   Fun Fact about Triton: It's the only large moon in the solar system to have a retrograde orbit, an orbit that's in the opposite direction to that of the planet.   On This Day in History in 1971, London Bridge did actually fall down.   Well, it didn't fall down, as described in the popular nursery rhyme, which lied to us all. London Bridge was dismantled a...

Fun History Facts for October 5th On This Day In History, October 5th, 1582, in Italy, Spain, Poland and Portugal , nothing existed. Not even October 5th.   This was due to the change to the Gregorian calendar. October 4th, yesterday, was immediately followed by October 15th. A good excuse to forget to give someone a birthday card.   On This Day In History in 1910, the monarchy of Portugal was overthrown in a revolution, and Portugal was declared a republic.   On This Day in 1962, Dr. No, the not-actually-the-first James Bond film was released . Obviously no one counts "that" version of Casino Royale, that doesn't exist.   On This Day In History in 1285, Philip III of France died of Me-Pooper-Won't-Stop-A-Pooping.   King Philip III of France was also called Philip the Bold, because he invented the darker font.   Philip the Bold was called The Bold, as he was pretty darned good on horseback and more than capable in...

HISTORY FUN FACTS October 2nd     On This Day In History in 1452, Richard III of England was born. As a complete and utter nephew-murdering bastard.   Richard III became King of England in 1483, because he really, really wanted it. And nothing is going to stand in his way.   Except, maybe the kid. And the other kid. But those can be dealt with easily enough.   Richard's brother was King Edward IV, and when he died, Richard was named Lord Protector for Edward's twelve-year-old son, Edward V. A position Richard took seriously. Very seriously. Very, very seriously, Mwahahahaha.   As the young Edward V travelled to London to take his place as the new King of England, Richard, ever the loving uncle, and totally serious about that Lord Protector title, met him halfway and escorted him into the capital city ... and then right into the Tower of London.   One down, one to go.   A few days later, Edward's nine-year old brother ...

HISTORY FUN FACTS - SEPTEMBER 20th On This Day in history in 1486 Arthur Tudor was born.   Arthur Tudor was the Prince of Wales and also the eldest son of King Henry VII of England. As the eldest son of the King, he was also the heir apparent.   Plans for Arthur's marriage started at the age of three, because any self-respecting three-year-old needs a wife. It wasn't until he was eleven-years-old that he was formally betrothed. Although they waited until he was 15-years-old before he actually married.   And the lucky lady was Catherine of Aragon.   Wait a minute, that name sounds familiar. Wasn't she the wife of King Henry VIII?   Something icky is coming.   Which is what Arthur said to his new wife on their wedding night.   Soon after they were married, they moved into Ludlow Castle in Shropshire. Life was good for Arthur Tudor. Newly married, madly in love, and heir to the throne of England. Soon he would be King o...

The Assassination of President James A. Garfield On This Day In History in, September 19th, 1881, James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States of America died.   President Garfield had only been president for four months when he was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2nd.   Guiteau was pissed at Garfield for not giving him a job. He wanted to be rewarded for doing virtually nothing to get Garfield elected as president and thought he deserved the position of consul in Paris.   It may have been a perfect job for Guiteau if he could speak any French and had any experience of that type of job. But he didn't. It also didn't help that he was a complete nutter.   Virtually all of President Garfield's movements, with the exception his bowel movements, were published in the newspapers. Guiteau followed these movements with interest and also the ones in the papers, and used them to plan the assa...

History Fun Facts - September 18th On This Day In History in 96 (a real year, even if it looks wrong when you write it down), the Roman Emperor Domitian was assassinated.   Some would say he had it coming to him, considering 15 years before, Domitian had murdered his own brother, Titus, to take his place as Emperor of Rome.   Domitian had killed his brother with a poison which created an uncomfortable feeling in Titus' bottom. Basically it was no longer a Titus. In fact, it was quite pliable. And erupted like a sticky brown volcano. Having blown off his Titus, Emperor Titus died shortly after.   Emperor Domitian was killed by a former slave called Maximus (not Russell Crowe) and a steward called Stephanus in a conspiracy led by a guy called Parthenius, who was Domitian's chamberlain.   There were a lot more people involved, but let's be honest, like me, you probably skip over the names that are hard to pronounce.   It's thou...

History Fun Fact September 6th On This Day in 380, Emperor Theodosius defeated the usurper, Emperor Eugenius, at the Battle of the Frigidus. With the defeat of Eugenius, both the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire were untied once again, the last time in history it would be one great big Empire.   Theodosius, also known as Theodosius the Great, or Cute-Squirrel-Lips by his Praetorian Guard, was born on the 11th of January, 347.   After the Battle of Figidus, Theodosius became Emperor of the entire Roman Empire, the last Emperor to rule over the whole thing.   During his reign, Theodosius-Cute-Squirrel-Lips had a serious problem with the Goths during and set about trying to eradicate them. Perhaps they reminded him of his own moody teenage years.   Unfortunately, his reputation took a serious hit, along with his gonads, a war injury he would never recover from, as he wasn't successful in destroying them. Or the other b...

History Fact - September 2nd   On This Day In History in 1666, London suffered the start of a four day intense heat wave. It became known as the Great Fire of London.   The fire started in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane and spread throughout the city, destroying over 13,000 houses, almost 90 churches, and the world famous St Paul's Cathedral. Even though half the city was destroyed, only 6 people died.   Fun Fact: Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, lived in a house directly in the path of the fire. Yet, instead of making sure his diary was safe, he buried his parmesan cheese in his back garden to protect it from the fire.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 1st of September   On the 1st of September, 1532, Lady Anne Boleyn gets well and truly wooed by King Henry-Of-The-Many-Number (VIII) of England .   He made her the Marquess of Pembroke. T'was a gesture that didn't quite get her to agree to bump uglies with him.   She is a true lady, and quite the manipulative one at that, and told the infatuated king that he may not wave his royal sceptre in her direction unless they are married and she is pronounced Queen.   It really was a loving relationship that would last forever. Not.   On the 1st of September, 1715, King Louis XIV of France finally kicked the bucket after a staggering 72 years on the throne.   It was the longest reign of any major European monarch, although not as long as the rain that has lasted over northern Scotland for the last thousand years.   On This Day in History, 1st September, 1979, Pioneer 11 flew/sailed/trundled/sped pa...

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 8th FEBRUARY   On This Day, the 8th of February, 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed at Fortheringhay castle after she was found writing letters making fun of the ginger wig her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, kept wearing.   The night before, Mary was informed of her upcoming beheading via a Twitter update from her cousin, the Queen of England.   @QueenyBethOfEngland Gonna cut that Mary's head off in the morning. LOL.   On the morning of the 8th of February, Mary was taken up some steps to the top of the scaffold. She sat on a stool, along with the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Kent, and awaited the ceremony.   The executioner and his assistant knelt before her and asked for forgiveness. She nodded and replied, "I forgive you with all my heart, for now, I hope, you shall make an end of all my troubles." It was only as Bull, the executioner, rose, that he noticed she had her fingers c...

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 7th FEBRUARY   On This Day, the 7th February 1812, Charles John Huffam Dickens was born. Huffam. Seriously love that name. Not as good as Everard Digby. But, still a great name.   His parents had Great Expectations of him when he was born, and by the time he died, he left us all saying, "Please, Sir. I want some more."   Fun Fact: Charles Dickens was forced to leave school to work in a factory when his father was imprisoned in a debtors' prison.   During Charles Dickens' life, he was visited by three ghosts: the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Presents (I love getting Christmas presents), and Casper, who was a really friendly ghost.   Where the Dickens was he when he died and where is he buried? He died of a stroke at Gad's Hill Place and, although he wanted a private funeral and to be buried at Rochester Cathedral, he has an honoured place at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, London. ...

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 1st FEBRUARY On This Day, the 1st of February 1994, Harry-Wears-A-Wig-Styles was born.   Harry Styles is best known for needing to wear a wig. As he is totally bald. He is also famous for being a member of the most successful boy band in history, Take That.   Oops, nope. He's in One Direction. It's been mildly successful, too.   Did You Know One Direction wasn't the first band Harry Styles joined. He performed as a singer in the band "White Eskimo" in his home town of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England. He once told his girlfriend that he'd made the "Same Mistakes the night before with a randy hedgehog." And "Everything About You" reminded him of that hedgehog, which he had Taken from Liam Neeson after winning a game called Summer Love.   A few weeks after Something Great happened with that hedgehog, he knew it was Still the One, as he found it Irresistible. But he knew the two o...

Humorous History Presents: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 27th January   On This Day in 1606, Guy Fawkes, along with a few of his other Gunpowder Plot conspirators , was put on trial for attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament and killing King James I.   Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.   In front of a roaring fire, the wood crackling away and spitting embers onto the stone floors, Thirteen conspirators met in secret during the dark nights of 1604. They planned a meticulous strategy to transport 36 barrels of explosive gunpowder into the tunnels beneath the Houses of Parliament. Guy Fawkes would be entrusted to guard and set the fuses, and a route for his escape was mapped out.   The king would die. Parliament would be destroyed. The old order of the Catholic Church would be restored with the King's nine-year-old daughter raised t...

Humorous History Presents: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 26th JANUARY On This Day in 1992, Boris Yeltsin, the Russian President , and, despite being totally bonkers-mad-nutso, or maybe because he was, was actually a lot of fun at parties, announced Russia would cease targeting the United States of America with its nuclear weapons.   As a child, Yeltsin lost a thumb and index finger on his left hand whilst playing with a hand grenade. Pretty sure there's a lesson to be learned there, kids. Probably shouldn't mess around with hand grenades.   It was only later in life he lost his marbles.   Boris Yeltsin is not only famed for being a leading figure in the downfall of the USSR, but also for being slightly intoxicated most of the time. Okay, who are we kidding? He enjoyed his drink. In fact, he couldn't get enough of it. Many a time, on international visits, he was as drunk as a skunk.   There was an incident in...

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 18th JANUARY On This Day, the 18th of January 350, Magnentius, played by Sir Ian McKellen, opposite what-a-really-smooth-head Patrick-Make-It-So-Stewart, deposed the Roman Emperor Constans and proclaimed himself the new all-powerful Mutant Magnet Magnentius Emperor of Rome. On This Day, 18th of January 532, in Constantinople,  the tit-for-tat between the supporters of two teams of chariot racers (the Blues and the Greens) which escalated into The Nika Riots a week ago, finally came to an end. For the last seven days, Constantinople had been plunged into chaos. Half the city was burned and destroyed, and thirty thousand people were killed. Celebrity Birthday On This Day, the 18th January 1955, American actor, direct, producer, singer, Kevin Costner was born. He once built a baseball stadium for ghosts that was engulfed in water, along with the entire world, before protecting Whitney Hous...

On This Day In History - 4th of January   On This Day, the 4th of January, 1649 , during the later stages of the English Civil War, the Rump Parliament voted to put King Charles-The-First-Spaniel-King on trial.   King Charles had a right old laugh. Put the King on trial? What a spiffing joke, you jest like a hedgehog in a wig. You can't put the king on trial.   Well, err, they actually did. But, the question that is on the tips of your tongues: what was the outcome of the trial? Did the King get off?   Yes. The King did get off.   Well, his head certainly did.   Also in the news:   On This Day, January 4th, 1912, A Royal Charter is issued incorporating The Scout Association throughout the British Empire.   On This Day, January 4th, 1900, James Bond is born. Nope, not the Bond James Bond, but just the normal regular James Bond. He was an American ornithologist. So, I guess they both had a liking for the birds in c...

Today is New Year's Eve. Or if you're in Scotland, Hogmanay. Or, if you're in Wales, Nos Galan.   This is where tradition dictates you get totally and absolutely sloshed out of your mind, head-butt four random strangers in a game of No-I-Love-YOU-The-Most (this is where the Klingons got the ritual, in case you were wondering), urinate in a policeman's hat (but only if you're pregnant), and then forget where you live.   It's a tradition that dates back to the Norse over a thousand years ago, when Thor, the Asgard god of thunder and hair products, descended on Scotland during the dark days between Avengers films, to demonstrate the virtues of over-drinking and public displays of this-is-just-embarrassing-you-can't-get-married-to-a-lamppost.   There are some pretty strange and interesting local traditions around the United Kingdom.   For example, in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, in north-east Scotland , they have a rather dangerous way ...