As some of you know I was a High School history teacher in a past life. So I have a head full of random historical facts and theories - some funny others just weird. I have been asked to share some of these random facts so here is the place to come if you are interested in learning random things from the past.
If you have random facts you would like to share please share with me via the form at the bottom of this page!
**** Let me just say some of the “facts” are just theories with not real historical proof to support it, but I will share anyway as they are funny*****
March 2. 2020Shortest War in History!
We often talk about the longest wars in history for example Vietnam was the U.S’s longest war until the War in Afghanistan surpassed it. However, you do you know what the shortest war in history was? The shortest war in history was 38 minutes and know as the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It was a military conflict (as not official deceleration of war was given just like Vietnam or Afghanistan) between the UK and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896. The short version of the story is that Zanzibar was ceded to the British in the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty with Germany. Britain set up Zanzibar up as a protectorate and installed their own “puppet” Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini. He ruled for 3 years until his death August 25, 1896 (no one really knows why he died, but they believe his cousin Khalid Bin Barghash had him killed). Khalid then set himself up as Sultan without British consent. British diplomats demanded Khalid stand down, he refused and gathered forces to him in the palace. At the same time the British were continuing to demand Khalid to step down and where sending men ashore to protect the Consulate, it should be mentioned the British had 2 warships in the harbor and by the next day (26th of August) those were joined by 3 more warships. A final ultimatum was given to Khalid on August 26th, that Khalid leave the palace by 9 am the next day. Khalid replied the next morning saying he had not intention of leaving and they did not believe the British would fire on them. At 9 am on the 27th Khalid had not left the palace and the British ships began to bombard the palace. By 9:02 am most of Khalid’s artillery had been destroyed and the palace had started to collapse. It is also believe that Khalid escaped during this time and left his servants and fighters to defend the palace. By 9:40 am the Sultan’s flag was pulled down and the war was over. February 10, 2020Legend of the Marathon!
The Random Fact is back, sorry for the unannounced “vacation” of Random Fact, but no worries its back. However, due to time it has been pushed from one every week to 2 a month. Let’s start…
As the Houston Marathon was a few weeks ago, I thought it appropriate to give you the history/legend of where the marathon came from and why it is 26.2 miles today (such an odd distance). Legend has it during the Persian Wars, there was the Battle of Marathon in Greece. The people in Athens were told that if the Greek army lost, they were to burn the city to the ground and raze the fields so the Persian would find nothing when they reached Athens to help them in the quest to control all of the Greek City States. However, Greeks won the Battle of Marathon and had to let the Athens know before they burned the city. So, they sent their fastest messenger Pheidippides to run from Marathon to Athens with the news that the Greeks won the battle (a distance of nearly 25 miles). The story goes that he did deliver the message and then collapsed and died. (By the way – Athens holds a yearly marathon to commemorate this run every year in November.)But how did the marathon go from 26 miles to 26.2?According to some stories during the 1908 Olympic Games in London, Queen Alexandra asked for the marathon to start on the lawn of Windsor (so the children could see it from their window) and then finish right in front of the royal box at the Olympic Stadium. This happened to be a distance of 26.2 miles and for whatever reason that distance has stuck ever since. So now you know the history/legend behind a marathon and the modern distance associated with marathons.
August 5, 2019Tomatoes are deadly?
Okay so no tomatoes are not deadly but by the 1700s most of Europe feared them. As you may know tomatoes are high in acidity, and that level of acidity did not mix well with European plates. In the 1700s most Europeans at of pewter plates that were high in lead. When the tomatoes where put on the plate the acidity in them, would leach the lead from the plate. People would then eat the tomatoes and get ill and in some cases die of lead poisoning. However, in the 1700s they did not know about lead poisoning so the sickness and deaths were blamed on the poor tomatoes.It would not be until the pizza was invented in Naples in 1880s that tomatoes would lose their bad rap and gain popularity through out Europe. Come back Wednesday - for another funny historical fact .. the shortest war in history!
August 1, 2019
Being called a Nazi was an insult …. what????
As a history major, we had to choose an area of study and as many before me I choose the era of World War II. However, it wasn’t the war that I study it was the people in power, society and the Holocaust. Because of this study I learned more then anyone wants to know about the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler. However, one of the most interesting things I ever learned was that the name Nazi was actually an insult and Hitler hated it with a passion. When I was in High School, I was taught that NAZI was the acronym of the political party that Hitler joined after World War I, which was the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (The National Socialist German Workers Party). As you can see that “acronym” would not work. In fact Nazi was an insult even before Hitler and his party. It was a derogatory term for a backwards peasant – it’s a shorten version of Ignatius, a common name in Bavaria, the area from where the Nazis emerged. Opponents of Hitler grabbed on to this name and shortened the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei to the rude and dismissive “Nazi”. July 26, 2019
What did we do before alarm clocks?
Today most of people rely on alarm clocks to get up in the morning, but, before alarm clocks and actually even after they appeared people relied on “knocker-uppers” to wake them up on time. Yes, Knocker-upper was a real job…though found mainly in UK and Ireland. If you wanted to be woken up you would hire a knocker-upper for a few pence and they would wake you up. How, you ask? Well, many would use hollow bamboo reeds and shoot dried peas at your window, or a long stick and knock at your window. They would stay there and continue to knock or shoot peas until you came to the window to show you were awake. Would you prefer your nice alarm clock or dried peas shot at your window to wake you up? July 25, 2019
Where did the word Threshold come from?
There are two answers to this question. One is the theory that spread online (which I love) and then there is probably the more accurate theory which has come from linguist which is not as much fun! I will share both and let you decide. The theory that has spread online is that back in the 1500’s or so, most people would cover their floors in thresh (rushes and reeds). However, when the door would open the thresh would slip out or be carried into another room, so they placed a piece of wood or stone across the doorway to hold the thresh back and viola you have threshold! Now that could be a bunch of nonsense but I like that theory. However, those that study language have a more accurate way the word came about. Threshold first appeared in Old English as “therscold” or “threscold”. The first part of the word meant to “stamp with the feet or stomp loudly”, which tends to happen in places where you may walk through snow, mud or dirt. You stomp to get the snow, mud and dirt of your shoes before you enter the dwelling. However, the second half of the word is actually still a mystery and definitely not hold, however overtime it was changed to hold. And viola you have threshold. Now its time for you to decide for yourself which you think is right. That is all history is a place to be told facts and theories and decide for yourself what you believe and think. July 24, 2019
The True Story behind GOT’s Red Wedding!
I confess I have never watched a full episode of Game of Thrones…. but I read up on each episode so I could talk to my friends about it. Also, as a history teacher I was surprised and also appreciative of many of the parallels between the show and actual historical events. One of the biggest parallels was the Red Wedding episode! Now SPOILER ALERT at this wedding King Robb Stark, his wife, mother, banner-men and men-at-arms (~15,000 men) were massacred at a marriage feast in revenge because King Robb Stark broke the marriage contract between his house and House Frey. Well, what you may not know is the George RR Martin himself stated he got the idea of an actual historical events. While we will never know the actual event that may have inspired this scene, the first event recorded similar to the Red Wedding was known as the Banquet of Blood! A bit of back ground, it’s the 8th century and the place is the Persian Empire! There are two major groups the Abbasid and Umayyad. The Umayyads had ruled the Persian Empire for almost 100 years. (661-750CE) They would be replaced by the Abbasid family when they led a massive revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate. (There is way more detail to how the overthrow happened but we’re not here for that!) On June 22, 750 AD the Abbasid’s not afraid of bloodshed (as seen by their past deeds – again more details we’re not here for!) wanted to get rid of all the Umayyad royal line. There were about 80 Umayyad family members left, hiding out in their family strongholds. And while, not a lot of details are known about how this dinner came together – we do know how it ended. Over 80 Umayyad family members were invited to a grand feast on the pretext of reconciliation. They were probably very desperate for peace so they made their way to the Palestinian town of abu-Futrus. Once there the Umayyads and Abbasids had a great feast and festivities, however once done, all the princes were clubbed to death by the Abbasid followers – thus eliminating the possibility of a Umayyad return to power. And that my friends the real life version of the Red Wedding! Known in history as the Banquet of Blood! July 19, 2019
Genghis Khan and biological warfare!
Most people have heard the name Genghis Khan (probably from the restaurant!!) But what you may not know is that he and his descendants were the only people to ever successfully invade China and Russia in history! Even though many have tried since (i.e. Germany!) but none have succeeded. Many historians believe this is because of the Khaganates policies when invading an area. When invaded by the Khaganate you had two simple choices: 1: surrender, pay taxes and give tribute to the Khaganate yearly and continue to live peacefully in your village/town. Or, 2 refuse to surrender and the Khaganate would lay siege to your village. Well as you may guess many places refused to surrender and so Genghis Khan created a new invasion technique the siege! At this point you thinking okay, okay get on with what does biological warfare have to do with a siege??? Well…… when Genghis Khan felt the siege was taking too long, he decided to try a new tactic – kill the people behind the walls then the siege ends. Something that helped Genghis Khan was that the Black Plague had started to spread along trade routes. So, he said “huh, this sickness is contagious and kills quickly, it could break the siege!” Genghis Khan ordered his soldiers to round up people (died and alive) that had the plague. He then would have the bodies catapulted (side note: he was the first to use catapults successfully in battle) into the villages and towns that were under siege. He and his army would then wait for those inside the walls to fall ill and/or die and then walk right into the village and claim victory. So…. Genghis Khan and his army were the first people to use biological warfare in history! July 18, 2019
It’s raining cats and dogs!
What? Why do we even use this saying since obviously its not actually raining cats and dogs? Well now it’s not ….. but in the past …… maybe! There is one popular theory as to where this saying comes from. And while we cannot actually prove this happened it is the most accepted reason for this phrase. In the past most peoples homes had thatch roofs made from straw or grass. Well these roofs not only kept the inhabitants protected from the elements but it also was a great place for small animals (cats and dogs) to hide in to stay cool, warm or dry. But, it is said when it rain particularly hard the animals would not be able to keep grip of the straw (as you know no thumbs!!!) and would fall off the roof. Hence, when it rained hard it literally sometimes did seem to rain cats and dogs!