Thursday, November 15, 2012

Some Little Known Historical Facts...!

There are a lot of little known oddities in history, and the list makes for some interesting reading!

Some of these may come as a surprise to you as they did to me. Just goes to show how many things I didn't know...and still don't!

1. Before the Boston Tea Party, the British actually lowered tea taxes, not raised them.

2. England’s King George I was actually German.

3. Abel Tasman “discovered” Tasmania, New Zealand and Fiji, on his first voyage, but managed to completely miss mainland Australia!

4. Ethnic Irishman Bernardo O’Higgins was the first president of the Republic of Chile.

5. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day – the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

6. When the American Civil War started, Confederate Robert E. Lee owned no slaves. Union general U.S. Grant did.

7. Kaiser Wilhelm II, Tsar Nicholas II and George V were all grandchildren of Queen Victoria.

8. Karl Marx was once a correspondent for the New York Daily Tribune.

9. Josef Stalin once studied to be a priest.

10. Henry Kissinger and Yassir Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize. Gandhi never did.

11. The Constitution of the Confederate States of America banned the slave trade.

12. The Finnish capital of Helsinki was founded by a Swedish king in 1550.

13. The “D” in D-Day stands for “Day” – “Day-Day”

14. There was a New Australia in Paraguay in the 1890s.

15. A New Orleans man hired a pirate to rescue Napoleon from his prison on St. Helena.

16. Like Dracula (Vlad Tepes), there really was a King Macbeth. He ruled Scotland from 1040 to 1057.

17. In 1839, the U.S. and Canada fought the bloodless “War of Pork and Beans”.

18. Despite the reputation, Mussolini never made the trains run on time.

19. The world powers officially outlawed war under the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact.

20. Ancient Egypt produced at least six types of beer.

You can add this information to your list of almost useless information, if you have one! I have at least one, but it's actually more like a warehouse than a list! Speaking of list...you should check out the folks at Listverse. That's where this list came from!

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Pretty chilly outside and the coffee would cool off too fast!

12 comments:

Phyllis (N/W Jersey) said...

War of Pork and Beans??? Gotta look that one up!
Coffee in the kitchen is fine with me. It's only 26 out here. I'll bring some nice, warm bread pudding with raisins for all!

Sixbears said...

Like Phyllis said.

Now I'm got that to track down, and a few more too.

Better get that cup of coffee first. At 14 degrees out, I'm having my by the woodstove.

chinasyndrome said...

Great list Jim! The only one I knew was Vlad the Impaler.

China
III

Unknown said...

Wonderful list! Hopefully one of these will come up in Trivia on Sunday night.

I'm with Sixbears on the coffee this morning. In the kitchen by the woodstove.

Momlady said...

You always come up with such interesting stuff! While I was aware of some of the facts I certainly learned something new.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know any of these factoids - Thank you HermitJim.

War over pork and beans - I wonder if Wolf Brand Chile ever had such a loyal following . . .

Dizzy-Dick said...

I always enjoy lists of trivia and this was a good one. And yes, it is too cool out side for coffee on the patio.

JO said...

Another list of some what interesting facts. Your never to old to learn.

I'll take a refill please it isn't to cold this morning but not warm enought to sit out either.

linda m said...

Thanks for the list . More trivia to add to the growing list in my brain. I'll have to play Trivial Pursuit again with my grandson - I should win this time. haha! Coffee inside sounds good - cold outside here.

Peter Patenaude said...

War of pork and beans- Good ol' Maine!

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
I'm just doing my part to give you something to do, in case you get bored!

Thanks for coming by this morning.


Hey Sixbears...
At 14 degrees, I believe that I would stay by the wood stove as well!

Thanks, my friend, for coming over today!


Hey China...
Good to see you, my friend! Been way too long!

I try and share some new stuff when I can! I think that most of us remember ol' Vlad!

Thanks for the visit, buddy!


Hey Roslyn...
This info would be handy to know for any trivia game!

I love this stuff!

Thanks for coming over today!


Hey Momlady...
Always happy to provide a little entertainment! That's what I'm here for!

Thanks for the visit today!


Hey Anon 7:26...
I'm not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me any!

Thanks for the visit this morning!


Hey Dizzy...
Glad you like the list, buddy!

Chilly at your house as well, huh?

Many thanks for dropping by!


Hey Jo...
You know me...I always try and do what I can!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming by!


Hey Linda...
Just never know when some of this stuff might come in handy!

Hey, I appreciate the visit today!


Hey Peter...
Crazy things can be found in history, right?

I really appreciate you coming by today!


Anonymous said...

I actually did know # 1,2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 16, and 20.

And about #11...the no slave trade in the Confederacy? This did not ban slavery itself, it merely wanted it to be an utterly 'homegrown' variety of slavery.