A Fact a Day...

...Keeps the doctor away. A blog of random interests and tidbits to keep the day interesting.

[afactadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

The Palomares Accident.

    Accidents happen, some are worse than others, and when an accident involves a nuclear bomb it is called a Broken Arrow.  One such Broken Arrow incident happened in the small town of Palomares, Spain in 1966. On January 17, 1966, a B-52 bomber flew over the small fishing town on its way back to North Carolina.  It was supposed to meet up with a KC-135 jet tanker for refueling, but the B-52 collided with the tanker.  The fuel ignited and consumed the jet tanker and all four of its crewmen as well as three of the seven men crewing the B-52.  Four men from the bomber managed to safely eject and escape the mid-air inferno.  Four other "passengers" also escaped.  Three, 70 kiloton Hydrogen bombs plummeted to the earth below, and one crashed into the Mediterranean.  Though the bombs were not armed only two were recovered intact, the other two that hit the town exploded and sprayed plutonium over the homes and fields of Palomares.  Spanish civil guards and a couple thousand US military personal flooded the small town to clean up and decontaminate.  The two intact bombs were safely recovered and 1,400 tons of radioactive dirt were shipped back to the United States for disposal.  Because of the international nature of the accident the news spread, but there have been several other Broken Arrows that occurred with in the US.  For more on those Broken Arrows check out the link below.

http://www.history.com/news/9-tales-of-broken-arrows-thermonuclear-near-misses-throughout-history

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The Rite of Spring

    It is the first day of spring!  So to celebrate the change of seasons here is a bit about The Rite of Spring ballet.

    Since its debut in Paris in 1909 The Rite of Spring had begun creating an intriguing reputation for itself.  The events of March 29, 1913 would secure its status as shocking and (later) groundbreaking.  Set in pagan Russia, the ballet depicts ancient fertility rites.  The subject matter, bolstered by Stravinsky's fiercely pulsating score and the risqué choreography of Vaslav Nijinsky stirred the normally demure audience into a frenzy.  Whistles and catcalls escalated into shouts and fist fights in the aisles.  Quickly the unrest was whipped up into an all out riot.  By intermission police arrived and tried to calm the furor.  A very limited order was restored, but a general chaos reigned until the ballets conclusion.

    A member of the orchestra told the conductor that, "many a gentleman's top hat or soft fedora was ignominiously pulled down by an opponent over his eyes and ears, and canes were brandished like menacing implements of combat..."  An audience member blamed the level of musical dissonance and unpredictability for the pandemonium.  Whatever the reason, The Rite of Spring lives on in glorious fame--or infamy.  Oh! one more thing.  What did Les Ballets Russes director, Sergei Diaghlev, think of the scandal?  It was "...just what I wanted."

[ancientart]

A group of finds from the grave of the Amesbury Archer, discovered in 2002.

The Amesbury Archer is important for many reasons. His grave is the richest of any found from the Early Bronze Age (about 2,400-1,500BC), the period that immediately followed the Neolithic, or Late Stone Age (4,000BC-2,400BC).

This was a time when the first metals were brought to Britain, and the Archer was buried with two gold hair tresses which are the oldest securely dated gold ever found in Britain (dated to around 2,400BC).

Courtesy Wessex Archaeology.

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What a cool discovery.

[historyofromanovs]

MEET THE ROMANOVS!

Need to know more about the Romanovs? Need information? Have ever “met" the Romanovs other than Nicholas II’s family? Here’s a page of all main Romanovs in history for you to see and read about. It’s still a work in process and there are some more Romanovs to add. The photographs are linked. If you click on a photo, it will take you to the Romanov’s Wikipedia page.

[fuckyeahhistorycrushes]

YES GOOD THANK YOU FOR THIS

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What an interesting family met with such a tragic end.

[humbleegomania]

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

John Adams to Abigail

July 3, 1776

(via humbleegomania)

John Adams famously got the date we would celebrate wrong but his instincts were right. On the 4th of July the final wording was agreed upon but the Declaration itself was passed on July 2nd.

Happy Independence Day, America!

(via lorainnes)

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The Bonaparte's of Baltimore

Christmas Eve 1803, the Archbishop of Baltimore presided over a high profile and somewhat shocking wedding.  The bride was the fashionable and beautiful Elizabeth Patterson.  The groom was Jerome Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Elizabeth, or Betsy as she was known, was the exquisite daughter of a wealthy Irish immigrant.  Known for her beauty and risqué fashion sense, Betsy was not one "...intended for obscurity."  Young Betsy met the dashing Jerome one fall evening at a ball in Baltimore.  Jerome was swept off his feet, and married Betsy a few months later.  Napoleon was not happy and called for his brother to annul the marriage and return to France at once.  Jerome defied him and stayed in the U.S.  

A year later, Betsy and Jerome travelled to France for the coronation of Napoleon, but the emperor denied their entry until the marriage was annulled.  It was while stuck in Amsterdam that, Betsy learned she was pregnant, and hoped that this would be the key to ending the family strife.  Unfortunately, it was not to be.  Betsy gave birth to a son, Jerome Napoleon, in July, and shortly after their marriage was over.  Jerome would go on to marry Catharina of Wurttemburg.  Betsy would never remarry and spend the rest of her life fighting for acceptance of her son at European courts.

In the end, Betsy expected her son to marry royalty.  Bo, as he was called, defied his mother, and like his father married American heiress Susan Mary Williams.

[afactadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

Elizabeth I, The Virgin Drag Queen?

Queen Elizabeth I was one fierce British monarch.  The formidable queen often boasted that she had "...the heart of a man, not a woman, and I am not afraid of anything."  Could she really be stating a fact.  Could Queen Elizabeth literally have had the heart of a man because she actually was a man?  Author Steve Berry, while researching for a novel, seems to believe that Elizabeth was actually a man.  Surprisingly he's not the first to think this, author Bram Stoker believed this theory true too.  But how could such a theory even exist, let alone find prominent support?

Well, according to supporters, it all began 470 years ago in the small Cotswold Village of Gloucestershire.  The aging King Henry VIII was due to visit his daughter any day now.  The princess had been sent to the country to avoid a plague.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth was ill-gravely ill actually.  None of the treatments like bleeding and leeching were working, her condition was only getting worse.  Then, according to the theory, early one morning she lay in bed dead.  Panic gripped Elizabeth's caretakers, Lady Kat Ashley and Thomas Parry.  They had let one of the king's few surviving heirs die-an act of treason.  The punishment awaiting the traitors was death.  For a treachery of this magnitude Ashley and Parry would be hanged, then cut down and revived, then disemboweled while still aware, before having their limbs cut off and displayed on stakes around town.  Ashley and Parry came up with a desperate plan to find a look alike village girl and hope that she would fool the king long enough to allow them time to escape.

Unfortunately no such girl was found.  There was, however, Neville, a village boy and friend of Elizabeth.  With time quickly dwindling the young boy was hurriedly dressed in Elizabeth's clothes, given a crash course in princess etiquette before he went in front of the king.  Unbelievably the King bought it.  Perhaps it had a little to do with the fact that Henry VIII rarely saw Elizabeth.  For whatever reason, it was a successful deception.  That got Ashley and Parry wondering how far they could push it.  The king, after all, thought Neville was his daughter.  Could they really have fooled all of England?

Both authors Berry and Stoker believe this is why Elizabeth, when crowned in 1558, never married nor have an acknowledged lover.  Why pictures of her as a young girl seem so drastically different from early portraits of her as a queen.  And why official commissioned portraits were all censored by the queen.  Even one of Elizabeth's tutors, though sexist, wrote "...her mind is exempt from female weakness, and she is imbued with a masculine power of application."  Whatever the outcome, Berry would like to see Queen Elizabeth I exhumed and have DNA testing prove the theory one way or the other.

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"More fight than game..."

  Sports can be violent.  Many rugby, soccer, hockey, American football players, and other athletes suffer extreme injuries.  However, I have yet to hear of a player being accidentally stabbed to death during a game.  Such a thing did happen in Tudor time though.  Actually, it happened twice.

Second to archery, Tudor football was the deadliest sport of that time.  There was no limit to the number of players.  Many times a whole town battled against another town in a match that could last hours or even days! The object was to kick, carry or throw a hair filled pig bladder ball across the goals that were a mile or so apart.  Men bit, punched, kicked, tripped and tackled their opponents.  In two separate matches men were accidentally stabbed by an opponents knife during a tackle.  One man was crushed to death and another man got tangled in a bell tower rope and fell to his death.  Internal injuries and broken legs were also leading causes of death.  In 1540, King Henry VIII banned the sport as too many men were dying-men that he could use in his army.

[afactadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

"Paint the town red."

"Paint the town red."  This common phrase to describe having a good time, likely came about because someone quite literally painted a town red.  The culprit was Henry de La Poer Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford.

It all began in Melton Mowbray, England in 1837.  Henry and some friends were out having a good time celebrating after a successful fox hunt.  Henry already had a reputation for being a bit of a lush and troublemaker-both traits would be on full display tonight.

Led by Henry, the band of sloshed companions vandalized the town.  They toppled flower pots, ripped knockers off doors, and shattered windows.  The night culminated with the revelers stumbling upon some red paint and giving the towns tollgate, swan statue and several doors a makeover.  Henry ultimately paid out a huge sum to help the town clean up, but the phrase "paint the town red" was (probably)* born.

Lord Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford.

*Bonus fact:  Some suggest that the phrase actually got its start in the 1880's, in reference to the men of the Wild West treating their whole town as if it were a brothel in the red light district.

[afactadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

Studentenkarzer

Today universities take certain actions when students get into trouble.  Punishments range from lowering a grade to expulsion, few universities have their own jail.  Germany’s Heidelberg University has, or rather had, its own jail.

  Established in 1386, Heidelberg University is the oldest in Germany.  The students jail, or Studentenkarzer, was created in the 1780’s and remained in use until 1914.  Back then the university had its own jurisdiction and could lock up rowdy students for a day or a few weeks.  The imprisoned student was supposed to subsist on bread and water alone, but many enjoyed beer and delicious meals delivered from home or from friends.  Also, the incarcerated were still allowed to attend lectures, but many chose to remain locked up and play hooky.  Yes, life in this jail was pretty cozy and was the temporary home for many repeat offenders, who immortalized their stays in graffiti on the walls (much is still visible today).  One famous detainee, who purposely got himself thrown in there (for research purposes), was Mark Twain. 

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Fact 6: The Midnight Ride of...

  April 26, 1777.  A lone rider races 40 miles from Fredericksburg, New York to Danbury, Connecticut.  This courageous rider is tasked with warning colonial forces that, "The British are coming! The British are Coming!"  Who is this midnight rider?......  Well, if you guessed Paul Revere you are wrong.  This midnight hero is sixteen year old Sybil Ludington.

  Sybil Ludington was at home with her parents and 11 younger siblings when a messenger from Danbury arrived at their house with news that Danbury was going to be attacked by British General William Tryon.  The exhausted messenger could not make the ride back.  Sybil's father, Colonel Henry Ludington, charged his barely sixteen year old daughter with the mission.  She rode from 9p.m. until dawn and travelled more than twice the distance of the famous Paul Revere.  Oh, and she defended herself from highwaymen (bandits) with only a stick!  Unfortunately the men she rode out to muster arrived too late to save Danbury, but they were able to drive General Tryon away to Long Island Sound.

[afactadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

Fact 5: The Darien Disaster

  After decades of war with England and seven years of famine, 17th century Scotland was in a state of crisis.  Hundreds of homeless filled the streets of Scotland's cities - something needed to be done.  Enter Scottish financial mastermind William Paterson and his promise of a land flowing with milk and honey.  A land filled with peaceful indians living a life of leisure and luxury in the paradise of Darien.  Darien is located in Panama, a crucial spot for trade, to control this trade route would mean financial stability for Scotland.  Paterson's plan was to establish a colony on the Isthmus of Darien and begin raking in the money.  His idea flourished and the masses, both rich and poor, flocked to sign up.

  However, after arriving in Darien (now renamed New Caledonia), the colonists learned that the paradise had been drastically oversold.  They had brought too many useless trade items with them and nowhere near enough provisions.  Also there was tensions with Spain, as Spain had prior claim to Panama.  A second expedition did little in the way of aiding the floundering colony.  The climate and swampy land, coupled with the lack of food and outbreaks of disease led to the deaths of over 200 colonists by March 1699 and the financial ruin of Paterson and Scotland.  In the end the once imagined promised land of Darien actually turned out to be a most inhospitable death trap.  Even today, the region of Darien is so treacherous that it is the only missing link in the Pan-American Highway.

[afactadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

Fact 4

Speaking of Cleopatra...The real Egyptian queen once enjoyed a meal worth 10 million sesterces all because of a bet.  Cleo's lover, Marc Antony, made a bet over whether or not she would spend a fortune on a single meal.  The clever queen, according to Pliny the Elder, "ordered the second course to be served.  In accordance with previous instructions, the servants placed in front of her only a single vessel containing vinegar...[Cleopatra] took one earring off, and dropped the pearl in the vinegar, and when it wasted away, swallowed it."  This single pearl was not your Grandmother's pearl.  No, Pliny described this pearl as being the "largest in the whole of history."  

It might not have been the tastiest of cocktails, but what a fabulous name..."I'll have a 'Cleopatra Pearl' shaken not stirred."

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Fact 3

Once upon a time, Rumpelstiltskin helped a maiden spin straw into strands of gold for the king who held her captive.  Those strands were then woven together and turned into cloth for one of Elizabeth Taylor's costumes in Cleopatra (1963).  Ok, maybe that last part is a bit of a stretch, but still partially true.  For her role as Cleopatra, Taylor had 65 different costumes-one of which was created with 24-karat gold cloth (with or without Rumpelstiltskin's help that is still impressive).  The costume budget for Taylor alone was $194,800, the highest ever for a single actor at that time.  By the end of production more than 20,000 costumes and 8,000 pairs of shoes had been made for Cleopatra.

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Fact 2

 July 28, 1945, Capt. William F. Smith took off on a routine flight carrying servicemen from Massachusetts to New York.  New York was blanketed in a dense fog as Capt. Smith radioed La Guardia airport requesting landing clearance.  With visibility at zero La Guardia said landing would be difficult.    So Smith began circling as he waited for the fog to disapate.  Smith, unknowingly, had actually steered the plane right over midtown Manhattan.  Slowly the fog began to clear and  instead of staring out at open sky Smith found him self staring slap bang at the Empire State Building.  There was no time to move, the crash was unavoidable.   

 Hitting between the 78th and 80th floors, the impact of the collision sent piece of the engine flying out through the other side of the building and onto a neighboring rooftop.  Smith, two crewmen, and 11 people working in the Empire State building were killed in this tragic accident.  

[afactadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

Fact 1

  Long before the masses oogled at Betty Grable's million dollar legs there was another famous person with equally noteworthy legs.  The owner of those gorgeous gams is none other than King Henry VIII.  Yes, Henry VIII is noted to have great legs specifically his calves.  A Venetian ambassador at Henry's court wrote "His Majesty is the handsomest potentate I ever set eyes on;…with an extremely fine calf to his leg…"  In the sixteenth century, having a shapely calf was an ideal in male attractiveness.  Henry was very proud of his.  Later when talking to the same ambassador about the French King Henry "then inquired, 'What sort of legs has he?' [the ambassador] replied 'Spare.' Where upon [Henry] opened the front of his doublet, and placing his hand on his thigh, said 'Look here! and I have also a good calf to my leg."