THE MERCHANT OF DEATH
Alfred Nobel made a lot of money perfecting the blowing up of things. He came from a family of inventors. His father invented plywood. His brothers started the Russian oil industry. Alfred was not a happy man. He suffered from migraines, depression, and angina (for which he ironically took nitroglycerin). He was interested in a variety of subjects. He wrote poetry. He wrote a play called “Nemesis” which was about a family that kills an abusive father. (His family bought and destroyed 97 of the 100 copies because they thought it was blasphemous.) He funded Ivan Pavlov’s experiments. But he is most famous for inventing dynamite. He and his brothers were in the nitroglycerin business, but it was a dangerous business. The substance was so unstable that a brother was killed when a factory exploded. Another blew up two years later, but then Nobel came up with the formula for dynamite. He mixed nitroglycerin with a silicon-heavy soil to create a paste that was much more stable and usable. It was marketed as a better way to break up rocks and help with tunneling, not for warfare. He named it after the Greek word dynamus which means power. It made him wealthy and he went on to invent blasting caps and had 355 other patents. He left $4.2 million in his will to support peace and the arts and sciences. Not really because he felt guilty. In fact, he thought his explosive would make war obsolete. The money was divided between the Swedish Academy of Arts (chemistry and physics), the Caroline Institute (medicine), the Swedish Academy (literature), and the Norwegian Parliament (peace). The first awards were given on Dec. 10, 1901 – the fifth anniversary of his death.
– Amazing 273-275
FREUD – DRUG PUSHER
In the 1880’s, Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud began experimenting with and researching a new miracle drug called “cocaine”. In 1884, he published his findings in a report entitled “Uber Coca”. Freud sung the praises of this “magical substance.” He touted it as a cure for digestive ailments, asthma, fatigue, pain, alcoholism, headaches, and melancholy. He even thought it could cure morphine addiction. Freud himself used it through injection or orally. He found it helped with his shyness. He encouraged his fiancée Martha to use it “to make you strong and give your cheeks a red color”. He turned friends on to it and prescribed it for his patients. When the report was translated into English, American pharmaceutical companies and assorted quacks caught on to it. It was the main ingredient in many “medicines” aimed at the various ailments Freud had listed, plus more that were invented. In 1886, an enterprising John Pemberton concocted a beverage containing cocaine to cure headaches. He called it Coca Cola.
– maroon 30
IT’S KISMET, HARDY
In the middle of his dramatic victory in the Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Horatio Nelson was shot by a French sniper and mortally wounded. Nelson was carried below deck while the battle raged. The captain of the HMS Victory was able to come visit Nelson as he lay dying. Nelson asked Capt. Hardy to look after Nelson’s longtime mistress Lady Hamilton and then said: “Kiss me, Hardy.” Hardy leaned over and kissed his friend on the cheek. Nelson: “Now I am satisfied. Thank God, I have done my duty.” A little later, Hardy bent over and kissed him on the forehead. Nelson’s last words were: “God bless you, Hardy.” When the press had to decide how to cover this exchange, it was decided “Kiss me, Hardy” was too controversial, so it was changed to “Kismet, Hardy” which was explained to mean “It’s fate, Hardy.” This is the way British schoolchildren learned Nelson’s last words. P.S. Nelson’s body was preserved in a cask of brandy for the trip home. As per his request, his body was buried in a coffin made from the mast of a French ship he destroyed in his victory at the Battle of the Nile. As per his request, he was buried in a coffin made from the mast of a French ship he had destroyed in his victory in the Battle of the Nile.
– maroon 23
WRITE A GHOST STORY
Mary Godwin was the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Her parents were famous writers and political radicals. In 1814, she began an affair with the married poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. They eloped to Europe and in the summer of 1816 they joined Shelley’s fellow poet Lord Byron in Geneva. Most evenings, Mary and Percy would meet with Byron, his mistress Claire Clairmont (Mary’s step-sister), and a young doctor named John Polidari. They would talk deep into the night. Sometimes they told German ghost stories. One of those nights, Byron suggested they have a competition where each would write a ghost story. Mary tried hard, but after a few days was becoming frustrated with her lack of ideas. At another of their late night sessions, she brought up the topic of the reanimation of life. Upon going to bed, she found she could not sleep and in what she later described as a “waking dream”, the idea for a story came to her. She imagined a scientist bringing a corpse back to life and the horrible consequences of his act. For two years she worked on the story, encouraged by her by then husband. In 1818, she published Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. It was an instant hit. She was only 17 when she came up with the story. Also resulting from that night’s competition was Polidari’s “The Vampyre” which is considered the first vampire story published in English.
– maroon 25
DARWIN’S HUMBUG
Darwin was visiting a family when the children decided to play a prank on him. They glued together parts of a butterfly, a beetle, a centipede, and a grasshopper. They eagerly brought the specimen to him for him to identify it. Darwin: “Did you hear it humming?” Grinning, the kids nodded yes. Darwin: “It’s a humbug.”
– Fuller 198
PINCHING NUDES
Renoir was famous for his beautiful nudes. A friend asked him how he managed to get the flesh tones so realistic. “I really can’t say. I just add a stroke here and a stroke there.” “But how do you know when you have got it right?” Renoir: “I know it’s right when I feel like pinching.”
– Hume 61
THE SHORTEST WAR IN HISTORY
The Anglo-Zanzibar War took place in 1896. In 1890, Great Britain and Germany had agreed that Zanzibar fell in the British sphere of influence in Africa. Soon after, it became a British protectorate with a puppet sultan on the throne. In 1896, he died mysteriously and was replaced by a rightful claimant named Khalid bin Banghash. Khalid may have poisoned him. The British had not approved Khalid’s ascension and did not like his traditional beliefs, like support of slavery. Two British warships already in the harbor were joined by three others and Queen Victoria issued an ultimatum for Khalid to step down by 9 A.M. on August 27, 1896. Khalid refused the ultimatum and at 9:05 the warships opened fire. They sank the Zanzibari navy, which consisted on one wooden steam-powered warship, and then bombarded the royal palace with over 1,000 shells. Khalid escaped early on to the German embassy and subsequently fled the country. After 38 minutes of shelling, the British ceased fire and the war was over. About 500 of Khalid’s soldiers who were defending the palace were killed or injured. One British sailor was injured. The British installed a new puppet who abolished slavery and began to modernize the country.
– Amazing 70-71 / The Shortest War in History by Ben Johnson https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Shortest-War-in-History/
FORGOTTEN WAR: The First Sumatran Expedition 1832
The island of Sumatra had some of the best pepper in the world. In 1832, an American merchant ship named Friendship arrived to trade for it. When the crew were ashore, they were attacked by a rival chieftain. Three Americans were murdered and the ship was ransacked. The crew was able to recapture the ship and sail back to America. Their story inflamed public opinion and Pres. Andrew Jackson sent a retaliatory expedition on the USS Potomac. American Marines, with the aid of friendly natives, captured the kingdom that had attacked the Friendship and destroyed its town, along with over 500 of its people. Trading was restored, but when the Potomac sailed away, the Sumatrans went back to attacking ships. Jackson had to send a second expedition to show we meant business. More butt whipping resulted in the end of problems with Sumatra.
https://historycollection.co/nation-war-9-forgotten-american-wars/
Life on a Sailing Ship
A typical seaman in the Royal Navy in the early 19th Century was awakened at 3:40. He and his mates gathered on the deck for muster and inspection and then morning watch began. Each tar (as the sailors were called) had a job to do. Some would scrub and swab the deck. Others worked on the rigging (the ropes attached to the sails and masts), the masts, and the sails. Some went through gun drills with the cannons. Breakfast was served at 7:00. It usually consisted of oatmeal and coffee. Forenoon watch was more of the same. 11:30 was lunch. This might consist of beef lobscouse which was a salt beef stew with potatoes, carrots, and onions served with a biscuit (watch out for the weevils). The beverage was called grog. It was one part rum to three parts water with some lime juice mixed in to prevent a disease called scurvy. At 1:15 P.M., there was another muster on deck and then afternoon watch began. At 4:00, the tars got some down time where they could tell stories, joke around, play dice and cards, or sing sea songs. Supper came at 6:30. It might feature pease pudding which was made with split peas, butter, and eggs. You were in your hammock at 10:00.
THE DISASTER IN AFGHANISTAN
If you think we have had it bad in Afghanistan, we barely make the top five bad experiences. From 1838-42, the British fought the First Anglo-Afghan War, otherwise known as the “Disaster in Afghanistan”. It started when the Brits decided to oust the current leader and replace him with a puppet. They captured Kabul and installed their boy, but he proved unpopular and an uprising resulted. It got so bad it was decided to get the hell out of Dodge. On Jan. 6, 1842 the army marched out into typical Afghan wintery weather. In other words, it was hellish. It was snowing and freezing. The column was sniped at and raided by tribesmen who looted the baggage train and slaughtered soldiers and camp followers. Some froze to death during a night spent without tents. The next day the march continued with many crippled by the cold. They reached a narrow mountain pass where they were fired on from above. Afghan chieftains offered to intervene and negotiated safe passage, but shockingly they could not be trusted. The more things change… The column found their path blocked and their get out of Afghanistan free card was not honored. A desperate charge failed. On Jan. 13 a Doctor Brydon arrived in Jalalabad. He was the only British survivor.
https://historycollection.co/odd-details-about-famous-historical-events-nobody-talks-about/5/
FACTS ABOUT THE SUEZ CANAL
- It is thought that Egyptian pharaoh Sensuret III had a canal built connecting the Red Sea to the Nile around 1850 B.C. Later, Persian Emperor Darius I constructed a similar east – west waterway.
- In 1798, during his Egyptian campaign, Napoleon sent out a team of surveyors to explore the possibility of connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. They erroneously reported that the Red Sea was around 30 feet higher than the Mediterranean. This would have required very expensive locks, so the idea was abandoned.
- In 1854, French former diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps negotiated an agreement with the Egyptian viceroy and created the Suez Canal Company. French Emperor Napoleon III supported the construction, but the British government and public were opposed because of fear of what it would do to Britain’s domination of world trade. Later in 1875, when the company was forced to sell shares to raise money, Great Britain bought 44% of them.
- Construction began on April 25, 1859. At first, the digging was done by forced labor. The Egyptian government used threats of violence to get about 30,000 workers. They were paid low wages and worked under bad conditions. In 1863, the use of forced labor was banned. The company was had to switch to the use of machinery. But this sped up the construction. It still took ten years and the expense of $100 million was double the original estimate.
- The canal connected Port Said on the Mediterranean to Suez on the Red Sea. It ran 102 miles. There are no locks. It reduced travel from London to India by about 4,500 miles and more than 20 days.
- The canal was officially opened on Nov. 17, 1869. The night before there were fireworks and a banquet on the Egyptian Pasha’s yacht. The day of, the canal was blessed by Muslim and Christian clerics.
- Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi proposed a giant statue to be placed at the entrance to the canal. He was going to call it “Egypt Bringing Light to Asia”. He was going to model it after the Colossus of Rhodes and envisioned it as also serving as a lighthouse. There was no interest in it, but later he recycled the idea for the Statue of Liberty.
https://www.history.com/news/9-fascinating-facts-about-the-suez-canal
https://www.maritimeprofessional.com/blogs/post/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-suez-canal-15166
https://www.history.com/topics/africa/suez-canal
FACTS ABOUT SHERLOCK HOLMES
- On Dec. 1, 1887 the first Sherlock Holmes story appeared in print. Arthur Conan Doyle had been turned down by several publishers before he finally found someone to print it. He was 27 years old and wrote “A Study in Scarlet” in three weeks. It was not a success, but Doyle went on to write 56 stories and 4 novels.
- Doyle considered the name Sherrinford before he settled on Sherlock. It may have been a combination of two cricket stars – Sherwin and Shatlock.
- He got the idea for Holmes’ deductive powers from a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Dr. Joseph Bell could diagnose patients on sight. Actually, what Holmes does is abductive reasoning – observing a situation and reaching a theory. The other influence was Edgar Allen Poe’s detective C. Auguste Dupin.
- Holmes never actually says “Elementary, my dear Watson”. Doyle borrowed the phrase “the game’s afoot” from Shakepeare’s “Henry V”.
- The most popular story is “The Speckled Band”. Nobody seems to care that snakes can’t hear whistles and don’t drink milk.
- For those who think the recent action hero Holmes is ridiculous, Doyle does mention that Holmes is a fencer and boxer. And he knows the martial art of bartitsu.
- Holmes’ use of cocaine (“the seven percent solution”) reflected the view at the time that it was a miracle drug. When the facts came out, Doyle had Watson cure Holmes of his addiction.
- Doyle became rich and famous from his detective, so he wanted to move on. On a hiking trip in Switzerland, he saw a picturesque water fall and decided to kill off the character at a water fall. He was the only one who was happy about the death. 20,000 readers of The Strand cancelled their subscriptions to the magazine when the death was published in 1893. After a few years, Doyle’s lifestyle needed more cash flow, so he revived the character. The first new case was “The Hound of the Baskervilles” in 1900.
- Holmes has appeared in more than 220 films. That is the most for any human character. Dracula has been in more than 270.
https://www.yours.co.uk/leisure/celebrity-tv/15-facts-about-sherlock-holmes/
https://interestingliterature.com/2013/05/ten-facts-about-sherlock-holmes/
https://www.factinate.com/things/mysterious-facts-sherlock-holmes-greatest-detective/
TENNYSON’S “CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE”
One this day in 1854, Alfred, Lord Tennyson published his poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. At the time, he was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. He wrote the poem under the pseudonym A.T. because he used traditional structure and felt it might be considered beneath a poet laureate. He was inspired by news reports of the fateful charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava. The poem is patriotic, but does mention that a blunder was made. He sent thousands of copies of his poem to the soldiers in the Crimea. The poem helped establish the legend of the charge. It is fairly accurate. There were actually 670 men. The blunder was that Lord Raglan misread the repositioning of Russian artillery as a retreat. His order to attack was delivered by an aide who was vague about what hill to attack and this resulted in the cavalry attacking a different hill and having to ride between two other hills to get there. The brigade came under artillery fire from three sides. They were cannon fodder while riding through the “valley of death”. They did not break through and rout some Cossacks, although a few lucky men did reach the Russian line. But they and the rest had to return through the storm of steel. 118 were killed, 127 were wounded, and 60 were captured. Although legendary as an exemplar of bravery, the attack had no effect on the war. It was not a moral victory. The poem inspired the band Iron Maiden (which did other historical songs) to make the song “The Trooper”. The official video used clips from Errol Flynn’s “Charge of the Light Brigade”.
I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
II
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.
IV
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
V
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
https://interestingliterature.com/2016/01/a-short-analysis-of-the-charge-of-the-light-brigade/
https://www.grunge.com/189902/the-tragic-true-story-of-the-charge-of-the-light-brigade/
https://warmoviebuff.blogspot.com/2012/09/26-charge-of-light-brigade.html
FACTS ABOUT BEETHOVEN
- Dec. 16, 1770 is used as his official birth date, but it was actually his baptism day. It is unclear what day he was born on. He was named after his grandfather. His older brother, who died at just six days old, was also named Ludwig. His grandfather and father had musical talent. They both sang in the state choir.
- His father was determined to make money off his son. He made Ludwig into a child prodigy by forcing him to practice day and night. It was said that when he first started, his father would put the little boy standing on a stool so he could reach the keys of the piano and loom over the crying child.
- He left school at age 10 to help support the family. He never learned to multiply or divide and his handwriting was terrible.
- When he first visited Vienna at age 17, he performed before Mozart. It’s probably apocryphal, but Mozart supposedly said: “Keep your eyes on him – some day he’ll give the world something to talk about.”
- When he moved to Vienna in his 20’s, he was taught by Joseph Haydn. They did not get along.
- He was the first composer to concentrate on the piano instead of the harpsichord.
- He suffered from numerous illnesses during his lifetime including: colitis, rheumatism, typhus, skin disorders, abscesses, infections, opthalmia, jaundice, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver (he had a drinking problem), and of course, deafness.
- He attributed his deafness to a fall he took as a child. Starting at age 27, he had a constant buzzing in his ears. This eventually led to complete hearing loss. He wrote some of his greatest compositions when he was deaf.
- He was an admirer of Napoleon and considered him a symbol of revolution and the new Europe. He wrote the symphony “Eroica” in honor of him. He changed his mind when Napoleon declared himself emperor. He ripped off the front page of the symphony and crossed out Napoleon’s name.
- He made money giving piano lessons (he preferred beautiful young women), composing for the wealthy on commission, and selling his works to publishers.
- He never married. His first love was a young countess, but he was a commoner so her family shut it down. His second was a piano student, but she ended up marrying a count. When he died a few years later, they considered marriage, but she did not want to lose custody of her children. They exchanged passionate love letters over the years.
- He died at age 56. Historians attribute the causes to cirrhosis, syphilis, and/or lead poisoning.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/58297/19-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-beethoven
THE SEPOY REBELLION
In the 1850’s the powerful British East India Company ruled India. It used Indian soldiers called “sepoys” to maintain order and protect its trade interests. The British attempted to westernize India for its own good. Missionaries converted Muslims and Hindus. Reforms were suggested to traditional society. For example, the British discouraged “suttee” (the burning of widows). The British suggested that the caste system needed to go and women deserved more rights. These reasons, plus heavy taxation, made the situation ripe for rebellion. The spark was a new rifle. The Enfield was adopted by the British army and the sepoys were armed with it. A rumor spread that the paper cartridges were greased with pig or cow lard to keep the gunpowder dry. The Muslim and Hindu soldiers were very upset that biting off the end of the cartridges violated their religious believes against beef (Hindus) and pork (Muslims). On March 29, 1857 a sepoy named Mangal Panday opened fire on British officers, killing two. He was hanged. In May in Meerut, 85 sepoys refused to use their rifles. They were stripped of their uniforms and sentenced to ten years hard labor. Other sepoys rebelled and set them free, killing their captors. The rebels (called “pandies” by the British) captured Delhi and the rebellion spread through northern India. Many peasants joined. The British responded by bringing in reinforcements and eventually put down the rebellion ruthlessly. Both sides performed atrocities. At Cawnpore, the British garrison surrendered, but the soldiers were slaughtered. When the sepoys refused to kill the women and children, local butchers were brought in and they were hacked to death. The floor was covered with inches of blood. The bodies were thrown in a well. This incident enraged British soldiers and the gloves were off from then on. When the British retook Cawnpore, they forced captives to lick the floor before hanging them. The British executed most prisoners taken in the war. Some were given the “Devil’s Wind”. This referred to chaining the victim to the mouth of a cannon and then blowing them to pieces. Although unsuccessful, the rebellion resulted in improved treatment of India. The British East India Company was dissolved and the British government took over running India. This initiated the British Raj period associated with Queen Victoria. The British backed off on Christianization and reform of society. However, they retained their patronizing attitude. The Sepoy Rebellion, known as the First War of Independence to many Indians, became an inspiration for Indians.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Mutiny/Aftermath
https://www.thoughtco.com/sepoy-mutiny-of-1857-1774014
https://www.historycrunch.com/sepoy-rebellion-of-1858.html#/
http://factsanddetails.com/india/History/sub7_1d/entry-4126.html
– The Greatest War Stories Never Told pp. 96-97
CHARLES DARWIN’S VOYAGE
On Oct. 2, 1836 the HMS Beagle returned to Great Britain after a five-year voyage around the world. The ten-gun brig’s most famous passenger was a young naturalist named Charles Darwin. Darwin had turned to naturalism after dropping out of medical school (much to the displeasure of his doctor father) because of boredom and dislike of blood. He had then attempted the study of theology at Cambridge. While there, he created the Gourmet Club (nicknamed the Glutton Club) where he and like-minded friends ate odd animals like hawks. This would carry through to the voyage where Darwin tried eating an armadillo (“tastes like duck”), ostrich, iguana, and puma (“tastes like veal”). He boarded the Beagle at age 22 (he was born the same day as Lincoln) and spent 18 months of the journey on board. This was uncomfortable because he suffered from seasickness. Most of his time was spent ashore, like in the rain forests of Brazil. He was able to do this because the ship was busy mapping the coast of South America. When he returned, he was already famous because of the fossils he had sent back. He did not actually publish his On the Origin of Species until 1858. This delay was mainly out of worry about the reaction of religious groups. His grandfather Erasmus Darwin had published on evolution and been hammered by the Church. It was not until the sixth edition that he used the word “evolution” and he did not originate the phrase “survival of the fittest”. Herbert Spencer coined it to connect his economic and social theories to Darwin’s theory. Darwin was not an atheist, but he did lose his strong faith after seeing the horrors of slavery in Brazil and after losing three of his ten children in childhood. Darwin was in ill health for most of his life after the voyage. He suffered from exhaustion, eczema, nausea, headaches, and heart problems. It is believed his health problems were related to the voyage.
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-charles-darwin
https://www.biography.com/news/charles-darwin-facts-darwin-day
THE OPIUM WAR
In the late 1700’s, England began its love affair with tea. Most of the tea was imported from China. The British were so obsessed with the beverage that the fast “clipper’ ships were invented to get the freshest tea leaves back to the home country. The famous Cutty Sark could transport over one million pounds of tea to England in less than one hundred days. In a mercantile world, the problem was this created a trade imbalance for England. Chinese citizens were not interested in British products. To pay for the imports, England was being drained of gold and silver. What was needed was an export that Chinese had to have. The British government and the powerful East India Company concocted a plan to get the Chinese hooked on opium. There was plenty of opium available from England’s colony of India. By the 1830’s, the trade imbalance was solved as over ten million Chinese became addicted to opium. Over 25% of Chinese men were hooked. The Chinese emperor knew his country had a problem. In 1839, he ordered the ending of the importation by seizing control of the port of Canton. Supplies of opium were destroyed. 1,200 tons of the drug and 70,000 opium pipes went up in smoke. The British reacted by blockading the port so no imports could come in. The war began when Chinese ships opened fire. This gave the British the excuse to seized several major ports. The Royal Navy, with its’ steam-powered warship, made easy work of the Chinese navy. The Treaty of Nanking humiliated China. It had to open more ports to foreign trade. British civilians were exempted from Chinese laws. China had to pay $21 million for the lost opium and the cost of the war. And Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. And the addiction continued.
https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-the-opium-wars/
https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-the-opium-wars/
– The Greatest War Stories Never Told pp. 84-85
TURNING A BLIND EYE
In 1801, Great Britain was interested in preventing a Franco-Dutch alliance. Denmark had a powerful fleet, which if joined to the French fleet, might have changed the naval balance of power. The elderly Admiral Sir Hyde Parker was sent to neutralize the fleet at Copenhagen. His second in command was Horatio Nelson. The Danish fleet was parked in an inlet as floating forts defending the city. To get to them would mean navigating shallow water and exposing ships to not only the Danish ships guns, but powerful shore batteries. Nelson, who believed in going right at the enemy, decided to risk it to win a decisive battle. On his own initiative, he led the fleet into the inlet. His HMS Elephant was in the lead. Some of his ships ran aground, but the rest opened fire on the Dutch. It was a slugfest and from afar Admiral Parker was concerned about the danger Nelson had put his fleet in. He ran up signal flags telling Nelson to withdraw. When the message was relayed to him, Nelson (who had lost an eye at the siege of Calvi) made a show of putting his telescope to his bad eye and looking towards Parker’s ship. “I really do not see the signal”. Turning to his second-in-command, he commented: “I have only one eye – I have the right to be blind sometimes.” Nelson went on to win a great victory which deprived France of a naval alliance with the Dutch. He sank two ships, one exploded, and twelve were captured. He lost no ships. We get the phrase “turn a blind eye” from this incident.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Copenhagen_(1801)
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/why-nelson-turned-a-blind-eye-at-copenhagen-1.297163
– The Greatest War Stories Never Told pp. 62-63
FACTS ABOUT HORATIO NELSON
- He was the sixth of eleven kids from a poor upper-class family. He was sent to sea under his uncle at age 12. His uncle famously said that perhaps a cannon ball would take off his head and thus solve his financial straits. He took to life at sea, but he suffered from seasickness his whole career. He also had trouble sleeping asea. He took catnaps in a special chair.
- At age 14, he went on a failed expedition to the North Pole. He defended a small boat from a walrus attack and fended off a polar bear with the butt of his rifle when it misfired.
- He was promoted to Admiral at age 39 for disobeying orders (a trait of his). At the Battle of Cape Vincent (1797), his ship was near the rear of the British column. He broke formation and took on three ships. On boarding one of them he yelled either “Glorious Victory” or “Westminster Abbey” (the former seems more likely). His superiors overlooked his disobedience and promoted him.
- That same year, at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, he led an amphibious attack via boats. He was hit by a musket ball in the right arm. It was amputated without anesthesia. He had earlier lost most of the sight in his right eye from debris during the siege of Calvi in 1794.
- In 1798, he destroyed Napoleon’s fleet in Egypt at the Battle of Aboukir Bay (sometimes called the Battle of the Nile). He was proclaimed Baron Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe (his birthplace).
- In 1801, he once again disobeyed orders at the Battle of Copenhagen. When his commanding officer signaled for him to hold off on an attack, he held his telescope up to his blind eye and said he could not read the signal. This is the origin of the phrase “turning a blind eye” meaning to disregard something purposely. Nelson won another spectacular victory and was promoted to commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy.
- The captains under him were referred to as his “band of brothers”. His leadership style was called “the Nelson touch”, a phrase he used himself. Both phrases probably came from his favorite Shakespeare play “Henry V”. Historians posit he was thinking of “a little touch of Harry in the night” which is a line in the play describing King Henry’s mingling with his men the night before the battle. Nelson would meet with his captains before a battle to outline his plan and then he would give them the initiative to carry it out.
- He suffered probably the most famous death in British military history. Before the Battle of Trafalgar, he famously signaled the fleet “England expects that every man will do his duty”. (Which, if you think about it, is slightly condescending.) It was almost like he had a death wish as he would have known that the French loved to use snipers and yet Nelson wore his full uniform with all his medals on the deck of the HMS Victory. Sure enough, he was hit by a bullet that punctured a lung and fractured his spine. It was a mortal injury and he lingered a few hours. Long enough to learn of the extent of his victory. His captain Thomas Hardy (Nelson was the Admiral using the ship as his flagship) would periodically come below deck to appraise Nelson of how the battle was going. The last time, Nelson said “Kiss me, Hardy” (as in kiss me goodbye). British historians were uncomfortable with this phrase and turned it into “Kismet, Hardy”, which they explained meant “it’s destiny, Hardy”. Nelson’s last words were: “Thank God I have done my duty.”
- Nelson’s body was returned to England in a cask of brandy to preserve it. 100,000 people filed by his body when it lay in state.
- He had one of the most infamous love affairs in British history. After ten years of marriage, he started an affair with Lady Emma Hamilton (the wife of Sir William Hamilton, the British envoy to Naples). He was 40 and she was 33 when it began. Sir William tolerated the arrangement and it was no secret in England. (Nelson had a portrait of her in his cabin.) The public was intrigued and upset with the “menage a trois”. It was a good thing Nelson was so successful in battle. It was a true love match. They had a child named Horatia. Although he never divorced his wife, he and Emma exchanged rings the day before he left for the Battle of Trafalgar.
https://www.anglotopia.net/british-history/ten-interesting-facts-admiral-horatio-nelson/
https://www.thetrafalgarway.org/blog/fun-facts-about-lord-nelson
https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-horatio-nelson/
EARLY SOCCER RULES
On this day in 1871, the English Football Association established the FA Cup. The first final was played the next year with the Wanderers beating the Royal Engineers 1-0. Rules were quite a bit different back then. Here are some interesting facts about early soccer rules.
- In 1848, various schools got together to draw up the Cambridge Rules. You could carry the ball. There was no crossbar on the goal. If you caught a high ball, you got a free kick. The first player to touch a ball that had gone out of bounds got the throw-in. (That’s why it’s called the “touch line”.) Throw-ins were taken with one hand. “Hacking” was allowed – you could kick or trip an opponent.
- In 1857, the Sheffield Rules were adopted. It got rid of hacking, but you could still shove. No more running with the ball, but you could still catch it and push it with your hands. Teams word different colored HATS.
- There were no refs until 1871. The two captains decided issues. At first, the refs were only used when the captains could not agree. They did not have whistles until 1878.
- Goalies were not a distinct player until 1909. Previously, they were simply the player closest to the goal. In 1909, they got a different jersey. In 1913, they could only touch the ball in the box.
- Penalty kicks did not come in until 1891 and then it was for fouls within 12 yards of the goal. In 1902, the penalty box was put in.
- Originally, offsides was not a factor because only dribbling was allowed. When passes first came in, “kick-throughs” were allowed and teams would station players near the goal. Before long, passes had to be sideways or backwards. In 1866, forward passes were allowed if there were three defenders between the target and the goal. In 1907, offsides was not applicable on your own end of the field. In 1921, you could not be offsides on a throw-in. Later, the three-man rule was changed to two.
https://www.footballhistory.org/rules.html
THE HISTORY OF CINCO DE MAYO
Most Americans know that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day and are happy to celebrate with them. But most Americans are wrong. Not that that would stop the celebrating. May 5, 1862 was the date of the Battle of Puebla. In the early 1860’s, Mexico had a problem with paying its debts to foreign governments. Emperor Napoleon III of France decided to use this as an excuse to invade Mexico and start a French empire in Central America. His forces landed at Vera Cruz, forcing President Juarez and his government to flee. But, in a huge upset, a small, ill-equipped Mexican army defeated the Europeans at the small town of Puebla. Mexican hearts swelled with pride, but the sad post script was one year later, a much larger French army won the Second Battle of Puebla and Maximilian I was crowned ruler of Mexico. He did not last long as guerrilla warfare wore the French down and the end of the American Civil War got America refocused on the Monroe Doctrine. By 1867, the French were out. Surprisingly, the day was first celebrated as early as 1863, in California where Latinos were enthused with word of the victory and as a way of showing their opposition to the Confederacy which was viewed as friends with France. It did not really catch on until the 1940’s with the rise of the Chicano Rights Movement. In the 1980’s, it went nationwide when beer companies latched on to it to increase sales. I hope they gave the genius who came up with that a big raise. In Mexico, where it is called The Day of the Battle of Puebla, it is not even a national holiday, much less independence day. That is September 16. But at least kids don’t have to go to school. I hope that does not mean they are drinking beer all day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo
https://parade.com/1025627/lindsaylowe/cinco-de-mayo-facts/
THE CLOSING OF THE GATE
On June 18, 1815 Napoleon faced a British army commanded by Wellington. A Prussian army under Blucher was separated from their British allies and possibly coming to link up with the Brits. Napoleon’s chances of success depended on destroying Wellington before Blucher’s reinforcements arrived. Napoleon had disdain for the fighting ability and leadership of Wellington. He planned to bludgeon his way through Wellington’s center. To prepare for the decisive blow, Napoleon wanted a diversion to force the British to weaken their center. On the right side of the British line was a chateau/farm called Hougoumont. By attacking it, Napoleon figured Wellington would be forced to move units from his center to bolster the defense of the farmstead. He assigned this diversion to his brother Jerome. In the late morning, the French soldiers moved forward. They easily pushed the British out of a woods and then an orchard on the outskirts of the chateau. Unfortunately for the French soldiers, the area between the orchard and the wall of the chateau was about 30 yards of clear ground. When the French entered this area, they were met by a storm of steel coming from British muskets being fired from loopholes in the wall around the chateau. British Lt. Col. James Macdonnell had only about 3,500 men to face Jerome’s 14,000, but the defensive position was very strong. It needed to be because Wellington’s order to Macdonnell was to “defend to the last extremity.” The French were repulsed, but they kept trying. Jerome made around eight failed assaults. And yet he refused to give up. The orchard changed hands several times. What was supposed to be a diversion became an all-out attempt to take the chateau. Jerome called for reinforcements from Reille’s Corps and so more and more French infantrymen were poured into the maelstrom. And yet, Wellington was not compelled to weaken his center, although he did send reinforcements from his reserves.
One of the most famous moments in the battle occurred when the second assault broke into the interior when a giant Frenchman named Lt. Legros, called “L’Enfonceur” or “The Smasher”, used an axe to break the gate open. He and thirty or so others entered and the tide seemed to be turning. Macdonnell led a counterattack that killed all the French (except according to legend a French drummer boy). The gate was closed. Although a crisis had passed, the fighting continued for a total of 9 hours. At one point, a brave Englishman drove an ammunition wagon through intense fire to resupply the garrison. Later, the French tried bombarding the interior. The chateau was burned to the ground and some wounded were burned to death. But at the end of the day, the farm remained in British hands. Napoleon suffered 7,500 casualties and got nothing for it. After the battle, Wellington opined: “The success of the battle turned on the closing of the gate at Hougoumont.”
https://projecthougoumont.com/defence-of-hougoumont/
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2015/06/18/defending-hougoumont-during-the-battle-of-waterloo/
THE FIRST SCIENCE FICTION WRITER
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born on August 30, 1797. Her parents were a famous feminist and a famous philosopher. She eloped at age 17 with the famous poet Percy Shelley. He was 21 and married. They had started their affair at her mother’s gravesite. Shelley’s wife committed suicide. They ended up in Switzerland, staying at a chateau with Lord Byron and his doctor John Polidori in 1816. The quartet entertained themselves at night by discussions and debates. One of those debates was whether a corpse could be reanimated or “galvanized”. One night, after a series of nights reading ghost stories, Byron suggested they each try to write a story better than the ones they had been reading. Mary was at first unsuccessful, but one dark and stormy night, her restless sleep led to the germ of a story. “I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life.” Encouraged by the others to develop it, she ended up writing “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus”. It was published in 1818. It is now considered the first science fiction novel. Less well known is that Polidori was inspired to write the first vampire story. His novella was called “The Vampyre”. The quartet suffered their own horrors in the years after. A few years later, Percy died in a sailing accident. The previous year Polidori committed suicide. Byron died in 1824 of a fever. Mary was the only one to live past 50.
P.S. The other day I posted on the effects of a lunar eclipse on the Athenian disaster of the Sicilian Expedition. It is possible that another act of nature contributed to the writing of “Frankenstein”. In 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted, killing up to 100,000 people. It is now considered the deadliest natural event in history. The ash impacted the weather worldwide. In Europe it resulted in crop failures and unstable weather. The numerous thunder-filled nights with their oppressive darkness caused depressed and fearful attitudes. It was on one of those nights that Mary Shelley tossed in her bed.
https://www.history.com/news/frankenstein-true-story-mary-shelley
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/frankenstein-published
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley
THE PASTRY WAR
There have been several strange little wars throughout history, including the Soccer War and the War of Jenkin’s Ear. If you want to make the history books, and this website, you need a catchy name. The Guerra de los Pasteles (Spanish name) or the Guerre des Patisseries (French) started in 1838. Since independence in 1821, Mexico was ruled by a republic that could not maintain order and was riven by political factions. This resulted in lots of looting and destruction of private property, of citizens and foreigners. The victims asked the government for compensation, but it refused. So, the foreigners petitioned their home governments. One of those victims was Monsieur Remontel. He owned a pastry shop outside Mexico City. He claimed Mexican soldiers ransacked his shop. He asked King Louis-Philippe for 60,000 pesos (his shop has been reckoned to have been worth 1,000). What king doesn’t love a good little, easy war? A French fleet was sent to blockade all Mexican ports. On November 27, 1838 the fortress at Vera Cruz was bombarded and soon after, the port was captured (along with the entire Mexican navy). Gen. Santa Anna came out of retirement (or political exile after losing Texas) to save the day. He led an army to try to liberate Vera Cruz. In the failed process, he had his leg amputated after being hit by grapeshot. This loss (literally and physically) redeemed him and revived his career. The blockade ruined Mexico’s economy and it sued for peace in 1839. Mexico agreed to pay the 600,000 pesos, but didn’t. This would be one of the excuses for the French “intervention” of 1861 that led to Cinco de Mayo. Next year eat a pastry with your beer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastry_War
https://www.britannica.com/event/Pastry-War
https://historyofyesterday.com/the-pastry-war-1838-43699084f620
THE MOST NOTORIOUS BUSHRANGER
Ned Kelly’s father was sent to Australia from Ireland for stealing two pigs. As a boy, the young Ned saved another boy from drowning, but his future would be focused on taking lives. The son took after his father and at age 11 stole a calf. By age 14, Ned became a bushranger. “Bushranger” was the Australian word for rural outlaws. He joined a gang led by Harry Power. They took part in armed robberies. Ned became the outlaw’s protégé, but some believe he turned in his mentor to get a pardon. In 1877, police came to his home to arrest him and his brother Dan. Ned shot a policeman in the wrist and he and his brother escaped. Their mother was taken in and sentenced to three years for aiding and abetting. This incident placed much of the public on Ned’s side. He became a Robin Hood type figure, but was closer to Jesse James. At the time, Australia was divided between poor farmers like the Kelly’s and the rich landowners who ran the province. They controlled the police force. There was also a religious divide as most of the poor were Catholics and the rich were Protestants. Most policemen were Protestants who looked down on the Catholics. Ned formed a gang which included Dan. In 1878, they ambushed four policemen who were on their trail. Three of the police were killed. Kelly was now labeled an outlaw which allowed the anyone to shoot on sight and claim a big reward. After hiding out in the bush country for a couple of years, Kelly decided on an audacious plan to lure the police into an ambush by taking hostages and then derailing the train carrying police rescuers. On June 28, 1880, the four gang members went to the Glenrowan Inn and took thirty townspeople hostage. The derailing of the police train was foiled and the law officers laid siege to the inn. Ned and his mates were prepared for the confrontation. They used iron plows to fashion suits of armor. Bullets just bounced off the outlaws. After a while, Ned snuck out the back and worked his way behind the police. He then launched a one tank-like man attack. After exchanging gunfire with the panicked police, he was wounded in the leg and captured. Then the police set fire to the inn and the rest of the gang ended up dead. Ned was put on trial in front of the same judge who had sentenced his mother. Although public sentiment favored Ned, he was sentenced to death and hanged. His life and death became the stuff of legend.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ned-Kelly-Australian-bandit
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21077457
https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/ned-kelly
THE GHOST SHIP
On November 7, 1872, the brigantine (a two-masted sailing ship) left New York harbor on a trip to Genoa, Italy. On board were Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife and their two-year-old daughter. And a crew of eight. On Dec. 5, 1872, a British ship spotted the Mary Celeste about 400 miles east of the Azores. No one answered the hale, so the British boarded the ship. They found nobody. There were no signs of foul play or any reasons for the abandonment. There was water in the hold, but that was not unusual. The lifeboat was missing, but there was plenty of food and water.
The Mary Celeste had been a troubled ship. It’s first captain mysteriously died. It ran into another ship in the English Channel. Maybe this was three strikes and you’re out. We still don’t know what happened, but there are several theories. In 1884, Arthur Conan Doyle (the Sherlock Holmes author) wrote a short story based on the Mary Celeste. His fictional plot was that there was an angry ex-slave on board. He led a mutiny. Briggs’ family were killed and thrown overboard. The mutineers left in the lifeboat. Although fictional, the story was considered true by many ignorant readers and Doyle’s “theory” became history. Even his misspelling of the ship as the Marie Celeste was written into history.
So, what happened? There are many theories. These included: a mutiny, pirates, a giant octopus or other sea monster. Perhaps the water in the hold made Briggs think the ship was sinking. A 2007 documentary posited a faulty chronometer, rough seas, and a clogged pump. A more recent theory has the casks of alcohol in the hold giving off fumes that resulted in an explosion that may have caused Briggs to panic and leave the ship. None of the theories account for the intact nature of the ship. The ship indicates no reason for its abandonment.
I used to tell my students that one of the great things about history is it gives great questions to ask God in the afterlife. Like “what happened to the Mary Celeste?” It’s the only way we will find out.
https://www.history.com/news/what-happened-to-the-mary-celeste
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste