Anecdote
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 Read more…
Anecdote
FACTS ABOUT NERO
*** Take the most sensational of these facts with a grain of salt. Roman historians tended to be very anti-Nero. He was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. His father was a consul and his mother was Agrippina the Younger, sister of Read more…
Anecdote
FACTS ABOUT JIMMY DOOLITTLE
James Doolittle was born on Dec. 14, 1896. He saw his first plane at age 14 and was bitten by the aviation bug. He started making homemade gliders. He left college in 1917 to enlist in the Army Signal Corps Read more…
Anecdote
THE THEFT OF THE “MONA LISA”
In the early 1500’s, Leonardo Da Vinci painted a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of an Italian noble. It became known as the “Mona Lisa” and is now the most famous painting in the world. People ask what Read more…
Anecdote
FREUD THE COCAINE ADDICT
Sigmund Freud had his problems. He smoked 20 cigars a day most of his life and ended up having thirty operations for mouth cancer. He determined that cocaine was good for his patients and got hooked on it for Read more…
Anecdote
KLAN INFILTRATOR
Stetson Kennedy loved Southern and African-American folklore from childhood. When he turned 21, he got a job working for the Works Progress Administration. He headed the Florida Writers’ Project. It collected folklore and oral histories of African-Americans. After WWII, Read more…
Anecdote
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 Read more…
Anecdote
THE GIN AND GUNS GUY
Eli Whitney was born on Dec. 8, 1765 in Massachusetts. As a youth he showed talent in the mechanical arts by building his own violin. He graduated from Yale in 1789 and hope to become a teacher. Things did Read more…
Anecdote
PEARL HARBOR HEROES
The night of Dec. 6 Second Lieutenants George Welch and Ken Taylor spent drinking, like most servicemen stationed at Pearl Harbor. Next morning, they sobered up quickly as Japanese planes bombed the Pacific Fleet and their air base Wheeler Read more…
Anecdote
THE MAD KING
Charles VI ruled France from 1380 – 1422. He started off well and was known as “Charles the Beloved”, but before his reign was over he was known as “Charles the Mad”. His insanity was evidenced in several ways. Read more…