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Lord Lambeth posted:It took Mississippi until 2013 to ratify the 13th amendment. This is the only state that has the Confederate flag on it's state flag so maybe this isn't surprising. Abe Lincoln: Best president ever or literally loving 21st century America from beyond the grave?
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Jul 3, 2016 09:03
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Everyone knows the California Gold Rush started in 1848 at Sutter's Mill. This was the first discovery of gold in California, Nope. It was first found in the area known as Castaic in the 1820s, when miners panned out some gold. Rumors about gold in Alta California persisted through the 1830s. But what really set things in motion was the discovery at what is now called "The Oak of the Golden Dream". In 1842, Francisco Lopez was herding cattle when he and his companions stopped for a break. As he slept under the tree, Lopez dreamt he was floating on a river of gold. When he awoke, he went to dig some wild onions at the base of a sycamore. Clinging to the roots were gold nuggets. Lopez brought them to be assayed, and eventually learned they were .926 pure, worth $19/oz. Lopez wasn't stupid. Since it was on his niece's ranchero, he knew he had a solid claim. So he petitioned the governor for the right to mine the gold. The petition was granted, and Lopez went to work. Placerita Canyon eventually yielded some 125 pounds of gold, most of which went to Mexico. Today the oak is lovingly tended in its own park near Santa Clarita, some 50 miles northeast of LA. It's not too far from another California gold rush--the placerita canyon oil fields. http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/worden-coinage1005.htm
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Jul 3, 2016 14:21
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In 1910 Bill Wilson, Henry Bowers and Apsley Cherry-Garrard went to Antarctica to collect penguin eggs, the reason was that it was though that the eggs of the emperor penguin would reveal a link between reptiles and birds because the emperor penguins was thought of as a primitive bird. The penguins nests during the winter and winter in Antarctica is absolute hell. Its complete darkness and temperature well below −40 °C. During the expedition Cherry's teeth chattered so violently that they shattered, while Wilson was blinded in one eye by a blob of boiling blubber from a camp stove. It got so bad that at one point the men simply laid down and waited for death. Finally they were able to snatch five eggs but dropped two of them before they staggered into bascamp where their frozen clothes had to be cut off them. In 1913 Apsley Cherry-Garrard brought the eggs to the Natural History Museum. At first the clerk refused the eggs but he finally took them and gave Cherry a receipt. The eggs themselves weren't studied before 1934 and when they were studied they revealed nothing of use.
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Jul 3, 2016 15:46
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Alhazred posted:In 1910 Bill Wilson, Henry Bowers and Apsley Cherry-Garrard went to Antarctica to collect penguin eggs, the reason was that it was though that the eggs of the emperor penguin would reveal a link between reptiles and birds because the emperor penguins was thought of as a primitive bird. The penguins nests during the winter and winter in Antarctica is absolute hell. Its complete darkness and temperature well below −40 °C. During the expedition Cherry's teeth chattered so violently that they shattered, while Wilson was blinded in one eye by a blob of boiling blubber from a camp stove. It got so bad that at one point the men simply laid down and waited for death. Finally they were able to snatch five eggs but dropped two of them before they staggered into bascamp where their frozen clothes had to be cut off them. There are some names here I recognize from a work of fiction, perhaps they were gathered up by a lazy novelist 
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Jul 3, 2016 16:36
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Lord Lambeth posted:This is the only state that has the Confederate flag on it's state flag so maybe this isn't surprising. Incorrect:  
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Jul 3, 2016 20:59
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When Mississippi seceded from the Union, it did not immediately go into the Confederacy (partly cause it didn't exist yet). As part of the Southern claim that the states were sovereign, each seceding state first declared themselves an independent republic. These independent republics would then meet to draw up a new Constitution. Well, if you're gonna be your own country, even if just for a little while, you need a flag. Before the Civil War, there weren't any official state flags, so part of Mississippi's Secession Convention was spent on making a flag for the new republic. The approved design:  "A Flag of white ground, a Magnolia tree in the centre, a blue field in the upper left hand corner with a white star in the centre, the Flag to be finished with a red border and a red fringe at the extremity of the Flag." When the war ended, all of the Secession Committee's edicts were declared invalid, including the one giving Mississippi an official flag. Since these were already made, though, people kept unofficially using them until 1894, when all the Jim Crow racist sentiment fired up and the current flag with the Southern Cross was adopted. They've been proposing this ugly and also generic-as-gently caress flag as a replacement lately:  I think the Magnolia flag is better and we should use it, tbh.
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Jul 3, 2016 21:18
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I don't see a red border 
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Jul 3, 2016 21:45
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 This lil bird is the European Starling. Nowadays, we simply call it the 'common' starling. Why? Well, it turns out that Starlings are a non-native species pretty much everywhere outside of Europe. On one side, unbelievably cold temperatures of the Russian steppe kept them colonizing Asia, on another, a giant freaking desert kept them contained, and on a third, a big, freaking ocean kept them contained. That was, until, a guy by the name of Shakespeare remarked upon them in his play, Henry IV, where the titular character is fantasising upon what he'll do to the now-imprisoned Mortimer quote:"Nay, I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion," Unfortunately, this inspired a guy by the name of Eugene Schieffelin, a member of the American Accimilitization Society, to bring the European Starling to the Americas. He and his organization aspired to bring every bird Shakespeare mentions in his plays to the Americas. After two failed attempts and about 60 dead starlings, he succeeded in bringing this little guy to the America, where it then went hog-loving-wild. Nowadays, almost 4.3 million starlings inhabit virtually every part of the continental US, and in the summer, most of Southern Canada as well. It has very few natural predators here in the America, as their incredible agility makes them difficult to catch and eat. Farmers see them as a good thing - they consume pest insects - but they're a terminal pain in the behind of the apple orchards of America, because they also eat fruit. They also compete with a variety of common native birds. Goddamn British 
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Jul 3, 2016 23:17
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Admiral Joeslop posted:I don't see a red border He had to crop it out. If he posts the version with the red border, this thread becomes the jurisdiction of an admiralty court.
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Jul 4, 2016 00:44
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A White Guy posted:
It's also one of only three birds not protected by law in America. (The others are the pigeon and the house sparrow.) If you ever wanted to bake "blackbirds" in a pie, this is the bird for you.
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Jul 4, 2016 05:57
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A White Guy posted:
Sometimes history is like a Simpsons episode: Oh no, our imported bunnies are out of controll, no problem lets import cats to eat them. Oh no, the cats are eating the birds instead. No problem we just introduce a virus to kill the cats. Oh no, the are becoming immune to disease and its killing the kangaroos instead. And so on and so on.
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Jul 4, 2016 12:13
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Lord Lambeth posted:It took Mississippi until 2013 to ratify the 13th amendment. This is the only state that has the Confederate flag on it's state flag so maybe this isn't surprising. Well, I think we all know where these flags got their inspiration: Alabama:  Florida: 
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Jul 4, 2016 12:20
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Spain?
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Jul 4, 2016 12:52
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AgentF posted:Spain? Though to be fair both of these flags were adopted during the late 19th century when Confederate nostalgia was running high, so that may indeed be an allusion both to their respective Spanish heritage and their membership in the CSA. Also lol at the 1861 flag of Alabama: Obverse:  Reverse: 
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Jul 4, 2016 13:18
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The smuggest racist snake, thinking about tangerines
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Jul 4, 2016 13:22
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System Metternich posted:Also lol at the 1861 flag of Alabama: That would be a fantastic Halloween costume.
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Jul 4, 2016 13:41
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System Metternich posted:Though to be fair both of these flags were adopted during the late 19th century when Confederate nostalgia was running high, so that may indeed be an allusion both to their respective Spanish heritage and their membership in the CSA. Yeah, and Alabama's connection with the Spanish is honestly pretty tenuous. They came, saw, and claimed, but the French did the first real colonizing in the area. Really though, a Burgundian Cross is pretty appropriate for Alabama. They're only a king away from being a Carlist paradise.
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Jul 4, 2016 15:33
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According to wikipedia, Alabama's flag is a "crimson cross of St. Patrick on a field of white", which is a popular national symbol in modern Northern Ireland.
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Jul 4, 2016 16:14
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System Metternich posted:Though to be fair both of these flags were adopted during the late 19th century when Confederate nostalgia was running high, so that may indeed be an allusion both to their respective Spanish heritage and their membership in the CSA. Also lol at the 1861 flag of Alabama: I'm very disappointed she's not raising a flag with her on it, upon which is another tiny version of the flag with her on it.
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Jul 4, 2016 17:37
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I'm disappointed she's not standing on a Barbadian's head and a Martiniquian's head. Good balance, that Black Bart.
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Jul 4, 2016 18:33
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Pirate flags were pretty cool:  
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Jul 4, 2016 18:42
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In 1555 Nostradamus released a book that was one of his most popular and important works. It was called Traité des fardemens et confitures and contained recipes for jam.
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Jul 4, 2016 19:09
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Wow, he even knew jam would be delicious?
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Jul 4, 2016 19:44
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Solice Kirsk posted:Wow, he even knew jam would be delicious? He also considered jam to be erotic.
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Jul 4, 2016 19:46
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Alhazred posted:Pirate flags were pretty cool: "This skeleton's cool guys, he's with me"
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Jul 4, 2016 20:02
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hogmartin posted:"This skeleton's cool guys, he's with me" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjaXWL0fepw
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Jul 4, 2016 20:06
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hogmartin posted:"This skeleton's cool guys, he's with me" I'd imagine that if you were a pirate you had to be cool around skeletons. Pirate related fact: The word buccaner comes from the french word boucan which referred to a wooden frame used to smoke meat. The original buccaners were french hunters who lived on Hispaniola, they were eventually driven out and turned to piracy.
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Jul 4, 2016 20:34
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Alhazred posted:He also considered jam to be erotic. The Jeremy Corbyn of his era.
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Jul 4, 2016 20:42
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The list of contents in that book is quite the sight: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trait%C3%A9_des_fardemens
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Jul 4, 2016 22:18
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Alhazred posted:I'd imagine that if you were a pirate you had to be cool around skeletons. Boucan is also the root for the word "barbecue".
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Jul 5, 2016 05:58
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this website has pictures and videos from the past. http://www.yourememberthat.com/ 
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Jul 6, 2016 10:37
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Khazar-khum posted:Everyone knows the California Gold Rush started in 1848 at Sutter's Mill. This was the first discovery of gold in California, The find at Sutter’s Mill wasn’t the first discovery of gold in California, but it was the start of the California Gold Rush.
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Jul 7, 2016 07:11
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 The young Arabic looking man on the left is in fact famous writer Virginia Woolf. She took part in the so called Dreadnought hoax pulled by the "infamous prankster" Horace de Vere Cole. On 7 February 1910 the hoax was set in motion. Cole organised for an accomplice to send a telegram to HMS Dreadnought which was then moored in Portland Harbour, Dorset. The message said that the ship must be prepared for the visit of a group of princes from Abyssinia and was purportedly signed by Foreign Office Under-secretary Sir Charles Hardinge. Cole with his entourage went to London's Paddington station where Cole claimed that he was "Herbert Cholmondeley" of the Foreign Office and demanded a special train to Weymouth; the stationmaster arranged a VIP coach. In Weymouth, the navy welcomed the princes with an honour guard. An Abyssinian flag was not found, so the navy proceeded to use that of Zanzibar and to play Zanzibar's national anthem. The group inspected the fleet. To show their appreciation, they communicated in a gibberish of words drawn from Latin and Greek; they asked for prayer mats and attempted to bestow fake military honours on some of the officers. Commander Fisher failed to recognise either of his cousins. When the prank was uncovered in London, the ringleader Horace de Vere Cole contacted the press and sent a photo of the "princes" to the Daily Mirror. The group's pacifist views were considered a source of embarrassment, and the Royal Navy briefly became an object of ridicule. The Navy later demanded that Cole be arrested. However, Cole and his compatriots had not broken any law. Cole offered to take six blows for this under the condition to strike back. Another member of the group, Duncan Grant, was kidnapped by three men, brought to a field where he received two blows and had to return to his home in slippers, using the subway train. During the visit to Dreadnought, the visitors had repeatedly shown amazement or appreciation by exclaiming "Bunga Bunga!". In 1915 during the First World War, HMS Dreadnought rammed and sank a German submarine—the only battleship ever to do so. Among the telegrams of congratulation was one that read "BUNGA BUNGA". (mostly Wikipedia)
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Jul 8, 2016 11:14
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Just remembered my favourite Ulysses S. Grant fact, who, aside from being my favourite person ever, was once nominated to play Desdemona in a company production of Othello and he was so bad they had to hire a woman from NY to replace him. That is all.
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Jul 12, 2016 00:36
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cash crab posted:Just remembered my favourite Ulysses S. Grant fact, who, aside from being my favourite person ever, was once nominated to play Desdemona in a company production of Othello and he was so bad they had to hire a woman from NY to replace him. That is all. So long as he promised to get drunk and oppress confederates, I'd vote for him again.
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Jul 12, 2016 00:50
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Jack of Hearts posted:So long as he promised to get drunk and oppress confederates, I'd vote for him again.  Deadwood needs a good burning to clear out room for new growth.
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Jul 12, 2016 07:35
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Half question/half fact: Today I read that the principality of Liechtenstein is "the last remnant of the Holy Roman Empire". I know the principality was established within the HRE in 1719 before gaining independence in 1806, but is "last remnant of the HRE" an accurate description?
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Jul 20, 2016 01:40
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It's a bit of Germany that didn't unify with the rest of the German states so it sort of fits. Kinda like how San Marino is the sole remaining Italian city state because Garibaldi owed them a favor or something and they didn't feel like being part of a unified Italy.
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Jul 20, 2016 03:11
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Farmland Park posted:Half question/half fact: Today I read that the principality of Liechtenstein is "the last remnant of the Holy Roman Empire". I know the principality was established within the HRE in 1719 before gaining independence in 1806, but is "last remnant of the HRE" an accurate description? The HRE before its consolidation into the German (Confederacy?Union?Social Group?Really hosed up family reunion?) by Napoleon consisted a million little independent polities and countries, and several larger and often times, more powerful nations. It's kind of hard to understate just how divided Germany was in times prior its unification (and even for a while after). Imagine EUIII border gore, but as if every single patch of countryside had its own prince or duke ruling over it. In the sense that Lichtenstein was a minor, unimportant polity that existed solely because it was within the bounds of the HRE - yes. But you can also apply that line of logic to Luxembourg, whose membership in the HRE and the German Confederation was only formally terminated after the end of the Napoleonic wars. If you really want to be a pedant, a number of nations can claim to be 'remnants' of the HRE - Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg,Liechtenstein, and of course, Germany are all territories that directly descend from that polity.
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Jul 20, 2016 03:43
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A White Guy posted:The HRE before its consolidation into the German (Confederacy?Union?Social Group?Really hosed up family reunion?) by Napoleon consisted a million little independent polities and countries, and several larger and often times, more powerful nations. It's kind of hard to understate just how divided Germany was in times prior its unification (and even for a while after). Imagine EUIII border gore 
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Jul 20, 2016 04:10
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