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Owning that much land would suggest savings of more than 1-3 yeas annual wages!
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Mar 15, 2019 17:16
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duckmaster posted:Using South African pay scales is problematic due to the racism in South African society even before apartheid. Thank you for this calculation, by the way. I learned something today! 
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Mar 15, 2019 17:48
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duckmaster posted:Owning that much land would suggest savings of more than 1-3 yeas annual wages! Yeah Might have been cheap even for the time though, as I know he had p much nothing when he emigrated from Denmark (though tbf that was in the mid-1890s, so he had some time to build up a bankroll). He's only listed as a "kelner" (waiter) in the Danish sources, but in his South African burial record, he is called "speculator, digger" which makes me think gold. Also, the will is dated June 11, 1919 (putting it around his land purchases) that sets aside £500 to his sister and the rest to his illegitimate son (no other children). Seems he had a huge windfall in ~1918 and put it to good use...
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Mar 15, 2019 18:17
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All of the streets named in the will are within 10-15 minutes walk from “The Big Hole” or Kimberley Diamond Mine, so I would guess diamonds. Interestingly however the mine closed in 1914 and he bought the properties afterwards. Apparently there were still 3 huge diamond mines in the town though.
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Mar 15, 2019 19:48
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duckmaster posted:All of the streets named in the will are within 10-15 minutes walk from “The Big Hole” or Kimberley Diamond Mine, so I would guess diamonds. Interestingly however the mine closed in 1914 and he bought the properties afterwards. Apparently there were still 3 huge diamond mines in the town though. Oh wow Maybe the market just made it worth it to sit on those acres for 15 years, they all look like residential zones now. I notice two of them are quitrent which as far as I understand means he gets the land taxes from those lots, on top of whatever rents.
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Mar 15, 2019 20:49
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In july 1876 Maria Spelterini became the only woman to have crossed the Niagra gorge on tightrope. On july 8 she crossed the gorge, on july 12 she did it with peach basket strapped on her feet, on july 19 she did it blindfolded and finally on july 22 she crossed with her ankles and wrists manacled. Maria Spelterini then disappears from history and almost nothing is known about what happened to her after that.
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Mar 19, 2019 19:57
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Alhazred posted:In july 1876 Maria Spelterini became the only woman to have crossed the Niagra gorge on tightrope. On july 8 she crossed the gorge, on july 12 she did it with peach basket strapped on her feet, on july 19 she did it blindfolded and finally on july 22 she crossed with her ankles and wrists manacled. Maria Spelterini then disappears from history and almost nothing is known about what happened to her after that. Historians can only guess what happened to the woman who tightrope walked across rivers in increasingly dangerous circumstances. The best current guess is choking on a peach, only to have her body taken by wolves.
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Mar 19, 2019 20:44
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I would have thought that the best current guess was to guess current.
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Mar 19, 2019 22:37
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Ugh, the falloff in the quality of this thread.
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Mar 19, 2019 23:56
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PMush Perfect posted:Ugh, the falloff in the quality of this thread. be the change you want to see
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Mar 20, 2019 03:48
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Has anyone heard of the Tiger tank, or “Tiger panzer”?
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Mar 20, 2019 04:17
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Did you know that the term picnic is racist because it comes from "Pick a N***" when rich southern families would randomly pick a slave to go out and lynch and have a lunch 'neath the twitching corpse. Did you know "rule of thumb" was because a man was allowed to beat his wife with a rod, as long as the rod was no thicker than his thumb. makes you think
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Mar 20, 2019 04:20
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:Has anyone heard of the Tiger tank, or “Tiger panzer”? Is that a new anime?
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Mar 20, 2019 04:23
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Tashilicious posted:Did you know that the term picnic is racist because it comes from "Pick a N***" when rich southern families would randomly pick a slave to go out and lynch and have a lunch 'neath the twitching corpse. quote:The first usage of the word is traced to the 1692 edition of Tony Willis, Origines de la Langue Française, which mentions pique-nique as being of recent origin; it marks the first appearance of the word in print. The term was used to describe a group of people dining in a restaurant who brought their own wine. 
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Mar 20, 2019 04:35
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I was using well known historical factoids. fun fact: Factoid originally meant something with no basis in fact but which is treated like it is. So factoid now being considered to be a "small, unimportant but interesting true statement" is a factoid. 
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Mar 20, 2019 05:05
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Mar 20, 2019 05:12
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The american Sherman was commonly known as the “Ronson lighter” because it tended to burst into flames after taking fire from a technologically-superior german tank, such as a “Panzer” IV. Shermans in soviet service were named “the coffin of seven comrades”
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Mar 20, 2019 05:17
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:The american Sherman was commonly known as the “Ronson lighter” because it tended to burst into flames after taking fire from a technologically-superior german tank, such as a “Panzer” IV. I just want you to know how badly this post triggers me
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Mar 20, 2019 05:23
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Did you know that Alfred Einstein may have eaten at least one pancake in his life?
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Mar 20, 2019 05:46
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ToxicSlurpee posted:Did you know that Alfred Einstein may have eaten at least one pancake in his life? And 8 spiders a year
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Mar 20, 2019 06:01
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thesurlyspringKAA posted:And 8 spiders a year That's true of everyone, but Einstein preferred to eat them all at once.
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Mar 20, 2019 06:13
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Trabant posted:That's true of everyone, but Einstein preferred to eat them all at once. Don't knock spider pancakes til you try them
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Mar 21, 2019 01:17
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ToxicSlurpee posted:Did you know that Alfred Einstein may have eaten at least one pancake in his life? The musicologist?! Really? I loved his Golden Age of the Madrigal: Twelve Five-Part Mixed Choruses!
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Mar 21, 2019 16:51
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Many think that Einstein won his noble price in physics for his theory of relativity, but did you know it was actually for his general theory of arachnophagia?
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Mar 22, 2019 08:09
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I thought it was arachnophilia?
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Mar 25, 2019 17:50
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I mean yeah You have to like spiders if you want to eat them Obviously
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Mar 25, 2019 21:21
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bony tony posted:I mean yeah 
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Mar 25, 2019 23:46
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In 1864 the confederate army tried to burn down P. T. Barnum's American Museum. They failed and no whales were boiled alive and no monkeys were shot as they escaped on to the roof. Then 1868 happened:
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Mar 28, 2019 18:25
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In 1912 danish explorer Peter Freuchen was caught in an avalanche when he was exploring Greenland. Unable to free himself with his hands he fashioned a dagger out of his own frozen feces and was able to dig out.
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Mar 28, 2019 18:29
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Alhazred posted:In 1912 danish explorer Peter Freuchen was caught in an avalanche when he was exploring Greenland. Unable to free himself with his hands he fashioned a dagger out of his own frozen feces and was able to dig out. my poop hero 
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Mar 28, 2019 18:43
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quote:During World War II, Freuchen was actively involved with the Danish resistance movement against the occupation by Nazi Germany, despite having lost a leg to frostbite in 1926.[15] He openly claimed to be Jewish whenever he witnessed anti-semitism.[16] [17] Freuchen was imprisoned by the Germans, and was sentenced to death, but he managed to escape and flee to Sweden.
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Mar 28, 2019 19:08
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Alhazred posted:In 1864 the confederate army tried to burn down P. T. Barnum's American Museum. They failed and no whales were boiled alive and no monkeys were shot as they escaped on to the roof. Then 1868 happened: At first I read that as the whales escaped to the roof and I was filled with questions.
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Mar 28, 2019 19:18
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In 1553 Frantz Schmidt's father, Heinrich Schmidt, decided to watch the public execution of three men accused of plotting against the margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Albrecht II. Unfortunately for Heinrich his town did not have it's own executioner and he was randomly selected to hang the men. Since an executioner and his sons were barred from entering any other guilds this effectively doomed Frantz to become an executioner as well. He executed his first man in 1573. 45 years later he had, by his own accounts, executed 361 people. In 1617 he performed his last execution and it was so sloppy that he decided to retire. He then wrote to emperor Ferdinand II and asked to be released from his duty and that his family's honor should be restored. Ferdinand II granted his wish which meant that his sons could chose another profession and that his daughters could marry non-executioners. Frantz became a healer and when he died he received the ultimate honor: Official documents described him as "the honorable doctor Franz Schmidt, from Obere Wörhdstrasse" instead of "executioner Frantz Schmidt"-
Alhazred has a new favorite as of 20:32 on Mar 28, 2019 |
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Mar 28, 2019 20:28
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Alhazred posted:In 1912 danish explorer Peter Freuchen was caught in an avalanche when he was exploring Greenland. Unable to free himself with his hands he fashioned a dagger out of his own frozen feces and was able to dig out. You can't mention Peter Freuchen without posting this picture: 
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Mar 29, 2019 09:48
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He also had a wooden leg (iirc because he had to cut his real leg off with a pocket knife due to frostbite) that he called "lortebenet" or "the poo poo leg".
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Mar 29, 2019 09:59
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Alhazred posted:In 1912 danish explorer Peter Freuchen was caught in an avalanche when he was exploring Greenland. Unable to free himself with his hands he fashioned a dagger out of his own frozen feces and was able to dig out. I'm not getting suckered by another story about a poop knife
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Mar 29, 2019 10:06
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Krankenstyle posted:He also had a wooden leg (iirc because he had to cut his real leg off with a pocket knife due to frostbite) that he called "lortebenet" or "the poo poo leg". Actually he used his frozen feces to cut off the leg.
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Mar 29, 2019 10:07
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Kennel posted:Actually he used his frozen feces to cut off the leg. Entirely possible. He also won 64 grand on a US gameshow in the 1950s.
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Mar 29, 2019 10:14
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Petit Gregory posted:You can't mention Peter Freuchen without posting this picture: "What If Game of Thrones and Downtown Abbey had a cross over episode"
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Mar 29, 2019 11:29
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Scandinavian explorer: ok Giant wearing an enormous fur coat: makes sense Had a wooden leg: that's only fair Caught in an avalanche, escaped via frozen poop knife: understandable Won tens of thousands of dollars on a game show: my brain does the mental equivalent of the horrible grinding sound when you shift gears in a manual car but you let the clutch out before putting it in gear
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Mar 29, 2019 14:11
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