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canyoneer posted:The battle of HMS Speedy vs. Spanish xebec El Gamo. It was also the basis for the fictional fight between HM Brig Sophie and the xebec Cacafuego from Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. In fact, Lord Cochrane was the model for O'Brian's Captain Jack Aubrey, the only fictional character I wish was my dad.
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Nov 5, 2015 00:45
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SeanBeansShako posted:During the 18th and 19th centuries, the introduction of sugar and coffee from the plantations of the new world to many Europeans diets of course began a wave of tooth decay and wear never seen before. Logically this is when modern false teeth started to appear. Everyone is familar with the more unusual falsies men of this era wore (George Washington and his wooden teeth) but of course out of all things chosen for early false teeth, real teeth of course always beat wood or whale bone. A nearly perfect Av/Post combo. Let's talk about Detroit history! So, as you may know, The Baron Antoine Laumet de LaMothe, Sieur de Cadillac, came down le détroit du lac Érié in 1701 and founded Fort Pontrachrain on a bluff between Lake St, Claire and Lake Erie. Cadillac had recently, within the past decade, arrived in the New World from France, appearing suddenly at Montreal and presenting himself as both an aristocrat and as a cavalry Colonel. None of this was true. In fact, Antoine Laumet was born in southern France, near Toulouse. His father was a middlling court lawyer at Toulouse and his mother came from a new money family. He had no lands and no titles. Before he left France, he apparently (records are sketchy) was at most a lieutenant in the cavalry. He decided that the New World was better than what he had in France, so he made up a bunch of titles (Baron de LaMothe, Sieur de Cadillac), invented a family crest (which is complete gibberish and means nothing, but is used by the Cadillac car company to this day as their corporate logo), and gave himself a promotion. When he got to New France, they didn't know any better, so they were all, "Sure thing, Colonel! Here's some men!" During the time he was in the New World, he used his fake rank and titles to amass (and lose) a number of fortunes. He did a ton of exploring, a ton of exploitation of not only the native population but of the French and English trappers and settlers. He was a real piece of work. I'll come back later to talk more about the adventures of Antoine Cadillac: Professional Shitheel.
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Nov 5, 2015 01:46
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Kate Beaton is pretty much HistoricalFunFact.jpg.
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Nov 6, 2015 02:19
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