Give me a mind-blowing history fact - Page 12

Rabid Cougar

3:40p, 2/21/24

JABQ04 said:
Similiar to your Red River battles, there was a show on The Little Bighorn (I believe History Detectives) where they used spent cartridges to track individual troopers and Indians movements. Pretty neat stuff.

Yes, After the fire in 1983 that burned over 90% of the battlefield and the subsequent surveys in '84 and '85. I have an excellent book on their findings.

Green2Maroon

4:02p, 2/21/24

In reply to Rabid Cougar

I still need to go back there and explore the area. I was born only 80 miles from there.

Cen-Tex

8:19p, 2/21/24

On Oct. 8th, 1871, there were two major fire in the US. One was smaller in fatalities and land area, but received all the notoriety. The other major fire to this day, is either unknown or has been largely forgotten.

On Oct 8th, the Great Chicago Fire started. It burned 2100 acres with a death toll of approx 300 people. The other fire started on Oct 8th near Peshtigo, WI. The Peshtigo fire affected 16 other cities, with a burn area of 1.2 million acres and a death toll near 2500. It is said that the fire started from a small brush fire, fueled by dry conditions and strong winds. To date, it's still the largest wildfire on record.

McInnis

9:01p, 2/21/24

That's mind blowing. I guess even then the media put a lot more emphasis on what happened in the big cities vs the rest of the country.

I wonder where the one that Ol Sull Ross started in Austin would rank?

Rabid Cougar

10:19a, 2/22/24

Lewis and Clark story time again...

Of the 118 days that the Corps of Discovery spent at Astoria, Oregon the winter of 1805-1806, they saw the sun only 11 days.

During their stay at Fort Mandan in the winter of 1804-1805 the local women were encouraged by their men to gain power from these white men, and specially the black man. The Mandan Hidatsa believed that "power" could be transferred by "relations". They would climb the walls at night to "visit" the soldier on a regular basis. The Captains did not like the soldiers having this "free" service so they issued red ribbon to the soldiers from the trade good stores. This was to "pay" the native women for their services.

CanyonAg77

11:38a, 2/22/24

In reply to Rabid Cougar

I bet that could lead to some wild Ancestry DNA results

Jabin

11:49a, 2/22/24

In reply to CanyonAg77

CanyonAg77 said:
I bet that could lead to some wild Ancestry DNA results

Along with all of their Welsh DNA.

j/k

I read somewhere that the #2 directive from Jefferson to Lewis regarding the Corps of Discovery was to investigate the Mandans and the widely-held belief at the time that they were descendants of Welsh that had fled to America, led by Welsh Prince Madoc. The alleged bases of the rumor were that some or many Mandans were blue eyed, a few were blond, many of their religious practices supposedly mimicked Christianity, and that, unlike all other North American natives, they used Welsh-like coracles instead of canoes.

Madoc - Wikipedia

I've actually visited the Old Stone Fort supposedly built by them in south central Tennessee. It almost certainly wasn't a fort (it is far too large to have been easily defensible) and no one knows for sure who built it.

Old Stone Fort (Tennessee) - Wikipedia

Here is a more credulous account:

They were a people called Welsh - Appalachian History

P.H. Dexippus

1:46p, 2/22/24

In reply to Cen-Tex

Cen-Tex said:
The other fire started on Oct 8th near Peshtigo, WI. The Peshtigo fire affected 16 other cities, with a burn area of 1.2 million acres and a death toll near 2500. It is said that the fire started from a small brush fire, fueled by dry conditions and strong winds. To date, it's still the largest wildfire on record.

It was the deadliest. But the largest fire that day was the Great Michigan Fire coming in at 2.5MM acres. The largest in US history was the Great Fire of 1910 coming in at 3MM acres.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1UrmXTUyQaMqDBLluPkYCF08VpW7oLUuq&hl=en%22&femb=1&ll=42.74211415154847%2C-77.66559395309143&z=5

Eliminatus

2:46p, 2/22/24

I think I've posted elsewhere about this but I think it should live here too.

The Treaty of Versailles officially ended WW1 and is largely thought of to be one of the base reasons for WW2 occurring due to the crushing reparations costs. (From the German perspective at least).

Germany finished its last payment, ending its monetary obligations from the First World War on October 3, 2010.

agrams

8:05p, 2/22/24

In reply to Eliminatus

not really mind-blowing, but a big historic F-You from Germany was they made France surrender to them in WWII in the same train car ( the Compigne Wagon) that Germany had to sign the 1918 armistace

towards the end of WWII the SS destroyed the train car as allied troops were advancing..

Chipotlemonger

10:15p, 2/22/24

In reply to agrams

agrams said:
not really mind-blowing, but a big historic F-You from Germany was they made France surrender to them in WWII in the same train car ( the Compigne Wagon) that Germany had to sign the treaty of Versailles.

towards the end of WWII the SS destroyed the train car as allied troops were advancing..

That's a neat history fact

JR_83

10:19p, 2/22/24

Except it's wrong. Hitler brought in the same rail car that Germany signed the armistice in, not where they signed the Treaty of Versailles.

agrams

10:44p, 2/22/24

In reply to JR_83

yeah.. you are correct.. it was used for the armistice in 1918 and in 1940, not the treaty

Hitler in full ******* mode brought it back to the exact location in 1940 for the armistace signing that germany had to sign it at in 1918

JABQ04

5:15a, 2/23/24

In reply to Rabid Cougar

Rabid Cougar said:
JABQ04 said:
Similiar to your Red River battles, there was a show on The Little Bighorn (I believe History Detectives) where they used spent cartridges to track individual troopers and Indians movements. Pretty neat stuff.
Yes, After the fire in 1983 that burned over 90% of the battlefield and the subsequent surveys in '84 and '85. I have an excellent book on their findings.

What's it called? I'll have to check it out.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton

7:35a, 2/23/24

In reply to Eliminatus

Eliminatus said:
I think I've posted elsewhere about this but I think it should live here too.

The Treaty of Versailles officially ended WW1 and is largely thought of to be one of the base reasons for WW2 occurring due to the crushing reparations costs. (From the German perspective at least).

Germany finished its last payment, ending its monetary obligations from the First World War on October 3, 2010.

I'm assuming the reparations cost was a giant F U after what Germany did to France in 1871?

If you say you hate the state of politics in this nation and you don't get involved in it, you obviously don't hate the state of politics in this nation.

Jabin

8:21a, 2/23/24

In reply to Ghost of Andrew Eaton

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:
Eliminatus said:
I think I've posted elsewhere about this but I think it should live here too.

The Treaty of Versailles officially ended WW1 and is largely thought of to be one of the base reasons for WW2 occurring due to the crushing reparations costs. (From the German perspective at least).

Germany finished its last payment, ending its monetary obligations from the First World War on October 3, 2010.
I'm assuming the reparations cost was a giant F U after what Germany did to France in 1871?

And was what Germany did to France in 1871 a giant FU to France for starting yet another continental war after the wars started by the First Republic and restarted/continued by Napoleon?

I've been pondering how far back the roots of all of these wars actually go.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton

8:44a, 2/23/24

In reply to Jabin

Jabin said:
Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:
Eliminatus said:
I think I've posted elsewhere about this but I think it should live here too.

The Treaty of Versailles officially ended WW1 and is largely thought of to be one of the base reasons for WW2 occurring due to the crushing reparations costs. (From the German perspective at least).

Germany finished its last payment, ending its monetary obligations from the First World War on October 3, 2010.
I'm assuming the reparations cost was a giant F U after what Germany did to France in 1871?
And was what Germany did to France in 1871 a giant FU to France for starting yet another continental war after the wars started by the First Republic and restarted/continued by Napoleon?

I've been pondering how far back the roots of all of these wars actually go.

I'm reading/listening to The Guns of August and I'm wondering how far back everything goes. As I can tell, the Germans were treated like the new kids on the block and they had a complex that seemed to push them to prove themselves to the rest of Europe. I imagine that is overly reductive but is it somewhat accurate?

If you say you hate the state of politics in this nation and you don't get involved in it, you obviously don't hate the state of politics in this nation.

Sapper Redux

9:13a, 2/23/24

In reply to Ghost of Andrew Eaton

Germany missed the imperial carve up of Africa and Asia and so lacked the prestige/resources that colonies provided. Being largely landlocked between powers that had traditionally used German lands as a battleground didn't help. Furthermore, as a brand new nation/empire, it had internal divisions that still needed to be worked out. Germany felt it needed to gather allies, project power, and try to compete internationally on the imperial stage to assure its security and place as a great power.

agrams

10:29a, 2/23/24

this graphic from Napoleon's Russia campaign has always been fascinating to me. It puts a lot of info in a really cool content. Shows distance traveled, army size, temperature, and dates.

english version:

Jabin

11:43a, 2/23/24

In reply to Sapper Redux

Sapper Redux said:
Germany missed the imperial carve up of Africa and Asia and so lacked the prestige/resources that colonies provided. Being largely landlocked between powers that had traditionally used German lands as a battleground didn't help. Furthermore, as a brand new nation/empire, it had internal divisions that still needed to be worked out. Germany felt it needed to gather allies, project power, and try to compete internationally on the imperial stage to assure its security and place as a great power.

Great points. Plus, as it turned out and as they suspected, they were better militarily than others. The Prussians and the Hessians had a long history of producing soldiers and armies. So once Bismark started uniting Germany, the combination of the insecurities you outlined plus their true military ability proved to be a bad combination.

Jabin

11:49a, 2/23/24

And speaking of the Hessians, the Rothschilds got their big start by getting involved in the financing of the Prince of Hesse's rental of his soldiers (you know, the "Hessians") to the British in the American Revolution.

Later, after Mayer's boys grew up and moved to the major European capitals, Mayer convinced the Prince of Hesse to allow Nathan, his boy in London, to invest the Prince's money in British bonds, considered the safest investment in the world at the time. They paid something around 4% interest. Nathan, however, invested the money in various speculative ventures, paying the Prince his 4% while pocketing the difference.

They say that behind every large fortune lies a small crime.

Hogties

11:54a, 2/23/24

In reply to agrams

I have a framed version of that chart. It's fascinating!

Rabid Cougar

12:48p, 2/23/24

In reply to Jabin

Jabin

CanyonAg77 said:
I bet that could lead to some wild Ancestry DNA result

The "women's" (as she was referred to in diaries) second child supposedly had fair skin, blue eye and red hair. Captain Clark had a "thing" for her. She went out of her way to do menial chores for him. The first time Clark caught her husband Charbonneau the interpreter beating her Clark threatened to kill him if he ever did it again.

Eliminatus

3:26p, 2/23/24

In reply to Hogties

Hogties said:
I have a framed version of that chart. It's fascinating!

Was just going to say I've seen a large print hanging in the office of a manufacturing shop of all places. I was looking at it for like 20 mins straight. I need to pick one up myself. I love the Napoleonic era so much.

jkag89

3:40p, 2/23/24

#OTD in 1980, the U.S. defeated the U.S.S.R in the "Miracle on Ice" hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics. The crew of USS Coral Sea learned of the victory when the pilot of a Tu-95 Bear radioed his congratulations to an intercepting F-4 Phantom II from the carrier. pic.twitter.com/rXPmMvmqTt
— U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute) February 22, 2024

Green2Maroon

3:54p, 2/23/24

In reply to Eliminatus

I had high hopes for the movie Napoleon but it wasn't so amazing.

ReloadAg

4:07p, 2/23/24

In reply to Green2Maroon

Yea it was VERY underwhelming

Green2Maroon

4:14p, 2/23/24

In reply to ReloadAg

It was a good movie from the standpoint of going out and having a good time on a date or what not. Not a Napoleonic masterpiece worthy of one of the greatest historical figures in the history of the world.

Cen-Tex

5:51p, 2/23/24

In reply to P.H. Dexippus

P.H. Dexippus said:
Cen-Tex said:
The other fire started on Oct 8th near Peshtigo, WI. The Peshtigo fire affected 16 other cities, with a burn area of 1.2 million acres and a death toll near 2500. It is said that the fire started from a small brush fire, fueled by dry conditions and strong winds. To date, it's still the largest wildfire on record.
It was the deadliest. But the largest fire that day was the Great Michigan Fire coming in at 2.5MM acres. The largest in US history was the Great Fire of 1910 coming in at 3MM acres.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1UrmXTUyQaMqDBLluPkYCF08VpW7oLUuq&hl=en%22&femb=1&ll=42.74211415154847%2C-77.66559395309143&z=5

you're right. Meant to say 'deadliest'

Leonard H. Stringfield

10:29a, 2/24/24

Millican was once the 3rd largest city in Texas.

87Flyfisher

1:16p, 2/24/24

In reply to Leonard H. Stringfield

Leonard H. Stringfield said:
Millican was once the 3rd largest city in Texas.

During the 1867 Yellow Fever Epidemic newspapers called Millican "Village of the Dead"

https://easttexashistory.org/items/show/246?tour=7&index=10

pmart

1:29p, 2/24/24

In reply to 87Flyfisher

Interesting, just one year later it was "the worst incident of racial violence in Texas during Reconstruction".
https://today.tamu.edu/2022/02/23/remembering-the-millican-massacre/

Leonard H. Stringfield

1:38p, 2/24/24

In reply to 87Flyfisher

Yes, it wiped out many local communities. Terrible times. An older fella pointed out to me one time where several hundred folks were laid to rest right along SH 6 in Bryan. He knows a lot of interesting stories especially in the area where we once lived...now Villages of Indians Lakes south of CS. A black man raped a white girl out there in that area many, many years ago, was caught and lynched the story goes. Millican was at it's hay day when it was the rail-head for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. I believe it was where Sangers dept store had it's beginnings.

Jabin

1:48p, 2/24/24

There is an unconfirmed rumor that Wallis Simpson, the future Duchess of Windsor, lived at one time in Thurber, TX.

See brief reference to the legend here: Collection: Hunter Family Papers | The Fort Worth Library Local History Archives and Genealogy Collection (lyrasistechnology.org)

Cen-Tex

7:38p, 2/24/24

The fire department for the town of Brenham Tx had an interesting origin. The town was having trouble with the Yankee troops that were stationed there after the War Between The States. On September 7, 1866, an altercation occurred between drunk Yankee soldiers and local citizens at a dance. Three federal soldiers were shot during the confrontation. As retribution for the shootings, the Yankee troops arrested two locals, set fire to part of the town and looted several stores. A month later, the federal troops set additional fires, burning down several blocks of the town.

As a result of the fires, the townspeople realized they needed some form of protection from both fires and Union troops. And so in 1867, the Brenham Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 was formed. Its mission was to protect the city from fire; however, the underlying reason for the formation was to suppress the lawlessness of Union troops. This military organization, disguised as a volunteer fire department, held the responsibility of protecting the citizens of Brenham as well as their property during Reconstruction.
(hat tip to City of Brenham.org)