Sunday, March 17, 2024

Why Americans drive on the right and the UK drives on the left

The United States started as a collection of former British colonies. We speak the same language (more or less).

Yet, for some reason, we drive on opposite sides of the road.

And the United Kingdom isn’t the only country to do it the other way. It turns out that about 30% of the world’s countries mandate left-side driving and the other 70% stay to the right. How it got that way is a twisted tale.

In Europe, Napoleon played a central role in this. In the US, Henry Ford often gets the credit but that’s actually wrong. It goes much further back than Ford. Not only does traffic on the right pre-date cars, it pre-dates the establishment of the United States as an independent nation.

The history of this in the US goes to Conestoga, Pennsylvania, where the Conestoga wagon was key to this whole story. These big wagons, more commonly referred to as covered wagons in movies and on television, had tall, arched cloth roofs and became icons of America’s westward expansion as they carried the belongings of pioneers from the east out to the frontier. Back in the early 1700s, western Pennsylvania was the distant frontier.

Conestoga wagons were developed by local carpenters and blacksmiths to carry goods, including farm produce and items bartered from Native Americans, to markets in Philadelphia which, at the time was one of the biggest cities in the colonies. The wagon driver could ride one of the horses or sit on a lazy board that slid out of the side of the wagon. But when more active control was needed, he walked alongside the horses, pulling levers and ropes.

Most people are right-handed. For just that reason, Conestoga wagons had the controls on the left side, close to the wagon driver’s right hand. That meant the driver was toward the middle of the road and the wagon to the right.

Eventually, there was so much trade and traffic between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia that America’s first major highway was created. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road opened in 1795. Among the rules written into its charter, according to the book Ways of the World by M.G. Lay, was that all traffic had to stay to the right – just like the Conestoga wagons did.

In 1804, New York became the first state to dictate traffic stay to the right on all roads and highways.

Some people credit Henry Ford with standardizing US traffic on the right side of the road because, in 1908, Ford Motor Co. put the steering wheel on the left side of its hugely popular Model T automobile. Ford was actually just responding to driving habits that had been largely established long before.

Most of the rest of Europe, excluding Britain, drives on the right like Americans do. The French revolutionary government under Maximilien Robespierre – best known for leading the late 18th-century Reign of Terror in which thousands were guillotined – dictated that everyone should drive on the right.

The left side of the road, by long cultural tradition, was reserved for carriages and those on horseback. In other words, the wealthier classes. Pedestrians, i.e. poorer folks, kept to the right. Forcing everyone to the same side of the road, besides being good for traffic, did away with these snobby class distinctions.

The upper classes went along with this. In the days following the French Revolution, being seen as aristocratic was not only unfashionable, it was rather dangerous. The French policy is said to have been spread by Napoleon Bonaparte as his armies marched through Europe.

There was one nation neither subject to or an ally of Napoleon. That country was Sweden. Sweden drove on the left, then on one uneventful day in 1967 drivers were suddenly switched to the right. Needless to say, it caused some major traffic snarls until people got used to it.

Britain, literally, went the other way from France. It is speculated that it had to do with the different types of conveyance used. There were fewer industrial-sized wagons in Britain, and more small carriages and individual horse riders. Horse riders preferred to stay to the left to keep their right hands toward oncoming traffic for greetings and, if needed, having their sword hand free for fighting.

When traveling to countries where they drive on the opposite side of the street than you're accustomed to, AAA’s head of driver training recommends that drivers take extra steps to concentrate when driving on the other side of the road. For one thing, keep the radio off.

“I think it’s fine to talk to yourself, while you’re driving over there. That kind of forces you to be focusing on driving,” AAA said. “Okay, tight left or far right. Check for traffic from the right rather than the left. Whatever it is, whatever works.”

At Avis Budget Group, which rents lots of cars to Americans driving in the UK, rental agents make sure to remind customers about driving on the left. They take other steps, too. “In addition, all of our vehicles throughout the UK have drive on the left stickers and in major locations we hand out drive on the left wristbands, which we advise our customers to always wear on the left wrist as a reminder of which side of the road to drive,” Avis Budget said in a statement.

One thing I found particularly interesting the first time I was in London was the pedestrian instructions. In areas with high tourist foot traffic, they have literally painted instructions on the street pavement at pedestrian crossings telling those on foot to look to the right for oncoming traffic rather than to the left as we do in the US. I can only assume this is the result of way too many pedestrians stepping off the curb in front of on-coming cars.

In Canada, the central provinces, Ontario, and Québec have always driven on the right side of the road. British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island all drove on the left side. In the early 1920s, they changed from left side driving to the right side of the road. 

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Historical Events That Never Happened pt 3of3

This is the final week of my 3-part blog presenting some of the misinformation about historical events through the ages.

27.  The First Thanksgiving

Contrary to popular belief, the name “Thanksgiving” wasn’t coined during colonial times but later in 1863, with Abraham Lincoln hoping to inspire people to be more thankful. Furthermore, while Thanksgiving is often associated with a meal involving turkey, there isn’t any evidence that turkey was a staple dish, but instead were animals such as geese, swan, and venison.

There wasn’t any cranberry sauce or potatoes, either. Potatoes weren’t consumed in Massachusetts at the time, and nobody had yet discovered how to boil cranberries with sugar.

28.  Ferdinand Magellan Was The First Person To Sail Around The World

Ferdinand Magellan is credited in the history books as being the first person to circumnavigate the globe. Yet, that isn’t entirely true, although he did come close. In 1519, Magellan set out to complete this task to lead his crew across the Atlantic, through South America, and over the Pacific Ocean.

Unfortunately, for Magellan, he was killed in the Philippines by a group of natives. So, when his ship returned to Spain in 1522, completing the circumnavigation, he wasn’t alive to complete the journey. Incredibly, only 18 of the crew of 260 made it back, so it was these men that were first to accomplish this daunting task.

29.  Albert Einstein Failed Math As A Child

As it turns out, the story of Albert Einstein failing math as a young student is nothing more than a lesson that just because you’re not good at something at first doesn’t mean you won’t ever be. Nevertheless, according to the Washington Post, the rumors that he was a lousy student in his youth have been blown out of proportion over the years.

Supposedly, he was incredibly intelligent for his age. Yet, he did fail one thing in his youth, which was the entrance exam to Zurich Polytechnic, which he supposedly failed because of the French portion, a language he hardly studied.

30.  The Wild West Was A Rough And Tough Place

Throughout history and even pop culture, the U.S. Wild West is depicted as a rough place where no one really wants to live. It was portrayed as being filled with outlaws, gunslingers, and lots of saloons, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and many other actors had a knack for making the west look very dangerous. However, that’s not actually the case.

As it turns out, the Wild West in the 1800s was a very peaceful area, with residents more interested in their cattle and mining rather than dueling with someone who looks at them wrong. While death and murder were inevitable, only 0.1 percent of people in the Wild West were killed per year.

31.  Medieval Games Were Dangerous

One way to bring knights together in medieval Europe was through war games. While these games were thought to be dangerous and sometimes deadly, that wasn’t necessarily true. Games are thought to have included competitions such as sword fighting and even jousting. In reality, they were nothing more than family-friendly sporting events.

Some of the popular games included horseshoes, bowling, and even tennis, nothing that would hurt one of the participants. City and village authorities were even known to shut down an event if they thought it was too dangerous for the men involved.

32.  Betty Crocker Is A Real Person And Makes Delicious Desserts

Betty Crocker and desserts go hand in hand, especially when you’re baking, and her name is right there on the box. It feels as though she is helping you along with the ingredients. The only issue is, history never told us that Betty Crocker isn’t a real person.

Created by Marjorie Husted for a Washburn Crosby Company campaign, the name was chosen because it sounded wholesome and, for lack of a better term, grandmotherly. Of course, from there, Betty became an icon, appearing in various mediums across pop culture. Apparently, the exposure doesn’t make her a real person!

33.  Everything About The Trojan War

From stories to pop culture, there is a lot on the Trojan War. But one aspect of the event tends to slip people’s minds—it is based on Greek mythology and not historical fact. From generation to generation, the stories surrounding the war were verbally passed down and embellished to the point of turning into fiction.

Historians agree that due to the verbal communication, the Trojan War, as we know it today, is pretty much the ramblings of people who wanted to tell a good story. From the infamous Trojan Horse to the 1,186 ships that entered Troy, most of the rich details are ground in fiction. However, that does not negate the facts that the ruins of Troy were discovered and excavated as an archeological dig proving that Troy was a real place.

34.  The Brontosaurus Was A Living Dinosaur

Since the Flintstones had a pet Brontosaurus, it means they’re real, right? Wrong! Well, sort of. The first discovery of Brontosaurus bones made by paleontologist O.C. Marsh wound up being an error. During a time known as “The Bone Wars,” Marsh wanted to gain the upper hand on his competition, Edward Drinker Cope.

In doing so, Marsh wound up misidentifying a bone, saying that it was from a Brontosaurus, a creature that hadn’t been discovered yet. In reality, the bone was from an Apatosaurus. Thankfully, in 2015, researchers decided that there was enough evidence to warrant a separate classification of dinosaur, the Brontosaurus, and Apatosaurus.

35.  The Use Of Iron Maidens

In medieval times, there were various instruments used for torture. One of these devices was the Iron Maiden, an iron chamber designed in the shape of a woman with spikes on the inside of its hinged doors. While museums seem to think the chamber was commonplace in medieval times, that’s not necessarily true.

Even though the Iron Maiden is supposedly a medieval tool, the first mention of it isn’t until1790, when German philosopher Johann Philipp Siebenkees noted it in one of his journals. And even though he said a criminal was put inside one of the torture chambers 200 years earlier, historians haven't found any proof of this and believe his tale is a bit fabricated.

36.  George Washington Had Wooden Teeth

In grade school, many books and lessons revolve around George Washington including the alleged facts such as his wooden teeth. It’s a widely known fact in the United States! While the former president did have dental issues for most of his life, none of Washington’s dentures were made of wood.

Various materials were used to mold Washington’s teeth, including various types of metal and even animal bone, but his “orthodontist” never used wood for a mold. There is a pair of Washington’s dentures still available for public viewing at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. These, in particular, are made of human, cow, donkey, and horse teeth—but no wood.

37.  Chastity Belts For Wives And Daughters

In Medieval Europe, one device that husbands and fathers used on their wives and daughters to protect them was something called a chastity belt. These devices were to stop any unwanted advances, as they were pretty much metal undergarments that couldn’t be opened without a key. It sounds like a bad joke, right? Well, that’s actually what a chastity belt was.

In the 16th century Europe, chastity belts were nothing more than a cheap laugh for people. On the few in their possession, the British Museum has said, “[they] were made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as curiosities for the prurient, or as jokes for the tasteless.”

38.  King Arthur Won Against An Invasion Of Anglo-Saxons

There are many books, myths, and even television shows and movies illustrating the bravery of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. History has told us that the man known as Arthur was the beloved king of Camelot, heroically defeating an advance of Anglo-Saxons during the 5th or 6th century.

While the battle has been written about in books, historians believe the inclusion wasn't added until 100 years later. That means the story of King Arthur is wildly embellished, with many historians believing the King of Camelot never existed, since his name isn’t mentioned in ancient texts between A.D. 400 and A.D. 800.

39.  Dr. Seuss Said The Quote “Those Who Mind Don’t Matter, And Those Who Matter Don’t Mind”

Children’s book author and exceptional linguist Dr. Seuss is credited with many rhymes and lyrical phrases. One that he's often credited with is, “Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” And while the phrase sounds like something out of All The Places You’ll Go, Dr. Suess didn’t write it.

The quote was actually said by someone else entirely, American financier Bernard Baruch. He was discussing the importance of authenticity while facing down public scrutiny. The concept is certainly not something that is outwardly said in any of the Dr. Seuss books we’ve come across.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Historical Events that never happened pt 2of3

 

This week is part 2 of my 3-part series about some of the inaccuracies of history that have been perpetuated over the years as facts, things we learned in school that didn't happen that way.

14.  Mama Cass Sandwich

Best known as one of the lead singers of The Mamas & the Papas. Following the band’s breakup, Cass Elliot went on to release five solo albums as well as appear on a number of television programs. Cass passed away on July 29, 1974, at the age of 33.

There were countless rumors circulating about the cause of her death. These ranged from a substance overdose, that she was assassinated by the FBI, and so on. However, one of the most popular theories is that she died from choking on a ham sandwich. In reality, she had died from a heart attack related to her intense weight fluctuations over the years.

15.  Thomas Edison Invented The Light Bulb

While most people believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, it turns out he had more help than most people know. Edison may have invented the first motion picture camera and tinfoil phonograph, but he did not outright invent the light bulb.

British chemist Joseph Swan was the one to actually create the first light bulb, but it burned out too quickly. Edison solved the problem by coming up with the idea to replace the carbonized paper filament with a thinner filament, which Swan then used to create the first light bulb viable enough to be put into daily use.

16.  300 Spartans Fought Back The Persian Army

One of the most classic legends of Ancient Greece is about the Spartan leader Leonidas and his 300 soldiers who fought the much larger Persian forces at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

Nevertheless, the story that the Spartans only had 300 men is a bit of an embellishment, when they actually had around 4,000 other soldiers from the surrounding Greek city-states. On top of that, it’s also assumed there were at least 1,500 men who stayed to fight in the last stand, not the mere 300 that legend proclaimed.

17.  Bankers Jumping From Buildings After The 1929 Stock Market Crash

On October 24, 1929, the United States stock market crashed in the event that would go on to be called Black Thursday. This was the beginning of the Great Depression, and it was believed after the crash had been announced that stockbrokers on Wall Street began taking their own lives by jumping from the buildings.

However, this wasn’t the case. No one took his own life by jumping off a building. In fact, suicide rates didn’t increase at all.

18.  Betsy Ross Sewed The First American Flag

While it’s rumored that Betsy Ross was the first person to sew the American flag, this is likely no more than a myth. Although there’s no doubt that Ross sewed a few flags in her days, the claim that she sewed the very first one came from her grandson, who decided to tell the exaggeration to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania almost 100 years later.

However, there is zero evidence that Ross sewed the first flag during the Revolutionary War, as there’s no mention of her in newspaper reports, historical letters, or any kind of writing. It’s also possible Ross’ grandson only made this claim to popularize his family name.

19.  George Washington And The Cherry Tree

The story of George Washington and the cherry tree says that Washington received a hatchet from his father when he was a boy. He then proceeded to chop down a cherry tree, and when his father asked him what happened, he said something along the lines of “I cannot tell a lie.”

This story never happened but was made up in 1806 by author Mason Locke Weems, who wrote a book about Washington that showed the first president of the United States was a man of virtue. An interesting side note shows that Washington, the man of could not tell a lie, was the creator of our first spy ring (The Culper Spy Ring) coming into existence during the Revolutionary War, at a time when the future United States was still a British colony.

20.  The Forbidden Fruit In The Bible Was An Apple

Most people have either read or heard about the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in which they are banished for eating the Forbidden Fruit, the one thing they weren’t allowed to touch.

Interestingly, in popular culture, the fruit is almost always shown as being an apple. However, early rabbis would argue that the fruit was most likely a fig. This is because the Bible mentions the two sewing together clothes with fig leaves. And, the myth that the forbidden fruit was an apple is further admonished by the fact that the Garden of Eden was the wrong climate for growing apples.

22.  Ben Franklin Wanted The Turkey To Be The National Bird

There’s a story that Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States rather than the bald eagle. Actually, he didn’t have any reservations about the bald eagle being the national bird, as he explains in a letter to his daughter.

He simply mentioned that the eagle looked like a turkey on the seal. In the letter to his daughter, he would also write that the bald eagle had bad morals as evidenced by the fact they stole from other birds and the turkey is vain, although this is most likely just a joke. But a more pertinent observation noted that the turkey was native to North America and the eagle also lived in Europe.

23.  Ulysses S. Grant Wouldn’t Accept Robert E. Lee’s Sword When He Surrendered

One of the most well-known stories of the Civil War is when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. The tale goes that when Lee surrendered to Grant, the Union general refused to accept Lee’s sword of surrender.

Grant claimed in 1885 that the story had been embellished. It was not a snub or rebuke. He regarded Lee with the utmost respect. He was just happy the war was over and they had won.

24.  The Existence Of Saint Christopher

Saint Christopher is the patron saint of travelers, athletes, mariners, ferrymen, and more. He is an incredibly popular saint with many believers wearing the Saint Christopher talisman. However, the saint may have never even existed.

According to the LA Times, many scholars have believed for some time that he wasn’t real. And even if he was, it’s likely that all the stories about him are nothing more than myths. It’s also possible that he may have been just another regular person to be murdered for being a Christian.

25.  How The British Defeated The Spanish Armada

While the Spanish Armada was defeated by the British Empire in 1588, they didn’t succeed using clever tactics and an overwhelming amount of firepower. In reality, it came down to them having favorable conditions.

Out of the 129 ships in the Spanish Armada, the British only destroyed six of them. They could have defeated more, but they didn’t have enough gunpowder. However, they were lucky because 50 other British ships showed up just in time. Bad weather, including fast currents, created issues for the Spanish attributing to their defeat.

26.  The Casualties At The Alamo

While many people might have an idea of what happened at the Alamo, it was basically misinformation acquired from movies. For the most part, the movies were not intended to be historically correct documentaries. Their purpose was to present an exciting story to entertain their audience. Many of the supposed facts were exaggerated. Some stories claim that only a handful of people survived when it was more like at least 20.

Furthermore, it wasn’t just women and children either. Some of the fighting men were spared as well. The notion that 600 Mexicans died during the battle is also untrue as it was more like 60. A man named William Zuber made up most of these stories, which is ironic because he wasn’t even there.

Next week is part 3 of my 3-part blog series about Historical Events That Never Happened.

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Historical Events That Never Happened pt 1of3

Over the years, we've learned many things about history, primarily in school. But how much of what we learned is actually true and how much is exaggeration, embellishment, or actual untruths that have come down through the years and changed along the way?

This is part 1 of a 3-part blog series showing those inaccuracies in our knowledge of history.

1.  Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride

The tale of Paul Revere riding through the Massachusetts countryside warning American colonists that the British were coming has its origins from an 1860 poem (85 years after the actual event) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His poem wasn’t a historical piece on Paul Revere. It was actually a topical warning about America breaking apart shortly before the Civil War. According to historians, Wadsworth simplified the actual events of the night of April 18, 1775, in rhyming form.

In truth, Paul Revere didn’t receive the lantern signals—he sent them. He wasnt a solo rider, he started out with William Dawes and along the way met up with Samuel Prescott, another member of their group. It has been suggested (as a moment of humor) that he chose Paul Revere as the object of his poem because more words rhymed with Revere. Prescott was the only one to actually reach Concord. Revere was captured and Dawes managed to escape. And Revere didn’t ride around shouting that the British were coming. He went to the homes of members of their group to quietly warn them. If he had been shouting in the streets while riding through town, the many local residents who were British loyalists would have captured him and turned him over to the British troops.

2.  Rats Weren’t The Main Culprit Of The Black Death

Although it's a commonly accepted theory, recent studies have shown that rats, along with the mites and fleas they carried, may not have been the only thing to blame for the devastating plague that killed almost one-third of Europe’s population in the 14th century. At the University of Oslo, scientists conducted an experiment to determine  the potential sources for the pandemic.

They discovered the parasites carrying the disease more likely came from humans rather than rats. Their model demonstrates that the disease spread by human fleas and lice matched the death rates for the Black Death more so than their model regarding parasite-carrying rats.

3.  Christopher Columbus Discovered America

Most children in the United States are taught that “in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” crossing the Atlantic Ocean with his ships the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria with hopes of reaching Asia and proving a quicker ocean route to Japan and China than the long slow over land route. He, as most of the rest of the world's population, weren't aware of the huge land mass separating two huge oceans between Europe and Asia.

However, Columbus certainly wasn’t the first person to “discover” America. People had been sailing east across the Pacific Ocean for many years prior to Columbus' first voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean. People and animals had been crossing what was then the Bering land bridge before geologic time turned it into the Bering Straight. He wasn’t even the first European to land in the Western Hemisphere. He made several trips across the Atlantic but only made it to the Caribbean islands and never actually stepped foot on the North American continent. In fact, the Viking Leif Erikson is believed to have landed and established a settlement in North America (what is now Canada) almost 500 years before Columbus first attempt to sail west in search of an ocean route to Japan and China.

4.  Ben Franklin Discovered Electricity

The story of Ben Franklin attaching a key to a kite during a lightning storm and declaring that he had discovered electricity wasn’t exactly what it seems. Franklin didn’t discover electricity. Scientists were well aware of electricity before Franklin’s 1752 kite and key experiment.

What Franklin actually set out to do was prove that lightning was electricity. In fact, he may not have even flown the kite himself. In 1752, Franklin wrote in the Pennsylvania Gazette that he performed the experiment, but never specified that it was him flying the kite. There has been speculation that his son had flown the kite.

5.  Martin Luther Nailing His “95 Theses” To The Church Door

The iconic story of Martin Luther nailing his list of issues with the Catholic Church to the doors of a church is commonly regarded as the spark that fueled the flame for the Protestant Revolution and creating the Protestant branch of Christianity. While Luther’s 95 Theses were real, it didn’t exactly play out like that.

There is no historical evidence that proves Luther actually nailed his list to the doors of a church, a story that didn’t surface until nearly thirty years after the fact. However, what is known is that Luther mailed his “95 Theses” to the archbishop and never intended to start an issue with the church, considering he was a devoted Catholic.

6.  Nero “Fiddled” While Rome Burned

Although the first-century Roman emperor isn’t entirely innocent of the devastating fires that engulfed Rome, he certainly wasn’t doing anything about it. To Start, Nero wasn’t even in the city when the fires began. He was in Antium, approximately thirty miles outside of the city. Although he may have considered himself an artist, the expression that Nero was literally playing the fiddle while Rome burned is completely false.

There were no fiddles in Rome at the time, and he certainly wasn’t playing an instrument while watching the city burn. The phrase “fiddled” while Rome burned is an expression regarding a leader that does little during a time of crisis.

7.  Isaac Newton And The Apple

The tall tale of mathematician Isaac Newton coming up with the concept of gravity after an apple fell on his head is an exaggeration of what happened. The story of the apple didn’t come about until it was published in a biography of Newton written by his friend William Stukeley in 1752.

The text reads, “the notion of gravitation came into his mind…occasion’d by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a contemplative mood.” Historians believe that Newton may have seen an apple fall from a tree, but it’s unlikely that it fell on his head.

8.  Witch Burnings At The Salem Witch Trials

Although the Salem Witch trials are often synonymous with “witch burnings,” that isn’t the case. Not a single person accused of being a witch in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, ever met their fate by burning at the stake.

Of the 20 accused Salem witches, 19 of them were hanged while the final one, the only man, was crushed by rocks. The idea that witches were to be burned most likely comes from a witch hysteria that took place in Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries. In England, suspected witches were hanged with that method also being used in the Colonies. In France, they were burned alive at the stake.

9.  “Let Them Eat Cake”

Although it makes a good story, the French queen Marie Antoinette remarking “let them eat cake,” regarding her impoverished subjects never happened. Accounts of royals suggesting that the poor eat delicacies they can’t afford dates long before Marie Antoinette’s rule.

The quote “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” or “let them eat cake” first appeared in a 1767 autobiographical account by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rosseau. He attributes the quote to a “great princess,” when Antoinette was only just a young girl at the time, so it was most likely not her.

10.  Van Gogh Never Cut Off His Ear

Many people know Vincent Van Gogh as the tortured artist who cut off his ear and sent it to his lover. While this is partially true, what happened is that he only severed the bottom part of his ear lobe. He suffered from severe depression at the time.

Some historians believe that cutting off part of his ear was the result of a dispute with fellow artist Paul Gaugin or his brother’s engagement. No matter what pushed him to do it, he certainly didn’t cut off his entire ear. Yet another theory says his ear was cut off by someone else during a fight.

11.  Lady Godiva’s Naked Ride

The story goes that Lady Godiva, the wife of Leofric, the lord of Coventry, England, had sympathy for her husband’s subjects that were being ruthlessly taxed. So, Leofric proclaimed that he would lower taxes if his wife rode naked through the town.

However, the real story is based on a real woman named Godifu, who was the wife of Leofric, who led an unremarkable life other than being married to an important man. It’s believed the legend came about as a way to explain the generous historical acts on the part of Leofric.

12.  Romulus Founding Rome

When it comes to the naming of Rome, most people would assume this came from a man named Romulus along with his twin brother Remus. Legend says both Romulus and Remus were raised by a wolf that nursed them as babies and that their father was the god, Mars.

Nevertheless, regarding the existence of Romulus and Remus, historian Theodore Mommsen told The New York Times that the legend was “out of the question.” It simply was impossible that either of these two boys existed during the time, and they definitely weren’t raised by wolves.

13.  Beware The Ides Of March

William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar gives a decent example of what the final moments in Caesar’s life might have been, and there were a lot of dramatics involved.

For instance, some of the most classic lines associated with Caesar were never actually spoken such as Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears,” “let slip the dogs of war,” and of course, “Et Tu, Brute?” Yet, it’s unlikely that any such words were muttered during the chaos that was his assassination.

Next week, check back here for part 2 of my 3-part blog series of Historical Events That Never Happened. 

Sunday, February 18, 2024

History of President's Day Holiday

President's Day is a legal federal holiday in the U.S. originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington. It's currently celebrated on the third Monday in February. In 2024, that's February 19th. The federal government still officially calls it Washington's Birthday. When first established, it was celebrated on February 22—Washington's actual date of birth.

The story of President's Day begins in 1800. Following President George Washington's death in 1799, his February 22 birthday became a perennial day of remembrance. At the time, Washington was venerated as the most important figure in American history, and events like the 1832 centennial of his birth and the start of construction of the Washington Monument in 1848 were cause for national celebration.

While Washington's Birthday was an unofficial observance for most of the 1800s, it was not until late 1879 that it became a federal holiday when President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law. The holiday initially only applied to the District of Columbia, but in 1885 it was expanded to the whole country.

The shift from Washington's Birthday to President's Day began in the late 1960s when Congress proposed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This law shifted the celebration of several federal holidays from specific dates to a series of predetermined Mondays creating three-day holiday weekends. While some argued that shifting holidays from their original dates would cheapen their meaning, the bill had widespread support. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act also included a provision to combine the celebration of Washington's Birthday with Abraham Lincoln's, which fell on February 12, thus giving equal recognition to two of America’s most famous presidents.

The main piece of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed in 1968 and officially took effect in 1971 following an executive order from President Richard Nixon. Washington's Birthday was then shifted from the fixed date of February 22 to the third Monday of February.

Washington and Lincoln still remain the two most recognized leaders, but President's Day is now popularly seen as a day to recognize the lives and achievements of America's chief executives. For its part, the federal government has held fast to the original incarnation of the holiday as a celebration of the country's first president. The third Monday in February is still listed on official calendars as Washington's Birthday. [I just took a look at my office calendar and it shows February 19, 2024, the third Monday in February, as President's Day rather than Washington's birthday.] 

Sunday, February 11, 2024

The History of Mardi Gras and the Tradition Of Flashing

This year Mardi Gras falls on Tuesday, February 13, 2024. In the Catholic Church, it's Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday. The date for Mardi Gras depends on the date of Easter—always occurring forty-six days before Easter.

In the most literal sense, the Mardi Gras celebration is the three days prior to the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. It's the last opportunity for partying and indulgence in food and drink. In practice, Mardi Gras—or Carnival, as it is called in many countries—is usually celebrated for a full week before the start of Lent.

Celebrations take place all over the world with the most famous modern day festivities being in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Nice, France; and Cologne, Germany.

Even though Mardi Gras is a Christian festival, it dates back to the pre-Christian spring fertility rites and embodies many of the traditions of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the early Middle Ages, after converting pagan tribes to Christianity, the Catholic Church was still unable to abolish all the ancient traditions. To combat this, the Church ended up taking many ancient feasts and festivals originally celebrated in honor of pagan gods and adapted them to Christian beliefs. An example of the pagan roots—today revelers on parade floats still dress as Bacchus, the Greek god of wine.


The first Mardi Gras celebration in the United States was near modern day New Orleans on March 3, 1699, but it was the mid 1800s before parade organizations, known as krewes, came into being. The first Mardi Gras parade was held in New Orleans on February 24, 1854, by the Krewe of Comus. They began the tradition of a parade with floats followed by a ball for the krewe and their guests. The official colors of Mardi Gras were chosen by Rex, King of Carnival, in 1892 and given their meaning—purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

But what about that popular activity that has become a seemingly integral part of the New Orleans Mardi Gras, much to the chagrin of the festival purists? Women pulling up their shirts and flashing their bare breasts to procure some worthless plastic beads?

Exactly where did this tradition come from?

Well, first of all, it's not really a tradition. It's more along the lines of what has become a traditional activity in the same vein as getting stupid drunk and passing out now seems to fall into that same 'traditional' Mardi Gras category. Over the years, more and more media attention has been directed toward the drunken revelry that occurs on Bourbon Street which has helped in defining flashing as a traditional part of the Mardi Gras celebration.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point-of-view, flashing in exchange for beads is mostly limited to the New Orleans' French Quarter. And even in the French Quarter, it's an illegal activity. Women flashing their bare breasts run the risk of being arrested.

Maybe flashing is not a true tradition, but you can't deny that it has become a custom. After all, the history of wild Mardi Gras behavior comes from celebrating the last day before Lent—Lent being a time of atonement. And this naturally lends itself to activities of excess and craziness.

Which apparently has come to include flashing.

But there is one crazy excess even more daring than the momentary baring of the female breasts known as flashing. And what, you may ask, could possibly be crazier than flashing and still be done in public? And the answer is having clothes painted on your bare skin. There are artists who specialize in this. It probably started as something simple and basic like face painting but has grown to include full body artistic renderings. At a casual glance, it appears that the person is clothed (albeit skin tight clothing). But on closer inspection, you discover that's far from the truth. Some of these examples shown below are basic and others are quite elaborate.

Sunday, February 4, 2024

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre—the most spectacular gangland slaying in mob history.

While Valentine's Day is a holiday associated with love, there is one historical event forever connected to Valentine's Day that had nothing to do with love, flowers, cards, and chocolate.

Al Capone (known to be the mastermind, but never charged for the crime) had arranged for his chief rival, Chicago mobster George 'Bugs' Moran and most of his North Side Gang, to be eliminated on February 14, 1929.  The plan was simple and deviously clever, yet Capone's primary target escaped any injury.  Capone distanced himself from the execution of the plan (and the execution of his rivals) by spending the time at his home in Florida thus providing himself with a solid alibi.

A bootlegger loyal to Capone was to draw Moran and his gang to a warehouse to receive a shipment of smuggled whiskey, the delivery set for 10:30AM on Valentine's Day.

The morning of February 14 was cold and snowy.  A group of Moran's men waited for Bugs at the red brick warehouse at 2122 North Clark Street.  Moran was running late.  When his car turned the corner onto Clark Street, he spotted a police wagon pulling up to the warehouse.  Assuming it was a raid, he watched as five men, three of them dressed in police uniforms, entered the building.  Moran and the two men with him, immediately left the area.

Inside the warehouse, the hit men, disguised as police, confronted Moran's men.  Assuming it was a routine bust, they followed instructions when ordered to line up against the wall.  The hit men opened fire with Thompson submachine guns, killing six of the seven men immediately.  The seventh man, with twenty-two bullet wounds, survived the attack but died after arriving at the hospital.

The newspapers instantly picked up on the crime, dubbing it the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.  The story appeared on front pages around the country, making Capone a national celebrity.  But to his dismay, this new found notoriety also brought a new level of attention from federal law enforcement culminating in his conviction for tax evasion and his incarceration at Alcatraz.  With all the law enforcement agencies trying to bring down Capone, it was a tax accountant working for the Internal Revenue Service who finally did it.

There have been several movies and television shows utilizing The St. Valentine's Day Massacre as an integral part of the storyline. My personal choice is also one of my all-time favorite movies, SOME LIKE IT HOT, a comedy built around subsequent events following the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon, and Marilyn Monroe.