Lit tle known or interesting history facts.

The fork thing....fingers...really????

I KNOW...!!!!!  Can you imagine.!

And Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini.... The Nobel PEACE Prize.???  REALLY.!!!  Surely, there's a mistake here.!!

Both are utterly rediculous.

In today's world the act of piracy on the high seas has made a bit of a comeback. For years it was mostly a non-issue having disappeared with the advent of modern ships, steel hulls and framework, modern naval armament, watchful Coast Guard patrols, and effective airborne interdiction that could arrive on site quickly.

But it wasn't TOO many years back when piracy was a common occurrence.

One of the most feared, successful and respected pirates in all of history, was actually a Chinese female prostitute named Ching Shih. She commanded a fleet of more than 1500 pirate ships and 80,000 sailors.

WARS -- WARS -- WARS


Here are a couple of interesting facts....

The shortest war in history was between England and Zanzibar, and only lasted 38 minutes.

Alternatively:

The longest war in history lasted 335 years, between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly. No one was killed during the entire war.

Interesting (AND little known) historical fact.....

Edgar Allen Poe...  An American author, writer, poet, editor, and literary critic was perhaps best known for his poetry and short stories, many of which were dark or foreboding while maintaining a sense of mystery with a macabre undertone. Poe died in 1849 at the age of 40 years from a brain condition known as phrenetis, or hepatic encephalopathy which is a swelling or "congestion" of the brain. It is a common and polite way of saying "alcoholism". 

In 1838 while working as the editor of The Southern Literary Messenger, Poe wrote and published a work, purported to be fiction. This work was a mostly first-person accounting of a somewhat perilous journey by sailing ship as told by Arthur Gordon Pym to Poe. This work was entitled The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket.  The story is that of Pym as told to Poe who wrote and edited it. Subsequently, Arthur Gordon Pym penned the Preface for the book and signed it AG Pym. In the Preface, Pym claimed to have actually written part of the text of the book and the balance was written by Poe. Regardless of who wrote what, there is a very interesting (and strange) bit of sub-text from the book and a follow-on story that takes it into the realm of a 'strange and little-known historical fact'. 

"Edgar Allen Poe’s 1838 novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, tells the story of four crewmen on a whaling ship who end up stranded. In order to survive, the crewmen draw lots to see who among them should be eaten. The lot lands on their cabin boy, Richard Parker.  Later, in 1884 (forty-six years after Poe's book was published), four crewmen aboard the yacht Mignonette capsized on their way to Sydney from London. Three of the crewmen decided to kill and eat the youngest and weakest among them – their nineteen-year-old cabin boy, Richard Parker."

George Washington was NOT the first President of the United States.

Technically, Washington was the first elected President under Constitutional law.  BUT... The federal government existed before that under the U.S. first designed government. The U.S. government started in 1774 with the 1st Continental Congress. The idea being to repair the relationship between Britain and the colonies. It became apparent that Britain's dominion over the colonies was severely damaged. The Congress met for about six weeks and plans were made for a 2nd Congress. The 2nd Continental Congress convened in 1775 after hostilities broke out with King George in Massachusetts. On July 2nd 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Lee Resolution for Independence. Two days later, July 4th, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted and signed the Declaration of Independence declaring the colonies to be independent sovereign states. And the war for independence, Revolutionary War, was on....

The Continental Congress (2nd) served as the government of the states from 1776--1781. In 1781 the first official Federal Government was framed by the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union  which put into place the final iteration of the Continental Congress, better known as the Congress of the Confederation, to act as the Federal government representing the confederation of states. The Constitution of the United States was written then ratified in 1787.  The Congress of the Confederation adjourned permanently in 1789 after George Washington was elected President and the 1st U.S. Congress took over the Legislative Branch.

So, from 1781 to 1789 the Federal Government was organized under the Articles of Confederation and was governed by the Congress of the Confederation.  John Hanson was the first politician elected to hold the office of President (Continental Congress). There were several others who served before George Washington was elected under the Constitution of the U.S.

Before the United States had the Constitution (which established the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches of government), they had the Articles of Confederation. Under this legislation, the central authority of the United States was the Second Continental Congress. John Hanson was the first politician elected as President of the Continental Congress (a largely administrative role). Several other men held the title of President before George Washington's election in 1789 (the Constitution was ratified in 1787).

It isn’t uncommon to see pets in Zoom meetings these days, as some cats and dogs can’t help being the center of attention while their humans attempt to check in with their co-workers. Even so, the fact that Warren G. Harding’s dog sat in on Cabinet meetings sounds especially distracting (albeit in an adorable way) for such important positions as, say, the secretary of state. Laddie Boy, who’s been called the White House’s first celebrity dog, was an Airedale terrier whom the 29th president of the United States deeply adored. In addition to fetching the newspaper and joining the First Lady at fundraisers, he had his own seat at Cabinet meetings and was written about in the press on a near-daily basis.

Sometimes, Laddie Boy even “wrote” back. “So many people express a wish to see me, and I shake hands with so many callers at the Executive Mansion,” read one such letter, “that I fear there are some people who will suspect me of political inclinations. From what I see of politics, I am sure I have no such aspirations.” The presidential pup remained popular even as Harding did not (he’s routinely ranked among the worst heads of state in American history). Following Harding’s untimely death in 1923, a poem by Edna Bell Seward titled “Laddie Boy, He’s Gone” was set to music by composer George M. Seward in order to console the faithful dog.


https://historyfacts.com/famous-figures/...-meetings/