This thread is set aside for fascinating titbits and snippets from history- items too brief to be worthy of an article or thread in their own right, but making up an entertaining pot pourri of trivia.

Naturally, I'm hoping it'll feature many things appealing to our basest instincts, but that's just me. Indulge yourselves.

One for starters.

In ancient Egypt, male cadavers were delivered to the embalmers for mummification immediately. However the corpses of young women, or influential older women, were not delivered for a few days- until they had started to decompose and get smelly and oozing.

This was an attempt to dissuade the embalmers from having sex with the bodies.

My God....:eek:

Didn't Joe Hooker give his name to a slang term for a prostitute because of the number of women camp followers in his entourage when on campaign?

Bernadotte, One time Marshal of France, later elected to be the founder of the current Royal Family of Sweden had tattooed on his upper arm "death to tyrants" and was an ardent republican prior to his elevation!

Marmont, another of Napoleon's Marshals gave his title to the name for a french "to betray" (raguser). His title was the Duke Of Raguse, he earned this unfortunate nickname after he ordered his corps to lay down their arms and defect to the allies during the 1814 campaign, ensuring the hatred of Napoleon's supporters.

It's highly unlikely Wellington ever exactly uttered the remark "the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton". When the battle was fought, there was no playing fields at Eton.

A famous painting shows Napoleon early in his career leading his Italian army across a bridge grasping a flag in his hand. The reality was another officer promptly told him not to be so stupid and pushed him into the water, nearly drowning him :D

Nelson always got seasick during the early days of his journeys at sea.

Napoleon's knowledge of geography seems a little hazy considering he allowed the Grand Dutchy of Warsaw (ie some of Poland) into the confederation of the Rhine....

A supposedly common french curse, Merde can also be called "le mot de Cambronne". This is because during the Old Guard's last stand in square, the allies brought up massed guns charged with grapeshot to fire into their ranks under the cover of cavalry. Offered the chance to surrender, General Cambronne is supposed to have replied "La Garde meurt, et ne se redent pas" (The Guard dies, it does not surrender). Most people though think this to be an after-the-battle addition, and he more likely just spat and said "MERDE!"

Napoleon once shot out Marshal Masenna's eye on a hunting trip. Napoleon then proceeded to blame Berthier, who accepted the blame with all the grace Massena showed in not complaining. :D

The position of Brirish Prime Minister owes most of it's existance to the fact that King George I couldn't speak a word of English. His son (the future George II) used to translate for him in Cabinet meetings, but they stopped talking to each other in 1717, forcing the king to make other arrangements.

The most sexually precocious English royal couple were Henry Bolingroke (later Henry IV) and his wife Mary de Bohun. At their marriage, he was 13 years 10 months, while Mary was 11. Their first child was born a few months before Mary's 13th birthday.

Originally posted by Kafka2
The most sexually precocious English royal couple were Henry Bolingroke (later Henry IV) and his wife Mary de Bohun. At their marriage, he was 13 years 10 months, while Mary was 11. Their first child was born a few months before Mary's 13th birthday.
holy..................!

Edward II is supposed to have died when his wife, sick of their marriage due to his homosexual antics ordered a knight to ram a red hot poker up his **** in revenge.

William of Orange, William III of england died after falling from his horse and injuring himself badly. He fell because his horse stumbled on a molehill, and for some time the Catholics in the UK celebrated "that little chap in the black suit" :D

:lol: This thread is great :thumbsup:

Keep it coming

Originally posted by privatehudson
Edward II is supposed to have died when his wife, sick of their marriage due to his homosexual antics ordered a knight to ram a red hot poker up his **** in revenge.



Actually his homosexuality was a fairly minor reason, and the method was chosen so that no external marks would be left- they were hoping to pass it off as natural causes.

He's not the only king to die of rectal trauma. King Edmund Ironside was stabbed up the chutney gutter by an assassin hiding inside the privy.

The first white settlers of Australia were a pair of Dutch psychopathic mass murderers.

In Austrailia, when two aboriginal tribes met, one would send
some of its women over to the other side. If the others shagged
them, all was well. If the women were rejected, it was time for a
fight. Women who didn't cooperate with this scheme were summarily
dispatched.

Originally posted by privatehudson
William of Orange, William III of england died after falling from his horse and injuring himself badly. He fell because his horse stumbled on a molehill, and for some time the Catholics in the UK celebrated "that little chap in the black suit" :D

William III was a tiny wee hunchback, who may well have been gay. His wife, Mary, definitely was gay, and her sister (the future Queen Anne) was a bushwacker too.

Originally posted by Kafka2

William III was a tiny wee hunchback, who may well have been gay. His wife, Mary, definitely was gay, and her sister (the future Queen Anne) was a bushwacker too. Queen Anne still manage to have 14 children, all of which predeceased her. How would like to have to bury all your children, 14 of them. I'll bet she was quite cranky in her old age.

She was also so fat that she was buried in a square coffin.

I suppose 14 children will do that to a woman...

lol :lol: :thumbsup:

The V sign, with the palm facing inwards, may have its origins in war. It is said that on the eve of the battle of of Agincourt in 1415 the French threatened to chop off the 'bow fingers' (first and second fingers) of every English archer.
At dawn next day the victorous English extended the same two fingers in a mocking gesture. Today its used to express the words f**k off.
During WW2 a V sign, with the palm facing outwards, was used by Winston Churchill as a victory symbol.

Originally posted by privatehudson
Didn't Joe Hooker give his name to a slang term for a prostitute because of the number of women camp followers in his entourage when on campaign
No, he didn't. While Hooker had a fondness for "ladies of negotiable affection," the word "hooker," meaning prostitute was used long before then. James Boswell (1740-1795) used the term in his Life of Samuel Johnson, written in 1791. Joseph Hooker wasn't born until 1814.

Incidentally, James Boswell used to derive sexual pleasure from rubbing himself against trees. He also suffered from many, many bouts of gonorrhoea as a result of compulsively chasing dirty ladies.

In 280 BC Pyrrhus the Great of Epirus (a Macedonian general who won most of his battles with such losses to himself that we today get the phrase "a pyrrhic victory") invaded Italy and brought a bunch of elephants with him. The Romans had never seen elephants before and so quite naturally said to themselves "....what the hell is that!? It's got a tail at both ends!" as they were trampled at the battles of Heraclea and Ausculum. But one bright Roman (who’s name we don't know) had a cunning plan to beat these strange monsters.....

Get a bunch of pigs, smear their backs with pitch and tar, aim them at the elephants, then....er....set fire to them! :eek: The pigs would run in a straight line trying to get away from the flames, all the time squealing in pain and terror. The noise and fire should cause the elephants to stampede back into their own troops :goodjob: ....

It was not what you would call "a war winning weapon" as it was only tried once.

(If this seems a bit cruel, it was nothing compared to what the Romans did to human beings in the arena, and that was just for entertainment!)

hey, remember, most gladitors did NOT die in the arean, but as a result of wounds sufferd- after all, its not in good buisness to kill of half of your enterains each perfomence ;)

Originally posted by Xen
hey, remember, most gladitors did NOT die in the arean, but as a result of wounds sufferd- after all, its not in good buisness to kill of half of your enterains each perfomence ;)

True....but Gladiators were not the ONLY form of blood letting that the Romans enjoyed in the amphitheatre. ;)
As a 'warm-up' before the main event, 'criminals' (i.e. anyone) were often tortured and killed in various macabre ways, just for the entertainment of the crowd.

Men fighting men, men fighting animals, animals fighting animals, mock armies fighting other mock armies, cripples fighting other cripples, blind men fighting each other....
....in 90 AD the emperor Domitian thought it would be 'fun' to present combats between women and dwarfs!

Originally posted by Kryten


True....but Gladiators were not the ONLY form of blood letting that the Romans enjoyed in the amphitheatre. ;)
As a 'warn-up' before the main event, 'criminals' (i.e. anyone) were often tortured and killed in various macabre ways, just for the entertainment of the crowd.

Men fighting men, men fighting animals, animals fighting animals, mock armies fighting other mock armies, cripples fighting other cripples, blind men fighting each other....
....in 90 AD the emperor Domitian thought it would be 'fun' to present combats between women and dwarfs!

in all fairness, women were hardley uncommon in the arena- a departure from the usual yes, but not anything unheard of ;)

although the rest of the stuff is rather viscious...

A good example of British Imperial Paper work gone mad :D

Colonel Henry Hallam Parr was once asked to provide proof of the the existence of one of his officers so that the man could draw his pay. Colonel PArr was only too happy to oblige, and wrote out a certificate to the affect that the officer was alive, dated it and returned it to the man. But that was not good enough, the officer explained, as he had already proved that he was alive in the current month. What he needed was proof that he had been alive in the previous month. Could the Colonel kindly backdate the certificate?

:hmm: And they wonder why the empire fell apart? :D