Odd Facts and Myths from History

2. Pope Gregory IX ordered the extermination of black cats

Another widely reported piece of strange history is that Pope Gregory IX issued a papal decree which ordered black cats, symbols of Satan, to be exterminated. Some versions of the story report that the order extended to all cats, and as a result of the consequent removal of cats in Europe, rodent infestation led to the rapid spread of the black plague. Gregory did issue a papal bull around the same time that he created the Papal Inquisition in 1233. This was directed towards the heretical practices in Germany he called Luciferian. He issued the bull to the Church and Civil authorities, directing them to stop the practice by destroying the heretics.

Part of the ritual of the Luciferians were reported to Gregory by Konrad von Marburg. (It was also uncovered through confessions under torture.) The ritual included the statue of a black cat, which would come to life as the ritual came to an end. The heretics taking part in the ritual were hunted down and dealt with appropriately. Some local authorities undoubtedly took it upon themselves to kill black cats as part of the crackdown, and they have always been associated with bad luck and witchcraft, but the papal bull, called Vox in Rama did not order the extermination of cats in Europe of any color.

3. The Belgian festival of Kattenstoett celebrated (and celebrates) cats

During the Middle Ages, the city of Ypres in what is now Belgium, developed a tradition of disposing of cats by tossing them from the belfry of a bell tower at the Cloth Hall. The building was constructed throughout most of the 13^th century, completed in the early 14^th, and was one of the largest buildings constructed during the medieval period that was not a military fortification or a monastery. It was used to store wool and cloth, and for the sale of the same. Why the ancestors of the good people of Belgium decided to toss cats out of the belfry to their doom remains a matter of speculation.

Some say it was a celebration signifying victory over witchcraft and other satanic rituals. Some say the cats were deliberately kept in the hall over the winter, to protect the wool from rats and mice, and destroyed in the spring when their feline services were no longer needed. It was a manner of dealing with the natural production of kittens. The Cloth Hall was largely destroyed by artillery fire during the heavy fighting in the area during the First World War, but was rebuilt. Since the 1950s a triennial festival commemorates the cat, including the tossing of stuffed toy kittens from the bell tower.

4. Branks were used to punish gossipers, slanderers, and those who simply talked too much

In the late 17^th century, a device which placed a bit in the mouth, supported by a cage around the head, was used to punish those who had proven themselves offensive verbally. They were called branks. They were also called scold’s bridles and gossip’s bridles. They were ordered to be worn by local authorities by both men and women, but were most frequently inflicted upon women. As their use spread to England, they were often placed on a woman upon a complaint being lodged by her husband. The punishment was intended not only to stop the person from speaking (and obviously eating and drinking) but as a public humiliation, with the wearer paraded in the streets or exhibited in a public place.

The bit contained a sharpened spike which pressed against the tongue, cutting into it if moved, and often even when it did not move. Usually, the device was ordered to be worn for no more than 24 hours, though in the jails and workhouses of the time they were ordered for offenses not related to speech, and worn for longer periods, removed temporarily to allow the intake of food and water. They did not for the most part join in the migration to the Americas, though similar devices were used to control slaves in Africa awaiting shipment to the New World colonies, and in Virginia in the early 1700s.

5. The swastika was known across the world from ancient times

The swastika’s earliest appearance in Europe was in what became Ukraine. But as a symbol of religious significance, it was known throughout Eurasia. It became a significant religious icon in Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. It was sacred to the Greeks and the Romans. Early Christian churches used the icon in both the Eastern and Roman branches. It can be found in floor mosaics, ceilings, friezes, stained glass windows, artwork, and altars in churches of the Gothic period. The nobility in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland, used the symbol in their coats of arms and as decorative flourishes in their great houses. In the Nordic regions, the symbol was indicative of Thor’s hammer. It still decorates the elephants at Carlsberg’s in Copenhagen.

Ancient North American Indian tribes also used the swastika as symbol from the Passamaquoddy in Maine to the Navajo in the southwest. How it spread around the world, in virtually every portion of the world, remains a mystery, as the symbol has no equivalent in nature nor the night sky. Since its use by the Nazi Party in Germany it has been banned from being displayed publicly in both Germany and Austria, and its use even for scholarly purposes is subject to restrictions. Around the world, it is still displayed, sometimes as a symbol of hate, and in others, with the religious significance it has always conveyed.

6. The cocktail was a result of bad-tasting liquor during Prohibition

It is easy to find references which attribute the development of alcoholic drinks mixed with each other and with non-alcoholic ingredients to create the cocktail to bartenders in speakeasies forced to mask the taste of the poor quality of their wares. Both the practice and the word cocktail are frequently linked to America’s so-called Noble Experiment in the 1920s. But the word cocktail in reference to mixed alcoholic beverages can be traced back to the first decade of the 19^th century in the United States. Before the American Civil War, it was generally used to refer to drinks which contained bitters.

In 1891 a bartender at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel published the first manual on how to make mixed drinks, under the title Cocktail Boothby’s American Bar-Tender. It listed twenty drinks identified as cocktails. So the suggestion that cocktails, both name and the drinks to which it refers, are an ironic result of Prohibition is utterly false. Speakeasy bartenders likely did create many drinks with sweeteners and juices to hide the inferior quality of the liquors they had available. But Prohibition did not lead to the use of the word to describe mixed drinks nor the drinks themselves.

7. The settlement at Jamestown led to Shakespeare writing The Tempest

That a voyage to Jamestown in Virginia led to a shipwreck in Bermuda, and a subsequent return to England was the basis of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest is often found on websites and histories. An account of the voyage of the ship Sea Venture was available in manuscript in London in 1610, though not published until 1625. The Tempest was most likely written around 1611. Another account of Sea Venture’s loss was published in 1610 in London, written by a survivor of the shipwreck, Sylvester Jourdain. There are similarities to the accounts of the Sea Venture (which had been sailing to relieve the colony at Jamestown) and the early portion of the play, but little else beyond the opening scene.

There are also similarities in the descriptions of the wreck in The Tempest with the account of the shipwreck in the Book of Acts, when Paul is stranded on the island of Malta. Whether Shakespeare consulted either of the accounts of the Sea Venture, the Book of Acts, or other sources when writing The Tempest is debated among scholars, and it cannot be said with certainty that the ill-fated voyage of Sea Venture was the inspiration for the play The Tempest. It is clear that the Bard took some of his inspiration, including lines of dialogue for Prospero, from the poem Metamorphoses by Ovid.

8. Beef Wellington became connected to a man who cared little for food

Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, was famous in his lifetime for his complete disregard for the food placed before him. According to one of his fellow officers, his indifference went so far that he once ate a rotten egg without comment, apparently unaware of what he was doing. Curiously enough, the man Wellington defeated in his most famous victory at Waterloo shared his lack of regard for food, though Napoleon was finicky about bread. It is often reported that one of Wellington’s frustrated chefs invented the idea of cooking beef loin in a puff pastry crust, naming the dish Beef Wellington, but recipes for beef cooked in pastry, in the same manner, were over a century old when Wellington was alive.

Following the victory at Waterloo Wellington was England’s greatest hero since Lord Nelson, and his name appeared on numerous products, items of clothing, and the famous tall boots he favored. His popularity waned throughout his political career but rebounded as the centennial of Waterloo neared, especially as patriotism surged during the First World War. Beef Wellington has no connection with the man who became known as the Iron Duke. That appellation was not meant to be a compliment, by the way, it was bestowed by the magazine Punch after his political policies became so unpopular that he had to install iron bars on the windows of his home to prevent the mob from breaking them.

9. The Anglo-Zanzibar War in 1896 lasted less than an hour

Depending upon the source’s method of calculating the time it ended, the Anglo-Zanzibar war was over in 38 – 45 minutes. The British suffered one casualty, a sailor injured on one of their warships. Over 500 Zanzibari were killed or wounded, including several civilians. The war was fought because the Zanzibari leader, Sultan Khalid, acceded to the throne made vacant by the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad. Because Khalid did not have the prior concurrence of the British, in accordance with an existing treaty, they demanded that he step down. He refused and ordered his palace reinforced and civilians to rally to his defense. Most of the Zanzibari were pro-British.

The British ships assigned to the task of removing the impertinent Khalid bombarded his palace, sank his yacht, destroyed some other ships, and the aforementioned time achieved the surrender of his remaining forces. Khalid sought refuge in the German consulate and eventually in German East Africa. The British installed a more palatable Sultan, supported by a puppet government under what was essentially British rule. It was the shortest war in recorded history. Following its completion, the British demanded reparations for the cost of the shot and shell expended against Khalid’s forces.

10. Winston Churchill’s lifestyle was hardly conducive to good health

Winston Churchill consumed tobacco and alcohol with unabashed gusto for most of his adult life. He exercised little, preferring a sedate approach to life and the workday. He typically woke early, but did not arise, remaining in bed with the first of his ten or so cigars each day, reading and working on correspondence. Usually, a glass of brandy accompanied his light breakfast. Rising around 11 he would go to his office for a couple of hours before lunch, which was usually preceded by whiskey and water and accompanied with champagne. A two-hour lunch was his norm, followed by port, brandy, and another cigar. Then he would return to his office until naptime, about 5, when he would be whisked to sleep by yet another whiskey.

After his nap, more work occupied him until dinner, which was preceded by cocktails, accompanied with wine, and followed by port, brandy, and cigars. Churchill usually returned to work when his guests retired, and worked into the early hours of the morning. He maintained a similar schedule when visiting the White House, to the dismay of Eleanor Roosevelt, who felt it dangerous to her husband, Franklin. Churchill maintained more or less the same schedule throughout his retirement, replacing work with painting or supervising work on his home and estate. He died in January, 1965. He was 90 years of age.

11. Some strange people have been awarded the Key to the City in America

The honor bestowed upon celebrities when they received the Key to the City was (and remains) more or less an opportunity for local politicians to achieve some free publicity and time before the cameras. It wasn’t always that way, the custom can be traced back to Ancient Rome, when the Freedom of the City allowed certain restrictions to be waived so that certain people could cross the boundary of the city. During the Middle Ages being granted the Keys to the City allowed certain visitors to the town given the award rights they would ordinarily not enjoy since they were not residents. Such rights might have been permitted to engage in business or trade.

It also granted the recipient the protection of the city, should for example magistrates from another city arrive demanding an awardee be surrendered because he was wanted elsewhere. It is still commonly practiced in the western world as an honor, distinguished visitors are granted the Key to the City, usually by the local mayor, city manager, or the council. It carries no legal status or privileges. Which was a fortunate thing during the administrations of the two Presidents Bush. Their mutual adversary, Saddam Hussein, held the Key to the City of Detroit, Michigan, which was granted the Iraqi dictator in 1980 by Mayor Coleman Young.

12. The unsinkable Violet Jessop survived the Titanic sinking and other nautical disasters

In 1911 RMS Olympic, then the largest ship afloat, collided with the Royal Navy cruiser Hawke. Aboard Olympic was a young stewardess named Violet Jessop. Both ships were damaged, but neither sank and Olympic returned safely to port. Jessop was uninjured. The following April she joined the crew of RMS Titanic, in time for that vessel’s ill-fated maiden voyage. She was loaded into a lifeboat as the ship went down, and was one of the survivors rescued later in the day by RMS Carpathia. Having survived two ship accidents unscathed, Jessop remained in the employ of White Star Lines, which operated both of the ships.

In 1916 she joined the crew of HMHS Britannic, a White Star liner which had been transferred to His Majesty’s Navy as a hospital ship. In November, 1916, Britannic was operating in the Aegean Sea when it was ripped apart by an explosion, whether from a mine, a torpedo, or another cause which has never been determined. The ship sank in less than an hour. Although Jessop suffered a slight head injury, she survived the sinking. Jessop returned to the White Star Line following the war, and worked for other British shipping lines until her retirement in 1950, though she had no further misadventures involving the loss of the ships in which she served.

13. Another Titanic survivor rescued British troops at Dunkirk

Charles Lightoller was the most senior member of Titanic‘s crew to survive its loss in April 1912. He remained onboard as the ship went down, was tossed free by some quirk of the ship breaking up, and ended up, with some 130 other survivors, riding out the night on an overturned collapsible boat which had not been deployed in time to be filled. During the First World War Lightoller commanded a Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Garry, when it rammed and sank a German U-boat. The German and British accounts of the sinking differ, with the Germans accusing the British of attacking survivors in the water, a topic which Lightoller refused to subsequently address.

In 1940, as the British Army was reeling towards complete destruction at Dunkirk, Lightoller, then retired, refused to allow the Royal Navy to seize his personal motor launch to assist in the evacuation of British troops. Instead, he piloted the boat, which he had named Sundowner, across the Channel himself, assisted by his son and one of his friends. Together they rescued 127 British troops from the shores of France (Lightoller’s elder son was in the British Army at Dunkirk, but had already been evacuated) and carried them safely to England. Likely none of them were aware that they were rescued by a survivor from Titanic, which sunk 28 years earlier.

14. Pluto never completed an orbit during its time designated as a planet

The existence of Pluto was suspected based on the application of Newtonian Mechanics for many decades before astronomers began combing the sky to find the ninth planet. In 1906 Percival Lowell, the founder of Arizona’s Lowell Observatory, began an extended search for the planet in the regions of the sky where he expected it to be found. He died in 1916, having failed to establish its presence. The search did not resume until 1929, due to legal complications between the observatory and Lowell’s widow. When it did a young astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh was assigned to the task. By early 1930, Tombaugh announced the discovery of the planet had been confirmed.

It was a worldwide sensation during the early 1930s. It was named for the god of the underworld, Pluto, and the fame of its name influenced Walt Disney to name a new character, Mickey Mouse’s dog, after the planet. A newly created element – plutonium – was so named in its honor. But 76 years later, following the discovery of numerous previously unknown orbiting bodies, the International Astronomical Union changed the definition of what can be called a planet. Pluto didn’t qualify. It became a dwarf planet. During its entire period of being known as a planet Pluto did not complete a single orbit around the sun – or even half of one. On earth, it was a planet for 76 years, on Pluto less than one.

15. The Christian rite of communion has been taken on the moon

During the Apollo 11 mission, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the surface of the moon, carried with him the means to take communion while on the lunar surface. Aldrin was an elder of the Presbyterian church, and he carried with him as personal equipment a communion kit that had been prepared by his pastor. Neil Armstrong, his companion in the lunar module, stood by but did not take part in the rite. NASA was aware of the activity planned by Aldrin, and allowed it to go forward, but it kept the act quiet at the time. An earlier mission, Apollo 8, had included a bible reading by the astronauts as they orbited the moon on Christmas Eve, which had led to a lawsuit against NASA.

Aldrin took communion in both forms (bread and wine) and in 1970 he mused to Guideposts magazine, “It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were communion elements”. The lawsuit which resulted from the Apollo 8 mission was eventually dismissed and other religious rites have since been conducted in space, including on Shuttle missions and on the International Space Station. Aldrin later indicated that had he had the opportunity to redo the Apollo mission, communion would not have been part of his plans, since it excluded other religions, not in line with the idea of going to the moon “for all mankind”.

16. The US tried to issue safety warnings which were unsafe

During the Christmas season the US government, through the Consumer Product Safety Commission, creates drives to remind consumers when shopping to exercise caution, particularly for children’s toys. Warnings to ensure toys are age-appropriate or may contain parts which present a choking hazard, or sharp edges, and so on appeared in magazines, posters, and Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on television. Packaging was not yet inundated with similar messages warning of dire consequences, as they are today. In 1974 the CPSC issued lapel buttons, fastened with a pin, which read “For kid’s sake, think toy safety”. About 80,000 were distributed.

Within a few weeks, they had to recall the buttons. They were coated with a paint which contained lead in amounts which were excessive, many had sharp edges from a flaw in manufacturing, and they broke apart easily, creating small pieces which were a choking hazard. The buttons had not yet been distributed to the public, and the recall from CPSC offices was relatively simple, but when the organization attempted to recoup the cost of having them made the manufacturer declined, stating that the specifications had not listed any safety requirements and the buttons complied with the terms of the contract. The national press heard the story, and the nation was duly informed.

17. The New York Times wasn’t always the source of great crossword puzzles

Although there are several samples of word puzzles which preceded it, Arthur Wynne is generally credited with creating the first modern crossword puzzle, which appeared in the New York World on December 21, 1913. At first, copied in just a few newspapers, by the early 1920s crosswords had become a craze. Libraries reported that patrons there for legitimate study were blocked from reference books by crossword solvers. The very first issue of The New Yorker commented “…the crossword puzzle bids fair to become a fad with New Yorkers”. In a time when New York had several newspapers competing daily with each other, they all began printing their own. All that is but one.

“This is not a game at all, and it can hardly be called a sport”, sneered The New York Times over the latest craze. It also referred to the hobby as a “sinful waste”. In 1925, the Times continued to scorn crosswords, saying that they were already a dying fad, and in 1929 noted, “The cross-word puzzle, it seems, has gone the way of all fads”. Not until 1942 did the Times surrender and begin publishing crosswords on its pages. By the end of the 20^th century, the Times puzzle was published in newspapers across the country, and it had become one of the most popular crossword puzzles in the English-speaking world.

18. Alchemists invented gunpowder while seeking an altogether different product

Alchemy was the forerunner of the science of chemistry, emerging in Europe and Asia during the Middle Ages, as well as in the Islamic world and the subcontinent of India. Alchemists studied different materials, attempting to reduce them to their essence, and to achieve the perfection of the human body and soul through the creation of a universal essence common to all. It was a universal concept that there were but four basic elements of creation, and nearly all alchemists worked in secrecy, rendering them suspect by religious fundamentalists who linked much of their work with sorcery and witchcraft.

In the mid-eighth century in China, according to existing Taoist texts, and again later in the ninth century, alchemists in China pursuing an elixir of life, believed to give immortality to the body which it would share with the soul, created a compound which they called “fire medicine”. The Chinese mixed saltpeter, realgar (a form of arsenic), and sulfur, bound with honey, and created what later became refined as gunpowder. By the early ninth century it was weaponized, and succeeding centuries saw its use expanded to bombs, rockets, mines, and eventually guns. Gunpowder was discovered accidentally as part of a search for immortality, one of the greatest ironies of human history.

19. The United States once banned all Chinese immigration to its shores

Chinese laborers were once brought to the United States to work in mines and on railroads. Most came without their wives and families, and in the second half of the 19^th century, many attempted to bring their families to America after becoming settled there. In 1875 the United States banned the immigration of Chinese women via the Page Act. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, banning the immigration of Chinese laborers. It was signed by President Chester Arthur into law on May 6 of that year, with a scheduled expiration date established ten years later. When that date approached the law was extended for another ten years.

Over the period that the law was enforced, Congress passed additional laws to further limit the ability of Chinese from entering the United States. Those who had been in America when the law was passed and left for any reason were denied the ability to return by legislation. Chinese immigrants who had arrived legally were given the status of permanent aliens, with the opportunity to become American citizens denied them. The Supreme Court upheld the Act as Constitutional (1889) despite heavy criticism from some members of Congress. The act was not repealed until 1943, when the United States and China were allies in the Pacific War against Japan.

20. The American Army and units of the German Army fought side-by-side near the end of WW2

Castle Itter, in the Austrian Tyrol, served as a prison camp during the Second World War, where French VIP prisoners were held by the German SS. Near the end of the war in Europe a combined force of American troops, German troops led by a Waffen SS officer, and former French prisoners combined to defend the castle against an attack by about 200 German soldiers of the SS 17^th Panzer Grenadiers. The Germans who fought alongside the Americans and French were members of the Wehrmacht, led by an officer who had changed over to support the Austrian Resistance movement in the closing days of the war. The battle took place on May 5, 1945, when Hitler was already dead, just two days before the Germans surrendered.

The allies sustained just one fatality during the battle to defend the castle against the attacking SS troops. He was Major Josef Stangl, the SS officer who had defected with his troops, eleven men, to the American side. The Germans, 16 Americans, and a few of the French prisoners held off the attack until a relief column from the American 104^th Infantry Division arrived. Among the prisoners present during the battle was French General Maurice Gamelin, the former prime minister Edouard Daladier, and Charles de Gaulle’s sister, Marie Cailliau. It was the only time in either of the World Wars when German troops fought alongside Americans.

21. Barbary pirates once raided the coast of Ireland

The pirates and corsairs of the Barbary Coast were known throughout the Mediterranean and the coasts of Africa, Spain, and Portugal, but their reach and their raids extended beyond those waters for centuries. In 1631, pirates from the Barbary Coast raided in Ireland, led by a Dutchman who had converted to Islam and changed his name to Murad Reis the Younger. The expedition he led encountered a small fishing boat, seized its captain, and in return for a promise to obtain his freedom the captain led Murad and his pirates to the village of Baltimore, in West Cork, Ireland. The traitorous captain was later hanged for his perfidy.

The number of villagers captured by the pirates varies according to sources, from 107 to as many as 200 or more. Most of them were English, though some Irish were seized as well, and they were taken as slaves back to the North African states from which their captors hailed. Only three ever returned to Ireland, after their ransom was paid, a common practice of the Barbary leaders. The rest remained enslaved, manning the oars in Muslim galleys, or in forced labor ashore. The women were sent to the harems of the Muslim leaders, which often traded their concubines with each other for favors or tribute. Baltimore remained a deserted village for almost seven decades.

22. The medieval Iron Maiden is a myth

Iron Maidens are presented in museums, wax museums, horror films, and other venues featuring presentations of medieval torture in Europe and in the United States. The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg may have been displayed as early as 1802, along with a “history” written by German philosopher and teacher Johann Philip Siebenkees. The fictional story provided for the device indicated that it had been used as early as 1515. Iron Maidens became popular at traveling museums and other attractions in Europe during the remainder of the 19^th century, and traveled to the Americas through the efforts of showmen and hucksters there.

There is no mention of their existence in medieval or renaissance literature, including among the prosecutors of the Inquisition, who certainly would have used one had it been available. They first appeared in 19^th century literature. Iron Maidens are just one of many myths perpetuated regarding the Middle Ages which have been handed down through the centuries. They certainly could be used as a means of inflicting torture but there is no evidence that their use for that purpose is part of the historical record of medieval history.

23. People found early escalators unnerving

It is sometimes reported that the first moving staircase known as an escalator was installed in the London Underground, and a man was hired to ride up and down all day to demonstrate its safe use to hesitant customers. Both are untrue. The first escalator installed in Great Britain was in Harrod’s in Knightsbridge, in 1898. Harrod’s enticed customers to use the escalator by making both smelling salts and fine cognac available as restoratives upon completing the ride between floors. Still, early escalators were regarded with hesitations on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, as were their vertical counterpart, elevators.

In America, the first escalators were installed at the Brooklyn Bridge on an experimental basis, using a design which was later incorporated with the subway system in Boston. Some of the escalators were still in use in Boston in the late 1990s. As their use expanded, fears of the devices ebbed, and many riders chose to walk up (or down) the moving staircase, leading to the evolution of escalator etiquette. Standing on the right, and passing on the left, became the generally accepted rule in the United States, where the same procedure applies to driving on a road.

24. Shopping carts were not well received when they were invented

The shopping cart is an American invention, created in 1937 by a grocery executive named Sylvan Goldman in Oklahoma City. Goldman envisioned the cart allowing customers to carry a greater number of products conveniently and easily, and thus also being more likely to purchase more. But he found when he introduced the patented design in his Humpty-Dumpty stores that customers avoided the carts. When he sought to find out why such an obvious convenience was treated disdainfully he learned that men found pushing a cart full of groceries to be effeminate. Women on the other hand thought the carts reminiscent of baby carriages.

Goldman decided to promote the use of grocery carts in his stores by hiring greeters in the stores to offer them to arriving customers and explain their use. He also hired models, male and female, to walk about the store, going through the motions of shopping, to demonstrate their convenience and to get customers used to their being seen throughout the store. He likely did not hire people to demonstrate how to block whole aisles with the devices, that was something customers undoubtedly learned on their own. Goldman also invented the nesting baggage carts found in airports and train stations around the world.

25. John James Audubon was not American, and entered the country under a false passport

John Audubon was born in Haiti, the son of a French naval officer and his mixed-race mistress. He was raised for the most part in France, where his interest in birds developed. In 1803, in order to prevent his son from being conscripted in Napoleon’s armies his father sent him to the United States using a forged passport. His early adventures in the United States included being stricken with malaria and falling in love, but he soon returned to his study of birds. He was one of the first to practice banding birds, in order to observe the migratory habits of some species, including their returning to the same nesting grounds.

To prepare the work of paintings he called The Birds of America in the 1820s, Audubon hired hunters and trappers to catch most of his specimens. He worked, not through sketching birds temporarily perched on a limb, but from dead specimens, he killed himself or acquired through aides. After his work became a major success in Britain, he frequently shipped skins and mounted stuffed examples of American birds and animals to acquaintances there. Virtually every painting of a bird he created was from posed dead specimens he collected, making him less of an animal conservationist, and more of a successful hunter and artist.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“Scold’s Bridle – History of the Branks”. Article, History of Masks. Online

“The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption”. Steven Heller. 2008

“The Sources of Shakespeare’s Plays”. Kenneth Muir. 2005

“Wellington: The Iron Duke”. Richard Holmes. 2002

“A History of the Arab State of Zanzibar”. Norman Robert Bennett. 1978

“How to eat, drink, and smoke like Winston Churchill”. Will Noble, The Londonist. Online

“Guess Who Got The Key To Detroit?” Associated Press report, CBS News. March 26, 2003. Online

“Titanic Survivor”. Memoir of Violet Jessop. Sheridan House, 1997

“The Second Officer Who Survived Titanic And Saved 130 Lives At Dunkirk”. Article, History.com. Online

“Pluto Fact Sheet”. David R. Williams, NASA. July 24, 2015. Online

“How Buzz Aldrin’s communion on the moon was hushed up”. Matthew Cresswell, The Guardian. September 13, 2012

“Agency’s Safety Buttons Recalled As Hazardous”. The New York Times, November 16, 1974

“The Crossword Obsession”. Coral Amende. 2001

“How Gunpowder Changed the World”. Heather Whipps, Live Science. April 7, 2008. Online

“Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts”. Office of the Historian, US Department of State. Online

“The Austrian castle where Nazis lost to German – US force”. Bethany Bell, BBC News. May 7, 2015

“Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters”. Robert Davis. 2003

“Are Iron Maidens Really Torture Devices?” Stephanie Pappas, Live Science. September 6, 2016

“The department store: a social history”. William Lancaster. 1995

“How a Basket on Wheels Revolutionized Grocery Shopping”. Zachary Crockett, Priceonomics. February 18, 2016. Online