Give me a mind-blowing history fact

170,278 Views | 1086 Replies | Last: 14 hrs ago by Tanker123
CanyonAg77
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AG
I have welding helmets with relatively clear glass, that go instantly dark when you strike an arc. People claim that technology is from helmets designed for pilots who drop nukes.

True, or urban legend?
BQ78
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AG
Not sure but would not doubt it. Tibbets and his crew had some sort of goggles they wore too. I read something about them but cannot remember if they were commercial or military-spec.
agrams
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auto darkening didnt come out until 1981. Welding did start becoming more common in WW1/WW2, so im certain it was the same technology, but not auto darkening

source:
https://www.apexweldingsafety.com.au/blog/post/the-history-of-the-welding-helmet#:~:text=1981,to%20nod%20the%20shield%20down.
BQ78
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Interestingly, we never practiced with the eyepatches and goggles they stayed sealed in the box along with our three pairs of nylon stockings . So I never saw them.

But if you were getting off active duty, as I was in 1983-84, you always got the **** duties and plenty of substitute alert.

One of the crap duties I got was to go fly an 8 hour mission completely garbed in a chemical outfit (we had transitioned to an additional conventional role a couple of years before). We were outfitted in charcoal suits, gas masks and tanker's helmets, rubber hoods, boots and gloves, which was the makeshift aviators chemical gear. We had it all flight planned and headed into crew rest, when they cancelled the whole thing.

Someone finally realized the suits had no fire ******ant capability and rubber gloves and boots would be a mess in a fire. Thankfully they cancelled the whole thing. I was out before they came up with a new plan.
nortex97
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A Papal Bull issued by Gregory IV may have contributed to the bubonic plague significantly when it wiped out much of Europe's cat population:
Quote:

On June 13, 1233, Pope Gregory IX instigated the first bull of his papacy: the Vox in Rama. The Bull arose in response to rumors of satanic cults in Germany by the area's grand inquisitor, Conrad of Marburg. The Vox (or "Voice in Rama," after the city of Ramah in ancient Judah) beseeched the archbishops Mainz and Hildesheim to lend their full support to Conrad in his efforts to root out the cult and its adherents. However, it was also a piece of papal legislation that was notable in another way, for the Vox was the first papal bull to associate the cat with witchcraft.

The Vox described the depraved rituals of the cult in detail, portraying the devil worshipped by the witches as a shadowy half cat and half man figure. Its long-term effect, however, was to reshape the view of the cat in European society in general, morphing it from a pagan sacred animal into an agent of hell. This demonization led to the widespread, violent persecution of black cats in particular. This persecution was so savage that some scholars believe that by the 1300's, Europe's cat numbers were sufficiently depleted to prevent them efficiently killing rats and mice- thus allowing the bubonic plague to spread.
Not really Europe's best moment:
Quote:

The account began by describing the initiation of novices to the coven. Firstly, they are greeted by an abnormally large frog or toad, whose behind they must kiss and then a "man of fearful pallor" and thinness whose task was to suck out "every last remnant of faith in the Catholic Church" from their soul. The novice then feasted with the rest of the congregation, after which they assembled to pay homage to "a black cat" which emerged " from a kind of statue which normally stands in the place where these meetings are held."

The whole coven was required to kiss the cat's behind, and once they had done this, a wild sexual orgy occurred. Once the lights came back on, "from a dark corner, the figure of a man emerges." This 'man' was Lucifer, who the whole company firmly believed to have been wronged by God. As was to be expected of a former angel "The upper part of his body from the hips upward shines as brightly as the sun." However, his fall from grace was encapsulated by his lower body where "his skin is coarse and covered with fur like a cat."
CanyonAg77
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Well, cats are agents from hell
jwoodmd
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CanyonAg77 said:

Well, cats are agents from hell
In the old day lots of people died from cat bites. In that time I'd have demonized them too (heck, even today I really dislike that animal).

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/when-cats-bite-1-in-3-patients-bitten-in-hand-hospitalized-infections-common/
87Flyfisher
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a friend of mine was recently within a few hours of having his hand amputated from infection from a cat bite. Antibiotics finally started winning the battle or he would be known as "Lefty" now.
Rongagin71
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I like cats almost as much as dogs, meaning I luv,em.
But (here is the reason it's really easy to become a "cat lady")
cats typically have two litters/yr with 4/5 being female kittens.
And cats live way longer than dogs.
13 - 0
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Cat Scratch Fever?
CanyonAg77
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On a related bubonic plaque note: The bacteria is still out there, and still carried by fleas.

I don't know if humans aren't in contact with rats as much, and thus avoid it, or if modern antibiotics quash an outbreak.

About 10 years ago, prairie dogs were invading our farm, coming from a nearby ranch. We tried all the conventional methods of control, but unless you get an entire area of landowners working diligently, the little SOBs will move in.

One day, they were gone.

Just flat disappeared.

The consensus among the neighbors is that plaque came in and wiped them out. One neighbor is a vet and worked at the Vet Lab in Amarillo. I asked if he had brought a few vials of pathogen out, he said he had been tempted, but figured they could do DNA and trace the source.

Regardless of the source, I am a fan of Yersinia pestis when properly applied.
UTExan
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CanyonAg77 said:

Well, cats are agents from hell


That's just sick and wrong!
They are cheap pest control in places like this monastery/roadside restaurant just outside Jerusalem. Besides being therapy animals for tourists and monastery residents.
“If you’re going to have crime it should at least be organized crime”
-Havelock Vetinari
gigemhilo
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13 - 0 said:

Cat Scratch Fever?

Fun fact - one of my kids got this. it's kinda like mono. Before that, I thought "Cat Scratch Fever" was a song reference to being love-struck!
Hey Nav
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AG
Quote:

Before that, I thought "Cat Scratch Fever" was a song reference to being love-struck!
Well, the song IS about sex.
p_bubel
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"Boomin Beaver," the US Navy's smallest ship, is used mainly for the deployment and operation of floating barriers, ensuring that large vessels such as destroyers, submarines and even aircraft carriers do not receive 'unwanted visitors' when they are moored.

Moreover, "Boomin Beaver" can assist in towing ships or submarines as it is equipped with Cummins Diesel.

BQ78
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Sorry, that's a boat.
StockHorseAg
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I thought it looked liked the boats they use to push log rafts around in the PNW. After looking it up, it is the same boats.
agrams
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Napoleon spent all of the funds from The Louisiana Purchase on a planned invasion of Britain, which The United States had partly funded by means of a loan from Baring Brothers of London. Which essentially meant that a British bank was indirectly funding an invasion of the country.
agrams
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AG
also, November 9th has a lot of coincidences in German History:

The end of the German Empire
On November 9, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne and fled Germany

The Night of Broken Glass
On November 9, 1938, Nazi storm troopers and the SS carried out the Reichspogromnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass".

The fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, marking the peaceful reunification of Germany after 40 years of division.
JR_83
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Kristallnact
nortex97
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The shortest military conflict in history, the Anglo Zanzibar war of 1896, lasted about 38 minutes. Another summary;
Quote:

The final ultimatum to Khalid was issued on the 26th August, demanding that he leave the palace by 9am the next day. That night, Cave also demanded that all non-military boats leave the harbour in preparation for war.

At 8am the next morning, only one hour before the ultimatum expired, Khalid sent a reply to Cave stating:
"We have no intention of hauling down our flag and we do not believe you would open fire on us."
Cave replied in true 19th century British diplomatic style, stating that he had no desire to fire upon the palace "but unless you do as you are told, we shall certainly do so."

The conflict

That was the last Cave heard from Khalid, and at 9am the order was given for the British ships in the harbour to begin bombarding the palace. By 09:02 the majority of Khalid's artillery had been destroyed, and the palaces wooden structure had started to collapse with 3,000 defenders inside. It is also around this time, two minutes after the bombardment started, that Khalid is said to have escaped through a back exit of the palace, leaving his servants and fighters to defend the palace alone.

By 09:40 the shelling had ceased, the Sultan's flag pulled down, and the shortest war in history had officially ended after only 38 minutes.
Quote:

With Khalid out of the way, the UK was free to place the pro-British Sultan Hamud on the throne of Zanzibar, and he ruled on behalf of Her Majesty's Government for the next six years.

As for Khalid, he managed to escape with a small group of loyal followers to the local German Consulate. Despite repeated calls from the British for his extradition, he was smuggled out of the country on October 2nd by the German navy and taken to modern day Tanzania. It was not until British forces invaded East Africa in 1916 that Khalid was finally captured and subsequently taken to Saint Helena for exile. After 'serving time', he was later allowed to return to East Africa where he died in 1927.
UTExan
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Zanzibar needed the ferocious storm which lashed exposed British troops as they burned and looted Washington in 1814.
“If you’re going to have crime it should at least be organized crime”
-Havelock Vetinari
agrams
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AG
yeah.. i was on my phone at a gas station and thought about it so copied an article talking about the day.. I thought for sure it would have used the work kristallnact.. but im surprised it didnt
nortex97
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AG
Turkey, today a largely Islamist country, once had a different cultural makeup. Bars In Turkey Used To Hire People To Carry Drunk Customers Home In Baskets.

If you wandered the streets of Turkey in the 1960s, you may have come across a surprising sight: a belligerent drunk, being carried in a basket on the back of a hunched man. According to Vintage News Daily, these basket carriers were called kfeci and they were paid to do this.

Though it's one of the weirdest facts from history, the kfeci's job was relatively simple. Bars would hire these men, who were often porters during the day, to carry home drunk customers at night.

Their name comes from the Turkish word kfe, which means being too drunk to walk.

StockHorseAg
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I guess you can say Lyft is the modern day equivalent.
VP at Pierce and Pierce
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What were they drinking to make them so drunk they couldn't walk home? Either that is some powerful hooch or they drank too much.
jwoodmd
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Haha - wrong thread
nortex97
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Just gonna say that pic made me chuckle that it could be any random poster here on a Saturday in the fall, often.
Kozmozag
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Lincoln snuck into D.C. in disguise before his inaugaration, afraid of an assasination attempt. He was harangued by the press for being a coward.
QBCade
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WW1 was partly due to the Kaiser getting made fun of for wearing the wrong shoes to a yachting party near the Isle of Wight.
ABATTBQ87
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Operation Market Garden consisted of 1544 transport planes and 478 gliders, escorted by 1131 fighters.

The stream was 16km wide and 150km in length
(10 miles wide x 93 miles in length)
Rongagin71
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AG
Here's a modern play of a song said to have been written by Henry VIII.
Warning: gets much louder around the 3minute mark.
"Past Time with Good Company"
Rongagin71
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AG
Maybe Henry was celebrating the defeat of Scottish King James 4.
But did James actually die at Flodden or is he still waiting with the Fairies
until his country really needs him?
nortex97
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AG
How/why we once flew the U-2 off an aircraft carrier (on more than one occasion):



Keep in mind, per the video, the pilots basically had to be in a space suit to fly this thing. Of course, with Kelly Johnson supporting it, 'not possible' wasn't an available answer. Landing it at 80 knots, with the Kitty Hawk doing 30, made it pretty dangerous (not the most controllable plane at that speed).
agrams
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AG
Clark Gable's discharge paperwork in June of 1944 was signed by Captain Ronald Reagan
 
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