News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Ever hear of the Durant-Dort Carriage Co.? It was America’s biggest manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in 1900. Don’t feel bad for it though. It adapted. It became General Motors.
There are 67 counties in Pennsylvania. Just in case you were wondering.
British history records nothing for what happened between Sept. 3 and Sept. 14, 1752 because on Sept. 3 of that year the British Empire switched to the Gregorian Calendar from the Julian one. Sept. 3 instantly became Sept. 14. Many protested thinking the legislation shortened their lives by 11 days.
Curfew comes from the French word cuevrefeu which means “cover (the) fire”. A bell would toll and the citizens would have to bank the hearths for the night else an unwatched fire might go out of control and burn down the village.
Voltaire was a Freemason. Benjamin Franklin was among those who initiated him into the secret society.
Mosby Patton Connection — The brilliant Confederate calvary man John S Mosby became a Republican after the Civil War and worked with his old enemies Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes. He also became a successful railroad lawyer. He also befriended the Patton family and would play Civil War with young George. Mosby would himself and George would play Robert E. Lee.
Ever hear of Whitechapel Bell Foundry? It was a business in London which closed on June 12, 2017 after 450 years. It was where the Liberty Bell was made.
The foundry has been sold to the American firm Raycliff Capital who are trying to turn it into a boutique hotel.
Fox tossing which involved shooting a fox — or other animal — in the air with a sling was a real thing back in Renaissance times.
It was a co-ed event with a mixed doubles category. Sometimes the animals were put in costume before being flung. Tossed animals were put out of their misery by boys and court dwarves with clubs.
Just something to bring up the next time you plan a Renaissance faire.
There have been 15 Democrat presidents of the United States with the first being Andrew Jackson. Others include Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
That’s right Snoopy. The British used biplanes until the 1970s. One even landed on an aircraft carrier.
