53 Astounding UK Facts

Union Jack UK Flag

 

 Things of the Past 

 

1. In 1811 “Mary” was the most popular name for a women. Nearly a quarter of Britain’s ladies were named Mary.
2. Bearded men had to pay a special tax in the 16th century.
3. In medieval times, there was a street named “Cock Lane’’ near Holborn Viaduct. It was the only street licenced for prostitution.
4. England’s oldest ally country was and still is Portugal from 1373.
5. German soldier Josef Jakobs was the last person executed at the Tower of London in 1941.
6. French was the official language of the UK for more than 300 years.
7. The medieval English breakfast featured beer.
8. In 1662 in England scientist Christopher Merret invented champagne.
9. The old names of London were Ludenburg, Ludenwic and Londonium.
10. The shortest war ever recorded in the books of history was the Anglo-Zanzibar War which lasted about 40 minutes.
11. In 1860 a Jewish immigrant founded the first fish and chips restaurant.
12. Mount Everest was named after the Welshman Sir George Everest in 1856, who was a Surveyor General in India.

Rock Music

1. The Beatles last played a gig on the roof of their Apple Corps corporation which is now an Abercrombie & Fitch store.
2. Jimi Hendrix lived at 23 Brook Street, which is now a museum.
3. The last public performance by Jimi Hendrix was in Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club on 5th street in 1970.

Silent Wednesday 46 - World War One

 

10 Really Dumb Ways To Die

   Old age, illness or a heavy duty accident - those are the most common deaths we face in the world. However, there are those truly unlucky folk, who die in equal parts comic and tragic situations. Here are the ten most dumb ways to die.

1. The Magic Trick

Tommy Cooper, a famous British illusionist died on stage in front of millions of viewers behind the telly. In 1984, he was making an appearance in Her Majesty's Theatre. 

While he was presenting his act, he collapsed due to a heart attack. The most tragic in the situation is the public including his assistant all though it was a joke or a part of the act and laughed their heads off while the man passed away

Unique Pictures from History

The first picture ever taken. This is Nicéphore Niépce's earliest surviving photograph. It is called "View from the Window at Le Gras". Created in 1826.

Lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. They were arrested as suspects for a robbery, murder and rape. It was said that they have robbed and murder Claude Deeter, and later raped his girlfriend. An angry mob broke in to the jail so they can lynch them. The third man (James Cameron) escaped. No one was accused in murdering the two suspects. Later all charges were taken off, because the girlfriend (Mary Ball) of the murdered man testified she was never raped.

Baby Cages. These inventions were created in the US back in 1922. They were made for people who lived in the city, in small apartment flats, with no spaces. With them, the youngsters could benefit from the sunlight and the fresh air.

Holland House, Kensington, London. The book store was bombed in World War 2. This young man is reading History of London.

Charles Godfrey flying under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. This happened in 1919 and it's the first flight of its kind. Since then there have been two other flights under the Arc.

4 Children for Sale. The picture was taken in 1948 in Chicago, Illinois. The mother was 24 and their father was 40. They were both unemployed and had no food so their only logical decision was to sell the kids. She had a fifth kid in her belly. The children were sold and each have their tragic story to tell.

The building of Brasilia. This is the beginning of the construction of the new capital of Brazil.

One of the first McDonalds ever.

Hitler in Paris. 1940

Hotel owner pouring acid in the pool while black people swim in it, 1964. This happened at the Monson Motor Lodge, where black and white protesters for civil rights jumped in to the pool. The managers of the lodge, poured muriatic acid.

The Last Jew in Vinnitsa. Made in 1941, we see a member of Einsatzgruppe D just about to shoot the last Jewish man in the region. All 28 000 Jewish people were slaughtered. 

This is bombed London in 1940. A little girl is sitting in the ruins of a building with her dolly. 

Back in the days when women would be fined if they wore short bathing suits. The picture is taken in Washington DC, 1920. The swim suits can't be higher than 6 inches above the knee. They even had beach police.

Ham the Chimp. This is the first chimp launched in to outer space. Don't think he has a silly name, because it actually is an acronym - Holloman Aerospace Medical Center. 

Testing bullet proof vest 1923. Because this is how they tested things back in the days - on humans, not on dolls. Because men were real men. The men were selling the vest to the police department. You can see a coloured version here.

If you want more historic photos check out this gallery.

The 5 Most Badass Soldiers During WWII

World War II was a crucial time in human history. Death and tragedy were found almost everywhere. Millions lost their life and the lifes of ten times more were scarred forever. But those times of misery and pain where a really good incubator for some of the most badass soldier legends to be born. Now, I'm not talking about high-ranked generals and commanders who won battles and decided the fates of hundreds with their brilliant tactic and command, I'm listing five regular G.I. Joes that arose from the common folk and really, really kicked some enemy's ass … hard. And we start with:

Desmond Doss – The Pacifist

War is perfect for young, angry men who would gladly die for their homeland (and score a few headshots in the meantime). And while to take a life in times of peace is to be judged as one of the most awful crimes a person can do, during war it's not only justified, but rather glorified. Well, not if you're a follower of the Seventh-day Adventist. You see, Desmond Doss was born and raised in a super-religious family for which all killings, no matter how necessary, where a big no-no.

Except killing beats that is.

But being the proud and patriotic American he was, he felt obligated to serve his country when it needed him most. As you can imagine, not wanting to kill anybody didn`t give him much of an option in the army, so he enlisted as a medic. He absolutely refused to carry any sort of a weapon, even a pocket knife, which led to him being the favourite victim of mocking by his fellow comrades. Or at least in the beginning. But when the bullets started to rain, and bodies began to fall, he showed them the dough he was made of. He would regularly sprint in the line of fire, just meters away from the enemy guns, to grab his wounded fellows and drag them to safety.

Elizabet Báthory - The Most Prolific Female Serial Killer

A Portrait

A few months back I was on a mini Euro Trip. We visited Vienna, Krakow, Bratislava, the Wieliczka Salt mine, a few other smaller cities and at the end we had a bonus trip to Budapest. All beautiful places and the tour guide was a brilliant old lady, which could answer every question you ask. Brilliant! When we went passed by Čachtice Castle in Slovakia she told us the story about Elizabeth Báthory. The thing that grabbed my attention was the part with the hundreds of girls dead and how Elizabeth bathed in their blood. I thought it was a fiction or just a story for the tourists, but when I did a little research, things were very real.

They call her the Blood Countess. And it's a very reasonable name.

You may heard she is related to Count Dracula and that that connection caused her bloodthirst. Or there is a story which says her childhood nurse was practising black magic and liked to sacrifice little children. But that's not all - her aunt was a witch, her uncle a devil worshipper and her brother a paedophile. Now that's a classy family tree. Of course, these stories are all made up.

The Big Debate Over Man's Origins - Who won ?

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Now the controversy between evolution and creation has been going on since forever. For most of the time it's been like any other argument of followers. Religion vs science had always seemed to me like a battle between Xbox and PlayStation, or Manchester and Chelsea - the fans are one sided, only acknowledging their respective side and completely diminishing the authority of the other (eg. PlayStation sucks because Xbox is bla bla...)

For those who have never been interested, the debate is over which is more probable as a model of origins - the creation by God and intelligent design as spoken of in the Bible and Christianity or the theory of evolution established by Charles Darwin and supported by modern science.