History lovers, I need your help!

[Sweetdaisymae]

In North Wales lies the town of Beddgelert.
http://www.beddgelerttourism.com/gelert/

Prince Llewellen slayed his faithful hound, Gellert, believing him to have killed his boy child.
The dog had instead protected the child and killed a wolf. The town now bears the dogs name.

 

[BiBunny]

This story about a battleship in WW2 is honestly the funniest thing I've ever read on the Internet. I've read it a zillion times, but I still laugh myself into an asthma attack every time i re-read it.

Honestly, depending on how much time you have, all the stuff on the Cracked website under the "History" section is weird/hilarious. The author of that article, Xavier Jackson, is only 18 or 19 (I think), and he writes the best history articles on the site. But there are still plenty of other people there who write amazingly well, too.

 

[oggbashan]

The circular battleships that went round and round and got nowhere:

Novgorod and Popov

 

[oggbashan]

Was Lady Godiva riding naked through Coventry?

Most of us have heard of the legend of Lady Godiva riding naked through Coventry to persuade her husband to reduce or abolish taxes on the impoverished citizens.

This link to Wikipedia gives some of the information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Godiva

But there is more than one problem with the legend, apart from the fact that it was unknown until a century after her death, and the part of Peeping Tom was an even later addition.

Problem 1. The only tax levied on Coventry at the time of Lady Godiva was a tax on horses. Who owned horses? The nobility and some of the richer merchants. Who were the nobility? Lady Godiva and her husband Leofric.

Problem 2. To whom were the taxes on Coventry paid? Obviously to the landowner, the overlord who owned Coventry. Who was that overlord? Unfortunately for the truth of the legend, the overlord was NOT Leofric, but Godiva herself.

So she rode naked to persuade herself to remit taxes, paid to herself, mainly for horses she owned? That seems unlikely.

I wrote another version of Lady Godiva's ride for a Literotica Nude Day Contest:

http://www.literotica.com/s/godiva-1

Whether Lady Godiva rode naked through Coventry or not, she was obviously a very skilful political operator. Her husband Leofric died years before the Norman Conquest in 1066, but she was a significant landowner in England both before AND after the Conquest. She must have been very astute indeed to preserve and increase her wealth when so many of the Saxon nobility lost their lands.

She was also a significant benefactor of the Church and charities for the poor, both with her husband and on her own account.

She should be remembered for being a clever political operator, a benefactor to many good causes in the English Midlands, a devout Christian - but not for the naked ride she never made.

 

[oggbashan]

Dick Whittington, Mayor of London, and his cat.

Turn again, Whittington,
Once Lord Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington,
Twice Lord Mayor of London!
Turn again, Whittington,
Thrice Lord Mayor of London!

So goes the old nursery rhyme about Dick Whittington, the poor boy who became rich and three times Lord Mayor of London - because of his cat.

But Richard Whittington was never poor. he came from a wealthy family.

As far as we know, he never owned a cat, and he certainly didn't earn his fortune because of a cat.

The rhyme isn't even right about him being Lord Mayor of London three times. He was Lord Mayor FOUR times.

The true story of Richard Whittington, and the pantomime version, is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Whittington

 

[oggbashan]

The Worst Class of Submarines, and the Battle of May Island.

Down Funnels! Extinguish Boilers!

Before World War 1, the Royal Navy considered that it would be a good idea to have submarines that could match the pace of their surface fleet of Dreadnought Battleships, to drive away enemy submarines and destroyers.

While the idea might have had some merit, the resulting design was absurd. Of the eighteen K Class submarines built, none damaged any enemy vessel. None was lost by enemy action, but six sank in accidents.

Contemporary submarines were run by internal combustion engines when on the surface, and by electric motors when submerged. All submarines of WW1 should really be classed as submersibles, not submarines, because they had to be surfaced for longer than they could operate submerged.

No feasible internal combustion engine could drive a large submarine fast enough to keep up with the Grand Fleet. Only steam power could do that. So the British Admiralty ordered steam-powered submarines. They were fast enough in theory, but were they submarines? If the order came to submerge, they had to extinguish the fires under the steam boilers, lower the funnels, close the hatches through which the funnel smoke had been routed, and then submerge. The first one shipped seawater through the funnel bases and put the fires out, so they were redesigned with a higher bow. That made steering more difficult and dangerous.

A conventional submarine could submerge in a less than a minute. A K Class? About five minutes - long enough for a surface ship to fire a number of shells at the K-Class.

The K Class were very long and had a limited depth range, actually less than their length. So while the bow could submerge, the stern might remain above the water for a long time.

The K Class sunk several submarines - other K Class submarines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_K_class_submarine

 

[oggbashan]

The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier of WW2

The Allies were losing the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942. The German U boats were sinking merchant ships faster than they could be built.

The real problem was the Air Gap - the large part of the Atlantic that could not be covered by aircraft operating from shore bases on either side of the Atlantic.

One inventor thought he had the solution. The Allies could build an aircraft carrier made of ice - a floating iceberg that was flat enough to be larger even than the new US fleet carriers. There was a substance that was strong enough - a mixture of ice and sawdust called Pykrete. Samples made from Pykrete were much stronger than ice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pykrete

The problem was that there were no refrigeration units large enough to build nor maintain the proposed carrier. The project was abandoned in favour of conventional light carriers and small carriers built on merchant ship hulls. Those eventually closed the Air Gap.

 

[oggbashan]

The Giant Panjandrum of WW2

The Allies were considering how to attach and breach Hitler's Atlantic Wall. They had worked out that if they could detonate a ton of explosives against a reinforced concrete bunker they could destroy it.

But how to get a ton of explosives to the bunker? That was the problem.

One attempted solution was the Giant Panjandrum.

The trial went disastrously wrong, nearly taking out the cameraman filming the event, and sending the military VIPs scattering.

The eventual solution came with unusual weapons on a modified tank chassis - Hobart's Funnies, which were very effective on the Normandy beaches invaded by the British and Canadians. The US command refused to use any except the floating tanks, many of which sank off Omaha Beach because they were launched into the sea too far out and in wave conditions beyond their capabilities.

This YouTube video includes the Giant Panjandrum (about 2 minutes in) and other successful and unsuccessful experimental equipment.

 

[seela]

Not a historical event per se, but I think that if you happen to timetravel to the very beginning of the 20th century, mentioning the Telharmonium might be cool.

It was an electronic music instrument, Hammond's forefather. It was absolutely huge and its sound was broadcast through phonelines. Eventually the Telharmonium concerts had to be quit, because its signal was so strong that it interfered with regular phonecalls.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I lurve this thread! Keep it going, please!

 

[oggbashan]

I have been trying to find a link to it, but I can't.

As far as I remember the story is this:

During the War of 1812, an American Ship was fighting a British one. A broadside from the British ship swept the quarterdeck where the US Captain and his senior officers were standing. They were either killed or severely wounded. The only officer remaining on the upper deck was a 12 year old Midshipman. He ran down to the gun deck to fetch the First Lieutenant who was controlling the guns.

After the battle the Midshipman was Court-Martialled for deserting his post. That was serious enough, but the charge was increased "Deserting his post in the face of the enemy while in command of the ship".

As the only officer left on deck, technically he was in command of the ship's actions.

What he SHOULD have done was to send someone else to summon the First Lieutenant.

He was convicted of the more serious charge 'desertion in command' and discharged from the US Navy in disgrace.

Ever since then his family have been trying to clear his name, or at least get a pardon. They have been unsuccessful because at the time his conviction was in accordance with Naval Law, and he could have been given the death penalty.

 

[oggbashan]

Following on from my post above is the story of Boy Seaman Jack Cornwell VC aged 16 at the Battle of Jutland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cornwell

He was serving as gunlayer on a cruiser that was attacked by four German cruisers. All the rest of his gun crew were killed and Boy Cornwell was seriously wounded, yet he stood at his post under fire for fifteen minutes awaiting orders.

He died of his wounds and was awarded the VC posthumously.

 

[oggbashan]

Canute rules the waves - not!

King Canute (actually Cnut) King of England and Denmark is supposed have defied the sea, but was actually demonstrating the limitations of earthy Kingship. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great

Henry of Huntingdon, the 12th-century chronicler, tells how Cnut set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes. Yet "continuing to rise as usual [the tide] dashed over his feet and legs without respect to his royal person. Then the king leapt backwards, saying: 'Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.' He then hung his gold crown on a crucifix, and never wore it again "to the honour of God the almighty King". This incident is usually misrepresented by popular commentators and politicians as an example of Cnut's arrogance.

But there is some doubt that it actually happened, and if it did happen, where it happened.

What is fairly certain is that King Canute was well aware of the limitations of his rule.

 

[Keroin]

I'm going to comb through all these thoroughly this evening. However, oggbashan, I hope you will allow me to credit you as you've contributed so much material! You can pm me with a yes or no, and let me know if you'd like me to use your real name or a pen name. Real life identities are safe with me.

You can check out my work here:

http://www.warpworld.ca/

Or simply Google my name to see some of my other writing credits.

And thanks to everyone. I've been absolutely flooded with historical tidbits. Fantastic!

 

[oggbashan]

I'm going to comb through all these thoroughly this evening. However, oggbashan, I hope you will allow me to credit you as you've contributed so much material! You can pm me with a yes or no, and let me know if you'd like me to use your real name or a pen name. Real life identities are safe with me.

...

Pen name please.

Og

 

[oggbashan]

St Winefride - the beheaded Saint.

St Winefride was an early Welsh Saint, and Saint Beuno was her uncle.

When she decided to become a nun, her rejected suitor beheaded her with his sword. Saint Beuno put her head back on her shoulders and restored her to life. She is always shown with a mark around her neck, the scar of her beheading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winefride

She became head of a nunnery, but long after her second death her relics were removed from Wales to Shrewsbury Abbey.

Ellis Peters makes her a significant figure in the Cadfael novels, starting with A Morbid Taste For Bones.

St Winefride's Well, Holywell is still a significant destination for Catholic Pilgrims, and water from that well is supposed to have healing qualities when combined with a three-fold prayer.

BUT in the early 20th Century mining activities in the hill behind St Winefride's Well accidently diverted the source, and the spring dried up.

Another spring was found and connected to the well, so the water now isn't the water that it used to be.

But according to the Catholic Church, the source of the water is irrelevant. Only the power of prayer - to St Winefride and/or St Beuno - has the power to heal. The water is just a symbol of the healing action.

 

[Etoile]

May I suggest http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians for a good read?

 

[Keroin]

May I suggest http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians for a good read?

Wow! Cool. Thanks Etoile!

 

[Keroin]

Pen name please.

Og

Noted and thanks!

 

[DeepGreenEyes]

This is like the best fucking NOVA episode ever.

 

[graceanne]

Yeah, I have a book of weird history trivia somewhere, but I can't find it and I can't remember anything other than that bit about anne boleyn. *shrugs*

 

[Keroin]

In rummaging around I stumbled across an old volume of my grandfather's that's just full of misunderstood historical quirks; 'Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into History'.

I'm a little shocked though; I was told this was one of his favorite books, but looking at the print date, he must have gotten that book only a year before he died.

In any case, although I could easily open that book to any page and find some quirky bit of trivia, something seems weird about it to me. Like it's cheating?

Oh, that's great! I will track that down.

Thanks, Stag.

Sorry I've not been more responsive here. I leave for Baja in 2 weeks and I am frantically trying to complete a first draft, do "real" work, compile research material for the trip, and attend to my horrifically long to-do list. ACK!

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Sorry I've not been more responsive here. I leave for Baja in 2 weeks and I am frantically trying to complete a first draft, do "real" work, compile research material for the trip, and attend to my horrifically long to-do list. ACK!

Put an almost-dead battery in your quartz clock. It will either slow time down terrifically, or it will suddenly be time to take off.

 

[Keroin]

Put an almost-dead battery in your quartz clock. It will either slow time down terrifically, or it will suddenly be time to take off.

Oh, I like the way you think, SW!