History- And - Reall

History Facts:

The Soviets gave a space dog’s puppy to Caroline Kennedy during the Cold War! 

They would send dogs into space to make sure that it was safe for humans. They launched around 50 dogs into space.During the great space race between the Soviets and the United States (which the US of course won by putting the first man on the moon), the Soviets tested the safety of their ships by using man's best friends.

Most of the dogs survived although some did not due to equipment failure. One dog, Strelka, spent one day in space before returning to Earth.

She went on to have six puppies. One of those puppies, Pushinka ("Fluffy") was given to John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline.

Pushinka then had puppies with the Kennedy's dog, Charlie. JFK called these four puppies "pupniks" after the famed Russian satellite Sputnik

History Facts:

Xerxes sentenced the sea to 300 lashes for destroying two bridges! Yes, the sea. 

On the other hand, it can do some serious damage. Just take Hurricane Katrina or the more recent super storm Sandy.We humans have a love hate relationship with the sea. On the one hand, it is life sustaining and provides us with water and other important goods.

When the sea wreaks havoc, do we take revenge? No? Because it would do no good. However, in ancient times, people did not know this.

Around 482 BC, the Persian king Xerxes built two bridges over the Hellespont, a Turkish strait. This way, his armies could cross the strait into Greece.

A storm tore through both bridges though. In retaliation, Xerxes had the sea whipped 300 times. His soldiers also branded the waters with hot irons while they yelled at the 

History Facts:

A bunch of unknown graves were discovered in 1990 that were the result of a vampire scare 100 years earlier! 

However, once the bones were studied, they were found to be over 100 years old. Archaeologists could have dismissed the site as an old family grave - like many unmarked graves across New England - but for one unique attribute.In 1990, some children playing in the town of Griswold, Connecticut accidentally unearthed a grave site. Local authorities worried that the grave was the work of serial killer Michael Ross.

One of the bodies, that of a young man, had been tampered with. His bones were rearranged and broken so they no longer resembled a human skeleton. And this rearrangement had been performed nearly 5 years after the man died. Why?

The town was suffering from a vampire panic. During the late 1800s, a disease known as consumption was ravaging New England towns.

The disease, which had no cure, would slowly kill people. The symptoms included weight loss, and a hacking, bloody cough. It appeared as if the victim's life (and blood) was draining out of them.

As such, townspeople started blaming vampires (often family members who had died recently) for the deaths of others. In order to stop the undead family members, they dug them up and burned their hearts

History Facts:

Think Stonehenge is ancient? Most of it was restored in the 20th century! 

Between 1901 and 1964, almost all the stones were restored in a series of makeovers. Pictures show workers moving stones around with heavy machinery.Stone Henge is one of the great mysteries of history. Located in the British countryside, the giant stones make visitors wonder just why they are there and who arranged them just so? Well it turns out that who arranged them just so was English Heritage about 50 years ago.

Considering the monument's value is greatly linked to it's ancient layout, you can see why this could be a problem. And why it was kept out of the guidebooks. Until recently, this restoration was essentially glossed over.

However, the brochures and guidebooks are being rewritten to include the "forgotten years" of the restoration. To be fair, workers didn't completely make up the layout, but they did move the stones to reflect where they thought they were supposed to be. Not quite historically accurate

History Facts:

Not knowing how to operate a submarine toilet resulted in 4 people dead and 46 captured! 

Its first active patrol started in April 1945, but it didn't last long at sea. It sank after it's toilet was operated improperly.Who knew that it would be so important to know how to operate a toilet? On a submarine, though, it is important to know how to operate everything. The German submarine U-1206 was launched in 1944.

The sub had a deep water high pressure toilet so that it could be used in large depths. While flushing our above-water toilets is extremely simple (a potty-training toddler can do it), these high pressure lavatories were extremely complicated to flush.

Special technicians had to learn how to operate them. While cruising off the shores of Scotland at a depth of 200 feet, someone misused the toilet causing the submarine to flood.

The captain was forced to surface and the sub was bombed by a British patrol. One man was killed by the bombing, three drowned and 46 were captured.

History Facts:

An ancient Roman gladiator won 107 battles. The average was around 5! 

Gladiators are one of those things we immediatly think of when we think of Ancient Rome. Gladiators originally fought during funerals and they grew in popularity from there.

Eventually it became a professional sport complete with managers. Galdiators were an interesting contradiction: they were slaves and prisoners of war, thus seen as the lowest of the low. However, they were also celebrities and even had fangirls.

Fame came at a heavy price. Most gladiators, fighting two or three times a year, probably died between the ages of 20 and 30 with somewhere from 5 to 34 fights to their names.

One gladiator, Asteropaeus, notched 107 victories, and exceptional gladiators fought on into their 40's and 50's, sometimes retiring as free men. But these were the exceptions.

When you are good at something, not even death can stop you.

History Facts:

When Nazi concentration camps were liberated, gays weren’t considered victims and were excluded from reparations! 

The Holocaust was horrifying. Jewish citizens were forced to live in unlivable conditions in concentration camps.

Some died, some were killed. After the Allied forces won WWII and the Germans were forced to surrender, concentration camp prisoners were freed. The new German government repealed a number of laws passed before and during the war.

However, while most concentration camp victims were liberated and now safe, some were not. In Germany at that time, it was illegal for a man over the age of 21 to have homosexual relations.

This law - Paragraph 175 - was not repealed after the war. Some homosexual citizens were forced to serve further time in prison. And they were not recognized as official Nazi victims therefore they received no compensation.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969, but homosexuals murdered by the Nazis did not receive public acknowledgement until 1985.

Paragraph 175 was finally abolished in 1990, and in 2002, the German government passed legislation to fully pardon all those homosexual citizens convicted under Paragraph 175

History Facts:

The British army used 4000 tons of surplus WWII explosives to destroy an entire island! 

They laced the island with about 4000 tons of leftover WWII ammunition. They then detonated the various explosives at once.Ever had an island that you just want to get rid of? No? Well the British have. In April 1947, they decided to destroy the North Sea Island, Heligoland.

The island amazingly survived but it's many fortifications were destroyed. Despite the fact that they failed to get rid of the entire island, the British did secure a world record.

In the Guinness Book of World Records, this explosion is listed as the "largest single explosive detonation." The energy released was equal to 3.2 kilotons of TNT.

History Facts:

Harriet Tubman used opium to get kids through the Underground Railroad! 

In times of slavery in the US, there was a network of friendly people and places that slaves used to migrate from the South to the North. That network was known as the Underground Railroad.

One of the most famous people to be a ‘conductor’ of the railroad was Harriet Tubman. The woman made 19 journeys and freed more than 300 slaves.

She was so wanted that there was a reward for about $1 million in today’s dollars. Why was she so successful? She had some very good techniques.

For example, she threatened to shoot people who changed their minds and wanted to go back. She knew that if they went back that would risk her entire network.

One of the most interesting, and perhaps controversial things she did is she drugged small kids. Recognizing that they might slow down the group or give them away by crying at the wrong moment, she always carried an offshoot of opium to make them sleep.

History Facts:

Frank Hayes is the first, and only jockey to win a race after he died! 

While riding the determined horse, Sweet Kiss, Frank Hayes passed away just before crossing the finish line of the race. This means that the only professional race he won happened after he was dead, and he is the only person to finish and win a race after dying!On June 4, 1923, Frank Hayes suffered a fatal heart attack in the middle of a steeplechase at Belmont Park, New York. By profession, Frank Hayes was a horse trainer and not a jockey, so he had never actually won a horse race before.

The heart attack is thought to be a result of severe training to lose weight so he would meet the race regulations. Another contributing factor is that Hayes was a little bit too excited to be riding the winning horse. 'Sweet Kiss' soon had his name changed to 'Sweet Kiss of Death' until the end of his days.