6 Fun, Wild, And Totally Random Facts About History I Need To Impart To You This Month
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I am a huge lover of history, to the point that my friends and family find me actively annoying. (Don't ask me about the Napoleon movie.) Of course, I love the big battles, key events, yadda yadda yadda... but what I really love are the weird, juicy, funky facts that really make things messy, dramatic, and fun. I'm always compiling them; so, without further ado, here are six history facts I found that I needed to share with you in November.
1.Starting off with one of my favorite facts ever: the reason we have the Renaissance. You guys know Cicero, right? Roman statesman, philosopher, writer... the original multi-hyphenate. Well, the reason we have so many of his writings — some of the most famous Latin writings ever — is because of a guy named Petrarch, a 14th-century Italian scholar and poet. In 1345, Petrarch rediscovered copies of Cicero's lost writings.
Petrarch was enamored by Cicero's letters, which showed a very messy, human side to him, something not often seen in historical figures, who might seem austere. He was such a superfan that he even wrote letters back to Cicero, as if they were familiar friends. These letters to Cicero are really cool; some date from when he first discovered his letters, and he's full of excitement; but he also writes angrily to Cicero when he wants to criticize him, which I really love. Also, he ends this angry letter with "written...in the year of that God whom you never knew the 1345th," which I just find to be a little petty in a very funny way. Love you, Petrarch.
Petrarch's discovery led to a total reigniting of interest in Europe for the history of the classical world, which contemporary Europeans had come to view as...well, ancient history. (You know, those dark ages, before Christianity!) In the academic circles Florence, Cicero (and other Roman and Greek writers) totally took off, and thus was born the beginning of what we now call the Renaissance.
2.You probably remember the events of the Apollo 13 mission from somewhere in the recesses of your fourth-grade memory (or from your memory of watching the movie). If you don't know about it, here are the facts: In 1970, the Apollo 13 mission was launched from Florida with the intention of landing on the moon. But on day three of the mission, the spacecraft's oxygen tanks exploded, leaving the three astronauts on the craft with only the oxygen in the lunar module for the four days it took them to get back to earth. The fun fact comes in with one of the engineers who helped save the astronauts: Judith Love Cohen.
Cohen was an aerospace engineer who helped create the Abort-Guidance System, which brought the astronauts home safely. When in labor with her fourth child, Judith stopped by work before going to the hospital and grabbed a printout of the problem she was working on. Later that day, she called her boss, and according to USC, "told him that she had solved the problem. And...oh, yes, the baby was born, too." That baby, you ask? Is none other than Jack Black.
3.Speaking of astronauts — or cosmonauts, as it were — I recently learned about Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who became stranded aboard the Mir space station during the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Krikalev was initially on board Mir with Anatoly Artsebarsky and Helen Sharman (Britain's first astronaut). In July of 1991, it was decided that he stay on board the space station to serve as the flight engineer for the next crew, who arrived in October, and, it turned out, the USSR had replaced one of the mission's original cosmonauts with a Kazakh cosmonaut in effort to appease Kazakhstan, which was vying for independence. Krikalev ended up having to stay on Mir with the new crew to make up for the new cosmonaut's relative inexperience.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Krikalev was left in space with no plan (or money) to bring him back. "They say it's tough for me," he told Discover magazine, "not really good for my health. But now the country is in such difficulty, the chance to save money must be (the) top priority.”
Altogether, Krikalev spent 311 days on Mir and eventually returned to Earth on March 25, 1992. (Remember, he went up there in May '91.) When he left Earth, his hometown was Leningrad. And when he came back, it was St. Petersburg.
Also, side fact: Krikalev flew on the first joint US/Russian space shuttle mission! In later years, he periodically returned from Russia to Houston to work with NASA on supporting further joint ventures.
4.In a 2019 excavation in London, British archaeologists at the Museum of London Archaeology uncovered a Roman stylus. Now, those are common; but this one has an inscription, which translates, colloquially, to "I went to Rome and all I got you was this pen!"
Humans have always been humans.
Apparently, the dig uncovered over 14,000 artifacts, including tablets detailing legal affairs (which I will be reading about after I finish writing this) and a tablet that has the first written example of "Londinium" (the Roman name for "London") as a place name. Sick!
5.One of the most fraudulent elections of all time was in Liberia in 1927, when presidential candidate Charles D. B. King (great name) received 240,000 votes. The number of Liberians who could vote in 1927, you ask? ... 15,000. He's kind of a king for that, NGL (no pun intended). Just a very admirable level of delusion.
6.And, finally: Japan has Vikings, but they're not what you think.
In 1957, Tetsuzo Inumaru, the restaurant manager for Tokyo's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Imperial Hotel, traveled to Sweden. While dining out, he discovered the Scandinavian wonder that is a smörgåsbord. Obviously, he loved the idea (who doesn't love a buffet?!), took it back to Japan, and pitched it to the hotel. Well, the hotel loved it, too, but took issue with the word "smörgåsbord," because it's horrible to say. So, they changed it to a way better Swedish word: "viking." And that is why, if you travel to Japan, your hotel might have a "viking meal." Just don't expect it to consist of meatballs, pickled herring, and dill potatoes.
If there's any dramatic/interesting/cool stuff from history that you think I would love, please, please, please drop stories in the comments! I love to learn about this stuff, and I'm sure other people do, too.
