History Schmistory, July 8: Bonjour, Paris!

951 – Paris was founded. At the time, it was occupied by the Germanic Franks. Thankfully they came up with an awesome name for the city — it could have been a bratwurst.

Paris sure used to occur a lot of Germs!

Paris sure used to occur a lot of Germs!

History Schmistory, July 9: Hear Yee, Hear Yee! Yo, LISTEN UP!

1776 – Declaration of Independence was read to George Washington’s troops in New York. I am sure some must have wondered why they were still following the leader after they were told they were free.  After all, they now had the unalienable right to life which war could take away.

Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge. [public domain]

Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge. [public domain]

History Schmistory, July 2: Baffled By Baffin!

1578 – Martin Frobisher sighted Baffin Island. This is super great, however, it is the 5th largest island in the world & would slightly hard to miss!

Where’s Baffin? I can’t seem to find it. It should be called Waldo Island.

Are you super boring? This book is for you!

Check out the new book Maphead from the Jeopardy guy, Ken Jennings. You gotta love a guy who says his favorite thing as a kid was tearing open National Geographic so he could scope out the maps. The only person nerdier would be someone working on a travel show for kids, huh?

 

History Schmistory: January 18. Alo-hoy!

1778: Famed explorer Captain James Cook serendipitously stumbles upon the “Sandwich Islands” (Hawaii.) On his second visit in 1779, he is killed by natives for sending back his pastrami on rye. Ironically during his time on the Islands Cook witnessed men being just that, cooked!

John Webber [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

John Webber [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

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