Team Marco Polo

History Schmistory: October 18. Happy Alaska Day!

Friday, October 18, 2019 by teammarcopolo

1867: The United States moves in with Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for 7.2 million clams. They live together for 92 years before finally making the relationship official in 1959. Meanwhile, Canada insists they are carrying Alaska’s baby.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Alaska_purchase.jpg

History Schmistory: October 17. Flow this way!

Thursday, October 17, 2019 by teammarcopolo

The manor house of Toten Hall, where the flood began http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/The_manor_house_of_Toten_Hall_-_1813.gif

1814: The London Beer Flood occurs in, you guessed it, London, killing nine and inebriating several others.

History Schmistory: October 15. Quick, name a hockey player!

Tuesday, October 15, 2019 by teammarcopolo

1989: Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading scorer in the NHL, and remains the only hockey player NBA fans can name on the spot.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Wgretz3.jpg

History Schmistory: October 14. Poor Steve.

Monday, October 14, 2019 by teammarcopolo

2003: 95 years (to the day) after the Chicago Cubs won their last World Series title, fan Steve Bartman does his part to make sure it doesn’t happen again, in what has become known as the Steve Bartman incident. Should be a holiday in Florida. Though, in all fairness, he was really just the unfortunate scapegoat for the Cubbies monumental choke-fest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bartman_seat_heckler.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Foul_ball_alou.jpg

History Schmistory: October 13. Speaking of Galaxies…

Sunday, October 13, 2019 by teammarcopolo

1773: The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier (‘s awesome telescopes.)

By NASA and European Space Agency [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: October 12. Do you know where your towel is?

Saturday, October 12, 2019 by teammarcopolo

1979: The greatest book in the history of the galaxy is published. Within its pages lies the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything…

By User:Drozd (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By User:Drozd (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Common5

History Schmistory: October 11. “Doing It Right”

Saturday, October 12, 2019 by teammarcopolo

1929: JC Penney opens store #1252 in Milford, Delaware. But this was not just any ordinary JC Penney, this was THE JC Penney that officially put them in every state in the US, a first for any American chain store. Many Delaware state officials later confessed that they were just tired of doing it wrong.

By the way, did you know the C in JC Penney stands for Cash? As in founder, James Cash Penney… That was his real name. Seriously, this was the Great Depression, pennies could get you a lot back then. Today, he would be the equivalent of Donald Trump being named Donald Cash Money.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/54/James_Cash_Penney_%28ca._1902%29.jpg

History Schmistory: October 9. “Nice shirt! I love reggae!”

Wednesday, October 9, 2019 by teammarcopolo

1967: Only a day after his capture, Argentine-Cuban Revolutionary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, is executed in Bolivia for attempting to start a revolution there. T-shirt prices skyrocket.