Random Historical Facts

[Kyng]

11) The Scottish National Party is known today as a progressive left-wing party; however, this wasn't always the case. Up until the 1970s, they were seen as a centrist party (in reality, they had members from all over the spectrum, united by nothing except support for Scottish independence, or at least greater self-determination)

[JHG]

12. William Wallace wielded a particularly giant sized sword during his wars against Edward I.

[Kyng]

13) 68% of boys born in the USSR in 1923 never lived to see their 23rd birthday in 1946.

As this blog post explains, this was due to a combination high infant mortality rates at the time; famines during the interwar period, and military casualties during World War II. (It also notes that this fact is often stated incorrectly as "80% of Soviet males born in 1923 were dead by 1946": the correct figure is 68%)

Still shocking, though .

[Kyng]

14) Words such as 'Bible' and 'bibliography' derive ultimately from the Ancient Greek word 'βιβλίον' ('biblíon'), meaning 'book'. This word is in turn derived from the city of Byblos in Lebanon (which is where the Ancient Greeks got their papyrus from.

Today, Byblos happens to be one of the few cities in the Middle East with a Christian majority.

[Kyng]

15) Ohio was the 17th state to come into being, after President Thomas Jefferson signed an act of Congress approving its borders and constitution on 19th February 1803. However, this act didn't technically contain anything that admitted Ohio as a state. This issue remained undiscovered until 1953 - when President Eisenhower signed a congressional resolution admitting Ohio as the 17th state, retroactive to 1st March 1803.

(Okay, I don't think I can blame @"Dust Bowl" for this one. It has to be @"Lurker101"'s fault !)

[Lurkerish Allsorts]

15) Ohio was the 17th state to come into being, after President Thomas Jefferson signed an act of Congress approving its borders and constitution on 19th February 1803. However, this act didn't technically contain anything that admitted Ohio as a state. This issue remained undiscovered until 1953 - when President Eisenhower signed a congressional resolution admitting Ohio as the 17th state, retroactive to 1st March 1803.

(Okay, I don't think I can blame @"Dust Bowl" for this one. It has to be @"Lurker101"'s fault !)

Technically since the Eisenhower law is Ex Post Facto, it is a violation of the Constitution clause 3 of Article I, Section 9

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Thus Ohio has never been, nor currently is a state.

[JHG]

16. Han Steininger died from tripping over his beard.

[Kyng]

16. Han Steininger died from tripping over his beard.

I hate to laugh at other people's misfortune, but that is kinda funny .

In case anybody's wondering "Why didn't he cut his beard, or keep it away from the ground?", he usually did the latter: he kept it rolled up in a little pouch. However, one day in 1567, a fire broke out - and, as he rushed to escape, the beard came loose, and fell out in front of him. He didn't have time to roll it up again - so, when he escaped, he ended up tripping over it, breaking his neck, and dying.

If anyone wants to read more about this story, there's a short piece here:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/hans-steininger

[Kyng]

18. As of 1940, there were only 65 Americans of non-Japanese ancestry who could speak Japanese.

How things have changed since then!

[Kyng]

19) Fact #15 was about an oversight which meant that Ohio wasn't officially admitted as a US state until 1953; however, North Dakota once had similar problems:



A brief summary of the video is as follows: North Dakota was made a US state under the Enabling Act of 1889, which required both Dakotas to write state constitutions which were not "repugnant to the Constitution of the United States" before they could attain statehood. However, due to an oversight, there was nothing in North Dakota's state constitution that required its governor to take an oath of office - thus placing the state constitution in violation of Article VI of the US Constitution.

This issue was spotted in 1995 - and, after 17 years of lobbying, it was finally fixed in 2012. However, one can argue that, because North Dakota's state constitution had violated Article VI, the 'state' had failed to meet the requirements for statehood imposed by the Enabling Act until 2012 - and thus, it technically didn't become a state until then .