Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Throughout the Ages

By Leland Gregory

Why precisely is Paul Revere respected? was once the lightbulb quite Thomas Edison's vibrant idea?

* Best-selling writer Leland Gregory employs his masterful wit to reveal old myths, fake "facts," unusual occasions, and stories of human stupidity all through history.

If it's going to surprise you to benefit that Benjamin Franklin did not become aware of electrical energy, you will relish this tackle 1000's of historic legends and debacles. Historians and humorists alike can be stunned to profit that:

* Samuel Prescott made the recognized horseback trip into harmony, no longer Paul Revere.

* As a member of Parliament, Isaac Newton spoke just once. He requested for an open window.

* On April 24, 1898, Spain declared warfare at the united states, therefore beginning the Spanish-American warfare. The U.S. declared conflict the very subsequent day, yet no longer eager to be outdone, had the date at the assertion replaced from April 25 to April 21.

With those and plenty of different tales, major stand-up comedian Leland Gregory once more highlights either the unusual and the humorous aspect of humankind. 

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Barnum. yet approximately a hundred and fifty years later, it kind of feels this outdated announcing isn’t even true—all of the folks have been fooled for all of this time. you want to Have the incorrect handle even supposing the Gettysburg tackle is taken into account the main eloquent oration in U. S. historical past, the Chicago occasions hated it. On November 20, 1863, the day after Lincoln introduced his recognized speech, the days wrote: The cheek of each American needs to tingle with disgrace as he reads the foolish, flat and dish-watery utterances of the guy who has been mentioned to clever foreigners because the President of the us. Levi Strauss didn’t name his construction blue denims or perhaps denims, He known as them “waist overalls. ” Horsing round with heritage the horse exhibit is a hugely romanticized component of an already overly romanticized interval in American historical past. however the genuine tale of the horse show, which lasted simply eighteen months, comes up lame. It was once too pricey to exploit and too dear to run. And being a rider for the horse exhibit wasn’t a glamorous task, both. simply examine the newspaper wish advertisements from that point: sought after: younger, thin fellows, no longer over eighteen. needs to be professional riders prepared to probability dying day-by-day. Orphans most well liked. Wages $25 every week. follow principal Overland show. What ultimately pulled within the reins at the Pony exhibit used to be Samuel Morse’s transcontinental telegraph line, accomplished in 1861. the horse show used to be placed out to pasture virtually in a single day, with over $500,000 in debt. no longer a unmarried pony was once utilized in the horse exhibit. Ponies didn’t haue the power or patience to make the 2,000-mile journey—but Horse exhibit simply didn’t sound correct. no longer in excessive Cotton Eli Whitney is credited with inventing the cotton gin in 1794 and single-handedly saving the South’s cotton undefined. sooner than his invention, it took a complete day for one individual to split a unmarried pound of cotton from the seeds. After just a couple of days of experimenting, Whitney got here up with an easy, effective computer that made the paintings of isolating cotton effortless. In 1792, the U.S. exported nearly 140,000 kilos of cotton; by means of 1800, as a result of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, that quantity went as much as 18 million kilos. So this easy desktop should have made Mr. Whitney loads of cotton-picking cash, correct? No. The desktop was once so basic that any farmhand may possibly simply replica it… they usually did. businesses started generating their adaptations of the cotton gin, yet even supposing Whitney took them to court docket over patent infringement, the courts always governed opposed to him. After 13 years of combating court docket battles over his layout that stored Southern agriculture, Whitney eventually obtained a positive ruling in 1807—but through then, the patent had approximately expired. and shortly after that, Mr. Whitney expired, too. Buckle Up have been the Puritans natural of spirit and physique? hardly ever. There are thousands of courtroom files documenting instances of sodomy, rape, adultery, fornication, and different not-so-pure deeds. Like this one: On September eight, 1642, a sixteen-year-old from Plymouth, Massachusetts, used to be hanged as a result of his love for animals.

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