Posted on 05/30/2008 12:06:37 PM PDT by yankeedame
So I guess this means it is also a myth that the cheer “Hooray for our side” did NOT originate when Lady Godiva rode side-saddle down the streets of Coventry?
I’m afraid so. And Cap’n Crunch was only a Lieutenant.
Not quite accurate.
In 1766 Marie Antoinette was a virtually unknown Austrian princess - she was the eleventh of eleven sisters. Most people would have assumed that she would have been married off to an Austrian or Hungarian nobleman.
But two of her older sisters died and one was permanently crippled in a 1767 smallpox epidemic, when she was twelve.
When she was thirteen she was the only healthy unbetrothed daughter left and was promised to the French Dauphin. She did not actually arrive in France until she was fourteen.
During 1766 I believe Voltaire was living in Berlin - far from the Viennese court where the as yet unimportant-to-Frenchmen Maria Antonia (Marie Antoinette) was living. There is no proof of any kind that the princess he was referring to was her, or that she at that time had any knowledge at all of French current events.
there is not a grain of truth in the story. Fiddles weren't invented for another millennium, and Nero was 35 miles outside the city at Antium when the fire broke out
The word "fiddle" was used by Elizabethan translators of Cassius Dio and Tacitus to translate the word lyra or lyre. Like the fiddle it was a stringed instrument played with a utensil - so that was the logical choice of word in an English langauge which was at that time much more fluid than it is today.
Only one source places Nero at Antium. Others place him at estates not far from the city.
In any case, the fire burned for at least five days - more than enough time for an imperial courier to notify him of what was going on.
A couple of contemporary sources attest that while the fire was raging he was acting in a play and playing the lyre in safety and luxury.
The 4th was merely the day that the document itself went to the printers.
False. The 4th was the day that the changes suggested to the document by the Congress were made and officially adopted. It was sent to the printer that day, but its final draft was approved - hence the fact that it is dated July 4th and not July 2nd.
Thank you for the informative post. As I recall - perhaps it was Jefferson? - that said something like “This day (July 2) will be remembered with fireworks and parades as a day.....” And as I recall, they were waiting on a couple of more guys to review it and sign it?
However, it is true that Trix are for kids.
I thought up the idea of the electric car, but I alas never actually made it work.
The story is also told that George Washington as a young boy chopped down a cherry tree, but such was his honesty that when asked by his father who had done it, said: 'Father, I cannot lie: it was me'. He was then beaten soundly. This too, is a complete fabrication.
When was the time machine invented that sent the historian back in time to confirm this was just a fabrication?
I just straightened out my granddaughter on the GW cherry tree bit. The true story: He killed his mother’s favorite colt “horsing around” with the guys. He may have told the truth to mom....but I’ll bet he didn’t get praise for the truth and got a severe punishment.
John Adams correctly predicted the holiday, but was off on the date. July 2 was when the congress voted to declare independence and it was that date he thought would be commemorated.
July 4 was when the official language of the Declaration was approved, but the act was taken 2 days earlier.
I believe this was Miles Corey who when asked if he was ready to confess replied, "more weight"
So, even then the academics (with the help of the media, no doubt) have made untrue story about their government... Not unlike today...
It's long been considered as such. See, e.g., this discussion.
Oh I know many people consider it bunk but no one really knows.
The story first showed up in 1800 or so ... after Washington had died. For a man as lionized in his lifetime as Washington was, I think the story would have been told much earlier, were it authentic. Chances are that Pastor Weems made it up.
In 20 years Francis Scott Key will not have actually been held prisoner but was a songwriter trying to sell his wares.
Le Petit Corporal wasn't Napoleon but one of his body parts: “one inch long and resembling a grape”.
re: Nero
That tale always struck me as strange anyway, b/c in those days there wasn’t exactly a serious fire-fighting capability. What exactly was Nero supposed to do that people were not already doing on their own? (either fleeing for their lives or trying to rescue some possessions if they saw a way to do so)
But Al Gore really did invent the internet didn’t he?
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