Karen Hill

Which one? Never mind, it doesn’t really matter because both Queen Elizabeth I and II were 25 when they were coronated.

Prince Charles is related to all but two of the British kings and queens through history: Charles II and James II.

Queen Elizabeth has not yet had the British throne the longest. Victoria held it the longest, for over 63 years. Queen Elizabeth II wouldn’t hit that point until 2015. In that year, she’ll be 89 years old.

The Sun King, Louis XIV built the Palace of Versailles in France. He ruled for 72 years. He was also notable for expelling all Protestants from France. Perhaps he was tired of them ringing his doorbell early on Sunday mornings. Louis XIV had a great interest in Versailles and over the following decades had it … Read more

The surname Windsor-Mountbaden was in tribute to Queen Elizabeth’s new husband, Phillip Mountbaden. She also decreed that all of her future descendents would take the name as well, except for princes and princesses, who would keep the Windsor name.

Funny thing, that Queen Elizabeth II isn’t a Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Here’s why. During World War I, when England was losing a generation of young men fighting Germany, the family decided that a German name might be worth losing. Casting about for something suitable, they decided on “House of Windsor,” naming themselves after one of their royal … Read more

Windsor was actually the place, not the builder, and the town had been a place of kings since the Saxon days of old. When that pesky Norman, William the Conqueror, took over England 900 years ago, he built what is now known as the Castle at Windsor. The location, then as now, overlooked the River … Read more

When King Edward of England died in 1483, his two sons were still children. Because he stole the crown fair and square, he assumed that one of them would become king. However, his brother, Richard of York, had other plans. He imprisoned the boys in the Tower of London and declared himself King Richard III. … Read more

No, Queen Victoria was from the House of Hanover. Lovingly devoted to her German husband Prince Albert, she changed her name to that of the German royal family: Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

The War of the Roses was a power struggle for the throne of England that occurred in 1422 when Henry VI was king. He was from the House of Lancaster, and the nobles of another family, the House of York, decided that he was weak enough to be overthrown. Here’s where the roses come in: … Read more

We suspect that some nicknames could have been used without offense, for example, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Vladimir the Saint, Charles the Wise, or Henry the Lion. However, we suspect that the really insulting nicknames could have gotten you killed—do you think Ivan would’ve liked being called “the Terrible”? People used them behind the king’s back … Read more

Ethelred II, a little-known king of England, reigned from 978 to 1013 and again from 1014 to 1016. He had ascended the throne under suspicion after his half brother, King Edward the Martyr, was mysteriously assassinated. The difference in nicknames says it all: The murder of the beloved king created a cloud of distrust and … Read more

You’re thinking of Mary, Queen of Scots. But it wasn’t like anybody did it on purpose. The executioner was a little nervous that day. He wasn’t used to executing women, and now here were all these important people watching him do his job. And frankly, he screwed up. The first blow missed Mary’s neck, completely, … Read more

Lady Jane Grey Queen was Queen of England for a whopping nine days before she was beheaded. Blame John Dudley, the lord chamberlain to King Edward VI, for getting her into such a mess. Dudley was an ambitious man. He had Edward’s complete trust and was fortunate enough that the king was in the process … Read more

We can assure you that Queen Mary I of England was not called Bloody Mary because she invented the tomato-based cocktail. Bloody Mary, Mary Tudor, was one of Henry VIII’s daughters. She occupied the throne of England as Mary I after her half brother King Edward VI, but before her half sister, Queen Elizabeth I. … Read more

Christopher Columbus had two sons, Diego and Ferdinand, the eldest of whom (Diego) sailed with him on his fourth voyage to the New World when he was just 13 years old. Presumably, Ferdinand ended up with a gift bearing the inscription: “My Dad discovered the New World and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.”

Ok, to be fair, it’s not like King Henry VIII of England executed all of his wives. Let’s go through the roster of King Henry’s wives that died or were murdered. Catherine of Aragon: marriage annulled, died a natural death shortly thereafter; Anne Boleyn: beheaded; Jane Seymour: died in childbirth; Anne of Cleves: marriage annulled; … Read more

With each trip Columbus kept trying to push westward, believing if he could just get through these islands, he’d reach the ports of Japan and the Imperial Palace in China, the places he’d set out to find in the first place. Of course, he never did, but he died believing that all of the spots … Read more

Yes, Christopher Columbus had other ships besides the three he took to the New World. In all, the ships Columbus captained included the Pinta, the Niiia, the Santa Maria, the Gallega, the Mariagalante, the Cardera, the San Juan, the Capitana, and the Santiago de Palos.

Christopher Columbus voyaged to the New World on four different occasions, all of them financed by Isabella and Ferdinand, the king and queen of Spain. On his first voyage, he “discovered” San Salvadore, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. On his second trip, he landed on the islands of Dominica, Jamaica, and Guadeloupe, and briefly … Read more

Canada got its name from the Iroquois word “Kanata,” meaning “village.” Explorer Jacques Cartier, for lack of a better name, called the whole region “Canada”, his interpretation of the Iroquois term, and it stuck. By 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as Canada. Canada is the second largest country in … Read more

Neither John Glenn or Alan Shepard said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”? And remember next time: It was Neil Armstrong.

No one that we know of has had sex in space, but apparently, it’s become a very hot subject. Rumors, speculations, and outright hoaxes can be found all over the Internet. One of them claims that one of the first woman in space, a Russian cosmonaut named Svetlana Savitskaya, had sex with one of her … Read more

Viking and Norse explorer Leif Eriksson had two brothers, Thorvald and Thorstein. He also had a sister named Freydis. Leif Ericson, or Leifr Eiríksson, is regarded as the first European to land in North America five hundred years before Christopher Columbus. Leif was born about AD 970 in Iceland, the son of Erik Thorvaldsson, known … Read more

Despite Sir Walter Raleigh’s role in first bringing tobacco home to Britain from the New World, he didn’t die of smoking-related diseases. In fact, he was beheaded. He had been a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, but Elizabeth died, and the crown was passed to her cousin, James I, who didn’t share Elizabeth’s fondness for … Read more

Erik the Red was running out of places to run to. He had been exiled from Iceland for murder, so he decided to see what was out there beyond the icy horizon. Erik Thorvaldson, called “the Red” because of the color of his hair, was born in Norway, but when he was about 10 years … Read more

Cabbage, that smooth and crunchy source of vitamin C, seems to have been with us since time began. Evidence of its use dates back to more than 4,000 years ago in China. Ancient scrolls reveal that cabbage was actually used as a remedy for baldness in men, yet another condition that’s been with us since … Read more

Henry Morton Stanley said “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”. And here’s why. Stanley was a Welsh adventurer in the 19th century who, prior to his fame, had become a naturalized American citizen and fought in the American Civil War. He had also been a member of the merchant marines, had fought with the British against the … Read more

The Venetians didn’t invent Venetian blinds despite its name. It was British designer, Edward Beran, who, in 1769, enclosed adjustable wooden slats into a frame in order to regulate the amount of light coming into a room. They became known as Venetian blinds as a marketing ploy because Italian furnishings were considered very sophisticated in … Read more

Caribbean natives invented hammocks. Columbus saw them lounging around in hammocks on his first trip to the New World. The name comes from the hamack tree, the bark of which was woven to make the comfy portable beds.

Dr. Lillian Gilbreth invented the pedal trash and the electric mixer. She was a pioneering efficiency expert and, incidentally, was also the mother in the book Cheaper by the Dozen, written by two of her 12 children.

Alexander Graham Bell wasn’t deaf, but his mother was. Also, his father and grandfather were both speech experts. It was his work with electronically transmitted vowel sounds for the hearing-impaired that ultimately led to the invention of the telephone. Ironically, he considered the phone a mere trifle and expected that posterity would remember him for … Read more

Alexander Graham Bell certainly invented other things besides the telephone. He was the inventor of the hydrofoil boat, a man-carrying kite, the aileron, a moveable part of an airplane wing that helps control rolling, and the landing/take-off airplane tricycle gear. He was also a cofounder of the National Geographic Society. Bell also inadvertently invented a … Read more

Philo T. Farnsworth didn’t do much before inventing the television. When Farnsworth sketched his idea for a television for the first time in 1922, it was for a science project, and it was drawn on a high school blackboard in Utah. At the time, he was a 14-year-old farm boy, yet to discover college and … Read more

Alexander Graham Bell was from Boston Massachusetts, sort of. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but immigrated to the U.S. in 1871, spending most of his work time in Boston. But he spent his summers at Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada, where he had a summer home.

Thomas Edison wasn’t attempting an experiment as a child when he burned his father’s barn down. He was merely attempting to start a fire, apparently. Al, as he was called throughout his childhood, claimed he started it deliberately, “just to see what it would do.” Good kid, that Al, but keep an eye on him.

He certainly did understand the dangers of electricity when he conducted the kite and key experiment. As a matter of fact, in another of his experiments, he once knocked himself temporarily senseless. At the time, he was trying to electrocute a turkey and nearly killed two birds with one thunderbolt. Here’s part of his account … Read more

It was actually Henry Ford II, the grandson of the famous Henry Ford, who named the Edsel after his dad. The name Edsel is a Germanic derivation of the name Atilla, but it’s unlikely that Ford executives meant to honor the ruthless Hun when they named it. When Edsel Ford died in 1943, he willed … Read more

Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine. He’s not actually in the fuel, mind you, except in spirit. The German inventor developed the diesel engine back in 1890. The diesel engine has the highest thermal efficiency of any regular internal or external combustion engine due to its very high compression ratio. Manufactured in two stroke and … Read more

Ferdinand Porsche, the designer of the speedy roadster, also designed the Bug for the government-owned Volkswagen car company. Adolf Hitler financed it. The Volkswagen Type 1 was produced by the German car company Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003, marking an unprecedented 58-year production run. The last car built on 30 July 2003 was immediately … Read more

Would you believe Henry Ford grew dope? In his experimental gardens, Ford grew marijuana in the hopes of figuring out a way to make plastic from it. Apparently nothing, aside from a distinct feeling of relaxation, came of this youthful experimentation. And strangely, there’s nothing that mentions these efforts at the Ford history museum.

Would you believe Taco Bell was named after a guy named Glen Bell? The “Bell” in Taco Bell is the founder’s last name. The whole mission bell motif was a fortunate by-product, especially considering that the restaurant’s original logo was a Mexican taking a siesta under a sombrero.

Henry Ford was a renowned anti-Semite who was highly regarded by Hitler and the Nazis, not only for his car-making abilities but for his politics as well. You don’t see much of this side of Ford early on, when he paid high wages and provided fair working conditions for blacks and other minorities. Granted, he … Read more

The Chinese wrote the first encyclopedia in about 220 A.D. It was called The Emperor’s Mirror, and included historical texts, biographies, and literary anthologies. No copies survived. The next known extensive encyclopedic work came from Spain and was titled Etymologiae. Saint Isidore of Seville is credited with writing it sometime between the sixth and seventh … Read more

Egyptian shepherds made sunscreen from crushed castor beans in 780013.c. Today, the main ingredients in sunscreens are usually aromatic molecules conjugated with carbonyl groups whichabsorb high-energy ultraviolet rays. Sunscreens also block UV-B rays, and if used often enough, this can cause a deficiency of vitamin D. Get some sun, but not too much, is the … Read more

The $15 million paid back then for Louisiana is the equivalent of just under $171 million dollars in today’s money—a steal even now. In 1803, the U.S. got Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, nearly all of Kansas, the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of … Read more

The ancient Egyptians were the first to invent anesthetics, sort of. Before surgery, ancient Egyptian doctors put their patients under by hitting them on the head with a wooden hammer. Surprisingly, none were sued, despite this mallet-practice.

Maybe Chihuahuas were bred as hand warmers. The forebears of Chihuahuas were first developed by the Toltecs, a wandering Central American tribe. When the Aztecs conquered the Toltecs, they also won the Toltec dog, which they crossbred with other small dogs to get even smaller dogs (in fact, the Chihuahua is the world’s smallest dog). … Read more

The Chinese were the first to use toilet paper by recycling paper that had already been used for other purposes. How do we know this? Because a court official wrote in 589 A.D. that he was careful not to use documents with “quotations from the great writers.” Before that? Well, there were leaves, rocks, or … Read more

More than a century ago, the price of Manhattan was estimated to be about $24, but based on the recent price of silver, it would be more like $100 in today’s money. Still, it’s not surprising that we expect that somebody must have gotten ripped off—probably the Indians, considering the price. That expectation is no … Read more

Libraries came first before books according to recent ancient Egyptian archaeological finds. Early Egyptian libraries lent out literature that came pressed and fired into clay tablets. It took a while for ancient civilizations to discover and invent paper.

The holiday of Thanksgiving became all the rage during 19th century America-certainly more popular and more practiced than ever before or since. During this time, artists began to render their interpretations of what these first colonists might have looked like: old fashioned, prim, and sternly proper. Before anyone knew it, a completely false image had … Read more

British started shipping their worst criminals to Australia because America won the Revolution. After 1780, the British could no longer use their penal colonies in Maryland, Georgia, and Virginia and had to find another place. Sending criminals far away from home was an extreme punishment only reserved for the worst offenders, but it meant avoiding … Read more

It took the Mayflower 66 days to get from England to Cape Cod, New England. That meant the boat was traveling at about two miles per hour throughout the trip, which isn’t too bad considering the strong Gulf Stream and the stormy weather during the September/October season. One hundred years later, the fastest clippers were … Read more

The Mayflower was appraised for one hundred twenty-eight English pounds and 12 shillings at the end of her sailing years.

Actually, their portrayal as fashion victims is a terrible injustice that’s been done to the poor Pilgrims. It’s all a lie: They never wore clothes like that. In reality, the Pilgrims dressed as others of the day dressed, in various colors of clothing that would never have stood out on the streets of England.

Although there was no livestock on board the Mayflower voyage in 1620, there probably was the usual cat or two to keep the rat populations in check. We also know that at least two passengers brought pet dogs, a mastiff and a spaniel used to hunt during the first winter months in America. Most historians … Read more

John Smith of Pocahontas fame was supposed to lead the way to Plymouth in America, but the Pilgrims couldn’t afford his fees. Instead, they bought a book from him that included a map of the new region. So they went without the hired help of a captain. But this was a technicality. The ship’s master, … Read more

You would think the Mayflower was a small rickety ship by reading the Pilgrims’ accounts of the voyage. However, they weren’t familiar with the nautical life, so they were not accustomed to the hardships. Thinking their lives were always in constant danger, their journals reflect a much more harrowing journey than it probably seemed to … Read more

No, the Mayflower was not built especially for the famous Pilgrim voyage to America. Ships made just for carrying passengers weren’t in existence at the time. Records are sketchy, but the ship that most likely carried the Pilgrims was built around 1606 as a merchant ship that carried goods around the main ports of Europe. … Read more

The Pilgrims had a corporate sponsor for their voyage to America. After King James I refused to give the Pilgrims a charter to start a colony, the London Virginia Company, a group of merchants with financial interest in the American colonies, was more than happy to help the Pilgrims make their journey and set up … Read more

Theoretically, Pocahontas would have been 12 when she saved John Smith’s life. However, it’s somewhat questionable that the incident ever took place. In an earlier book, John Smith never mentioned the incident. It was only after Pocahontas gained fame and adoration in England as an Indian “princess” that Smith suddenly began telling the story about … Read more

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony lived in Holland for years to escape English religious persecution. They only returned to Southampton, England, to find ships to take them across to America. Two ships were hired, the Mayflower and the Speedwell, but the Speedwell had numerous problems almost from the moment they departed. They stopped off in … Read more

It was discovered years later that a group of Native Americans calling themselves Croatans inhabited the hills of North Carolina and still do to this day. Some of these tribesmen, although very much of Native American culture, bore English names; offering, perhaps, the answer to the eventual fate of the Roanoke colonists. Some historians believe … Read more

Pocahontas’s Indian name, Pocahontas, meant playful one. When she was baptized as a Christian, she was given the name Rebecca. And contrary to popular belief, Pocahontas did not marry John Smith, she married John Rolfe.

A year after sailing to London to help raise funds for the English colonists in Virginia, Pocahontas died of smallpox in 1617. Her young son, Thomas, was raised and educated in England, later returning to Virginia to live as an adult.

There are a few speculations on what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke when John White returned from England, based on some scant evidence. Briefly, the group of about a hundred English men, women, and children came to Roanoke under the leadership of a man named John White in 1587, looking to set up … Read more

Estimates of the number of natives in America before the Europeans arrived vary from 8 to 16 million. Fewer than 250,000 Native Americans were in what is now the United States at the beginning of the 20th century.

That first documented European colony in America would have to be the Viking colony, dating from about 1000 A.D. in what is now northern Newfoundland. Excavations at a location called L’Anse aux Meadows bear artifacts from Greenland at around this time period, and ancient manuscripts from Greenland speak of a country full of grapevines that … Read more

On August 18, 1587, just days after the first colonists had arrived in Roanoke, John White’s daughter gave birth to what most consider to be the very first English person born on American soil. They named the baby girl Virginia in honor of the virgin queen of England, Elizabeth I. The colony was named for … Read more

The first czar of Russia Ivan IV Vasilyevich, crowned in 1547 at the age of 17, was called Ivan the Terrible because he really was. His entire rule was tainted with senseless, brutal acts against his countrymen. In his childhood, Ivan IV liked tossing cats and dogs off ramparts just to see what would happen. … Read more

Napoleon Bonaparte was about the same height as the average Frenchman at the time. However, he was shorter than most leaders of his day and certainly shorter than most men today. He stood at five feet, two inches tall. This earned him the nickname Petit Caporal or “the Little Corporal.” Napoleon was one of the … Read more

Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, nicknamed Caligula, was the third Roman emperor after Augustus and Tiberius. His name meant “Little Boots” in Latin. Like so many parents since, his parents thought he looked cute as a child dressed in a soldier’s uniform, and his nickname stuck. His reign was short—only 3 years, 10 months. Following a … Read more

Not true at all. By all accounts, Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine de Beauharnais had a very passionate relationship. Still, there was a painful moment on their wedding night when man’s best friend became anything but. They were in bed making love when suddenly Napolean cried out. Josephine thought he was in the throes of passion, … Read more

No, Attila the Hun died in bed on his wedding night. After a night of passion, he died of a fatal nosebleed. How very tragic and slightly ironic.

Genghis Kahn wins, hands down, with an estimated total of 4,860,000 square miles, capturing the most land in history. That’s twice as much land as conquered by the runner up, Alexander the Great. In contrast, Napoleon Bonaparte conquered 720,000 square miles.

No, Napoleon Bonaparte was not executed after being exiled as leader of France. He tried unsuccessfully to officially step down and have his son put on the throne. But when that idea was rejected, he abdicated voluntarily anyway and was exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean. His wife and only child were … Read more

Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun did not fight each other in this world. Although both were considered ruthless scourges of civilization and so had much in common, they were separated by thousands of miles. That, and more than seven centuries. Attila terrorized Europe in the fifth century; Genghis terrorized China in the 12th and … Read more

In a strange way, you can give backhanded credit to Attila the Hun, back in the fifth century, for discovering Venice. Tired of being raided by his gang of ruffians, the residents of several Italian towns decided to pack up their stuff and relocate to a series of islands just off the coast. They figured, … Read more

According to a physical description the police circulated when he was a known revolutionary troublemaker, Joseph Stalin was only five feet, four inches tall. The notice goes on, painting a less-than attractive picture: Soft voice Birthmark on left ear Sunken, hazel eyes Pockmarked face Withered left arm Second and third toes on left foot grown … Read more

In a fashion, J. Edgar Hoover did fraternize with women. He “kept company” with some women. One was Lela Rogers, actress Ginger Rogers’s mother and an extreme right winger. He also claimed to have had a relationship with Dorothy Lamour. Hoover certainly wanted the public to believe he had relationships with these women. Whether they … Read more

Benito Mussolini was editor of a couple of political newspapers, including one for the Socialist Party, before he became a fascist dictator. When he jumped ship and became a Nationalist, he started a different paper. He then joined the army before rising through the ranks—on his way to becoming Il Duce in 1925 . However, … Read more

Joseph Stalin studied for the priesthood but was expelled from the seminary in 1899 and joined the Communist Party, before becoming a militant dictator .

Iosif Dzhugashvili was Joseph Stalin’s given name. Iosif is “Joseph” in Russian. He was known to his parents, however, as “Soso.” He adopted the name Stalin, meaning “man of steel,” sometime around 1912, right after he was elected to the Communist Party’s Central Committee. Joseph Stalin was a World War II leader and was on … Read more

Yes, Adolf Hitler had five siblings and two half-siblings. Hitler’s father, Alois, had all of his children during his second and third marriages. The Hitler children were, in order, Alois Jr. and Angela by Alois’s second wife; and Gustav, Ida, Otto, Edmund, Adolf, and Paula by his third wife. Of the eight kids, only Adolf, … Read more

When Adolf Hitler’s half sister, Angela, moved in and became his housekeeper, her daughter Geli was about 16. Hitler in many respects adopted Geli. He took her places, both educational and recreational, and he paid for her formal schooling. During this time, he also apparently fell in love with his teenage niece and refused to … Read more

Most would say General George Patton was eccentric, maybe worse. For starters, he had a long-term affair with his niece, who called him “Uncle Georgie.” It’s said he once urinated in a foxhole of another division commander during WWI, simply to show his disdain for what he called “passive defense.” He was bloodthirsty and loved … Read more

Vlad the Impaler’s father, also named Vlad, was inducted into a secret Catholic organization called the Order of the Dragon, sworn to battle the Ottoman Turks. When he became Prince of Walachia, his kingdom dubbed him Dracul, meaning, in Romanian, “The Dragon.” When Vlad the Second came to power, he called himself Dracula, or “Son … Read more

Before becoming a principality ruler, military strategist, grand inquisitor, and sadist extraordinaire, Vlad the Impaler studied for the priesthood.

Although young Vlad and his brother were bartered off to the Turkish Sultan as part of a peace treaty signed by his father, Vlad himself was by no means a follower of Islam. If anything, he fought hard against the Turks for most of his adult life, perhaps as a result of his bitterness from … Read more