History Schmistory: November 19. Four Score and Seven=

1863: US President Abraham Lincoln delivers the most important and enduring 2 minute speech in American history… Need a hint?

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address#/media/File:Gettysburg_Address_(poster).jpg

By Published by M.T. Sheahan, Boston, Mass. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 18. “How ya like them apples?”

1307: Brutal and outrageous meanie-head Hermann Gessler punishes William Tell for not bowing down to him. Williams’ bizarre sentence is to shoot an apple off of his own son’s head with a crossbow. After performing the task flawlessly, he sparks a rebellion against Gessler, leading ultimately to an independent Swiss Confederacy, and some sweet revenge for Mr. Tell… “How do you like them apples, Hermann?”

By Hans Rudolf Manuel Deutsch (1525–1571) (Sebastian Münster, Cosmographia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By Hans Rudolf Manuel Deutsch (1525–1571) (Sebastian Münster, Cosmographia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 17. Not your ordinary cat toy…

1970: Douglas Engelbart successfully patents the computer mouse. His patent for computer cheese is still pending.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/SRI_Douglas_Engelbart_2008.jpg

By SRI International (SRI International) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia CommonsBy SRI International (SRI International) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 16. Brand New State! Gonna Treat You Great!

1907: Oklahoma becomes the 46th State in the US. And honestly. Where on Earth would we be without Oklahoma! ?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Oklahoma-musical-1965.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Oklahoma-musical-1965.jpg

History Schmistory: November 14. Woah-Nellie!

1889: Nellie Bly begins her trip around the world, aiming to accomplish the journey in 80 days, a span Jules Verne predicted in his work of fiction, Around the World in 80 Days. Get this, Nellie did it in 72 days. In your face, Phileas Fogg!

Around_the_World_in_Eighty_Days_map

By Roke (Self-published work by Roke) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 13. Home.

1851: The Denny Party lands at Alki point, the first settlers in what would become Seattle, Washington, and the current residence of the one and only Marco Polo! …Just in case you were wondering.

By Daniel Schwen (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Daniel Schwen (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 12. You hear the one about the exploding whale?

1970: The Oregon Highway Division learns exactly what not to do with a dead whale.

History Schmistory: November 11. Coooold-snap!

1911: Apocalyptic expectations went wild the last time we saw an 11/11/11, as The Great Blue Norther, a cold snap that produced record highs and lows on the same day, barreled through the central US, leaving much of the bewildered population with contrasting habiliments.

By Adriano Agulló [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Adriano Agulló [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

History Schmistory: November 10. Street Smarts.

1969: National Educational Television, soon to be PBS, introduces the world to Sesame Street. If you go all the way to the end and hang a left, you’ll be in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

1188px-Plazasesamologo.svg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sesame_Street#/media/File:Plazasesamologo.svg

 

History Schmistory: November 9. Missing Magnifico.

1494: Only two years after our man Lorenzo Magnifico dies, his eldest son Piero (the Unfortunate) manages to get the entire Family de’ Medici kicked out of Florence. This led to the sarcastic expression; “way to go, Piero!” Actually it’s not an expression at all, but you should start using it anyway. It’ll make you feel intellectually superior to others 🙂 Hit it, Marco!

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