1Anesthesia
When invented in 1840s, some people criticized anesthesia as a “needless luxury.”
2. In 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued Missouri Executive Order 44, ordering all Mormons to leave the state or be killed.
3. The fire hydrant is believed to have been invented by an engineer named Frederick Graff, but this can't be verified because the patent was destroyed in a fire at the patent office in 1836.
4. The word "scientist" did not exist before 1833. Before this, scientists were referred to as "natural philosophers".
5. Soldiers are required to "route step" (or walk out of step) when crossing bridges because, in 1831, the rhythmic march of British soldiers broke a bridge, throwing soldiers off of the bridge.
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6Kasper Hauser
In 1828, a 16-year-old boy named Kaspar Hauser mysteriously appeared in Germany claiming to have been raised his entire life in a dark cell. Five years later, he was murdered just as mysteriously, and his identity remains unknown.
7. While exploring South Dakota in 1822, Hugh Glass was left for dead after being mauled by a grizzly bear. He later awoke, set his broken leg, laid upon a rotting log to let maggots eat his gangrenous flesh, and crawled 200 miles to the nearest settlement, living off berries and roots.
8. The word ‘Freelance’ comes from the 1820 novel ‘Ivanhoe’. It meant a mercenary knight with no allegiance who offered his services in exchange for money.
9. 1816 was called "The Year Without a Summer" after the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. Crop failure forced Joseph Smith to leave Vermont, and his journeys resulted in “The Book of Mormon.” The dreary rain in Switzerland drove Mary Shelley to stay indoors, where she wrote “Frankenstein.”
10. Stephen Girard was one of the wealthiest men in American history. He personally saved the U.S. government from financial collapse during the War of 1812.
11Dr. William Thorton
The US Patent Office building was the only major government building to survive the British burning of Washington DC during the War of 1812. Superintendent Dr. William Thorton persuaded the British that they'd be destroying the shared intellectual record of mankind if the patents were burned.
12. In 1810, to win a bet that he could turn any place into the most talked-about address in London, Theodore Hook sent thousands of letters from 54 Berners St., requesting deliveries, visitors, and assistance. Within a day, thousands had been drawn to the street, including the Archbishop of Canterbury.
13. In 1808, a gentlemen's duel took place at 2,000 feet in a pair of hot air balloons. Each man used a blunderbuss to attempt to destroy each other's balloon.
14. In 1806, an Englishwoman named Mary Bateman convinced hundreds of people that her chicken would predict the world’s imminent end. “Christ is Coming” read the eggs that the hen laid. Bateman sold protective wards to people for a shilling apiece, but her con was exposed after a local doctor caught her shoving a handwritten egg back up into her poor hen. Bateman went on to practice medicine, and was executed for poisoning several of her patients.
15. At midnight on the December 30th, 1899, a passenger streamer ship named SS Warrimoo positioned itself at the intersection of the dateline and equator, such that the bow and stern occupied different seasons, hemispheres, days, years, and centuries. For the ship, December 31st never occurred.
16Thomas Millwood
In 1804, a London carpenter named Thomas Millwood dressed in white was mistaken for a ghost by an angry mob and shot in the face.
17. Wong Chin Foo was a 19th century Chinese-American civil rights activist. He launched New York City's first Chinese newspaper and was active in politics. Wong once challenged Denis Kearney, an anti-Chinese demagogue, to a duel. He offered Kearney "his choice of chopsticks, Irish potatoes or Krupp guns."
18. In the mid-1800’s millions of American children learned in school that one taste of alcohol could lead to blindness, madness or death. They also learned about spontaneous combustion, that just one drink of alcohol could cause their bodies to go up in flames.
19. Giovacchino Antonio Rossini in 1800 wrote a weird song that consisted of nothing but two people meowing at each other. It's called "Duetto buffo di due gatti" which translates to "Humorous duet for two cats."
20. People's teeth used to randomly explode in the 1800s due to bad fillings. Before the advent of mercury amalgam, a wide variety of metals were used to fill cavities. Using two different metals could create an electrochemical cell, effectively turning the whole mouth into a low-volt battery.
21William Wrigley Jr.
William Wrigley Jr. sold soaps in 1891, offering baking powder as an incentive to buyers. The baking powder proved to be more popular, so he started selling it, offering gum as an incentive. But the gum proved to be even more popular, so he started selling them. In 1893, the Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum debuted.
22. The 19th-century governor of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias, introduced the potatoes to Greece. Initially, he tried giving potato seeds to skeptical farmers for free who were reluctant to use them. When this failed, he piled the potatoes in public under guard, convincing people of their value. The public proceeded to steal all the potatoes and planted them.
23. In the late 19th century there was a dog named Bob, who would hitch rides all over the South Australian railway system. He had no owner but was widely known to railway men of the day. When he died, he was eulogized around the world and was lauded as “the king of outcasts.”
24. The hunting of bison to near-extinction in the 1800s was not to gain food, but to restrict the American Indians' dominant food supply. Herds of bison were shot from trains and left to rot where they died.
25. The concept of using a card for purchases was described in 1887 by Edward Bellamy in his utopian novel 'Looking Backward'. Bellamy used the term credit card 11 times in this novel, although this referred to a card for spending a citizen's dividend from the government, rather than borrowing.
