History!!

[Vision of Division]

I love history, historical facts and stories that is. However, I can't be bothered to search for them myself. So why not ask the good people at the escapist.
Shoot!

 

[bodyklok]

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

 

[Vision of Division]

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

Ooh, I know that it was rumoured that she had intercourse with a horse, but this was false as she died of a heart-attack. Nice one though

 

[lostclause]

How was the first fatality of britain in WW2 inflicted?
Also there is a great book for this sort of thing called history without the boring bits. Get it, it's awesome.

 

[Wadders]

How did communism get the association with red? I've always wondered that...

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

Boudicca of England maybe? She lead a revolt against the Romans.

There's probably an earlier one then her though, but that's just off the top of my head

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Boudicca of England maybe? She lead a revolt against the Romans.

There's probably an earlier one then her though, but that's just off the top of my head

IIRC, female leaders were common in the ancient Celtic world before Mediterranean views on the gender divide were brought in. Boudica is famous for being one of the last.

 

[Vision of Division]

How was the first fatality of britain in WW2 inflicted?
Also there is a great book for this sort of thing called history without the boring bits. Get it, it's awesome.

Haven't got a clue. Maybe executed for desertion?
And I'll check it out, thanks

 

[lostclause]

How was the first fatality of britain in WW2 inflicted?
Also there is a great book for this sort of thing called history without the boring bits. Get it, it's awesome.

Haven't got a clue. Maybe executed for desertion?

Actually it was a policeman. During WW2 they had to enforce blackout. Seeing a light on he climbed up a drain to look in. The drain came off and he fell to his death. Thus he was the first British causalty.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

I suspect it may be the Egyptians. When they had rulers they made no distinction between male and female, the word Pharaoh was used on both. Admittedly some of the women Pharoah (Hatepshut at least) wore a false beard though...

Who was America named after? (This is a seriously tricky question, just so your forewarned)

 

[Player 2]

How did Hitler lose his testicle?

 

[lostclause]

How did communism get the association with red? I've always wondered that...


IF I'm correct, near the end of WorldWar 1, the Russians had to deal with their own problems, so they started a civil war to over throw the czars. The revolutionaries had red flags, while the Other side used white flags. When the 'Red Army' won, thet established Communism. So, it is associated with red by that history lession.

PS: Sorry for simplfied vocabulary, I really need sleep

Sorry but a quick google shows it is earlier than that:
'Since the Paris Commune of 1871 (and possibly since 1848) red has been the colour associated with socialism (not just communism) in Europe.'
Looks like that's where the red army's name came from.

 

[Vision of Division]

How was the first fatality of britain in WW2 inflicted?
Also there is a great book for this sort of thing called history without the boring bits. Get it, it's awesome.

Haven't got a clue. Maybe executed for desertion?

Actually it was a policeman. During WW2 they had to enforce blackout. Seeing a light on he climbed up a drain to look in. The drain came off and he fell to his death. Thus he was the first British causalty.

This is why I love history

 

[Soulgaunt]

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

I suspect it may be the Egyptians. When they had rulers they made no distinction between male and female, the word Pharaoh was used on both. Admittedly some of the women Pharoah (Hatepshut at least) wore a false beard though...

Who was America named after? (This is a seriously tricky question, just so your forewarned)

Wasn't it named after someone named Amerigo?
I can't remember first/last name or other facts about the guy.

 

[lostclause]

This is why I love history

Agreed, so many strange and awesome things.

 

[Shock and Awe]

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

Ooh, I know that it was rumoured that she had intercourse with a horse, but this was false as she died of a heart-attack. Nice one though

Wrong, it was a stroke.

 

[Vision of Division]

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

Ooh, I know that it was rumoured that she had intercourse with a horse, but this was false as she died of a heart-attack. Nice one though

Wrong, it was a stroke.

Ouch, that hurt

 

[lostclause]

Wasn't it named after someone named Amerigo?
I can't remember first/last name or other facts about the guy.

Amerigo Vespucci. Named after him because he was the first to realise it was seperate from Asia (as well as the fact he investigated it a bit more than Columbus)

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

I suspect it may be the Egyptians. When they had rulers they made no distinction between male and female, the word Pharaoh was used on both. Admittedly some of the women Pharoah (Hatepshut at least) wore a false beard though...

Who was America named after? (This is a seriously tricky question, just so your forewarned)

Wasn't it named after someone named Amerigo?
I can't remember first/last name or other facts about the guy.

I know it might have been named for Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer, but I also heard something about a Welsh businessman, possibly with the surname Americk or Amerik. Gotta look it up though...

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

How did Catherine the Great die? Iz can't remember.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd always wondered. Which was the first country or culture (In recorded history) to have a female leader?

I suspect it may be the Egyptians. When they had rulers they made no distinction between male and female, the word Pharaoh was used on both. Admittedly some of the women Pharoah (Hatepshut at least) wore a false beard though...

Who was America named after? (This is a seriously tricky question, just so your forewarned)

Wasn't it named after someone named Amerigo?
I can't remember first/last name or other facts about the guy.

Nope, not Amerigo Vespucci, that's a misconception, albeit a logical one. Discoveries of new land were named after the discoverer's surname, hence the Cook islands or the Straits of Magellan. If Vespucci had named America it would have been called Vespuccia

It's actually named after a merchant from Bristol who originated from Wales, Richard Ameryk (points go to the Infamous SCAMola). He was the chief patron for an expedition led by John Cabot (aka, Giovanni Caboto) that set foot in Labrador two whole years before Vespucci. As Ameryk was the one funding the expedition, it was named after him. The reference to this event is the first recording time the place was ever referred to as America.
The confusion with Amerigo Vespucci arises from Martin Waldseemuller's map of 1507. He didn't have access to the records of Caboto's voyage in the Matthew, so assumed, fairly logically, that the name derived from the Latin of Vespucci's first name.

Told you it was tricky

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

It's actually named after a merchant from Bristol who originated from Wales, Richard Ameryk (points go to the Infamous SCAMola). He was the chief patron for an expedition led by John Cabot (aka, Giovanni Caboto) that set foot in Labrador two whole years before Vespucci. As Ameryk was the one funding the expedition, it was named after him. The reference to this event is the first recording time the place was ever referred to as America.
The confusion with Amerigo Vespucci arises from Martin Waldseemuller's map of 1507. He didn't have access to the records of Caboto's voyage in the Matthew, so assumed, fairly logically, that the name derived from the Latin of Vespucci's first name.

Told you it was tricky

QI, right?