Interesting anagram: The letters of “FRENCH REVOLUTION” rearrange to “VIOLENCE RUN FORTH.”
Occasionally even famous geniuses have endured the pangs of humiliation. Ludwig Van Beethoven ostensibly proposed marriage to singer Magdalena Wilmann and she refused. When pressed for a reason, Maggie purportedly replied “because he is ugly and half-crazy.” I have experienced similar evaluations.
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was provided with 3 ships and 90 men when he set sail on his historic voyage in October of 1492. For his second voyage (September, 1493), he had 17 ships and approximately 1500 men under his command. Prior to being sponsored by Spain, Columbus had appealed to both Portugal (John II) and England (Henry VII) for financial backing, but was flatly rejected.
It is said that the first official act of Queen Victoria was to obtain for herself an unshared bedroom. Even though young Victoria was royalty and 18 years of age, she had previously been compelled to share a bed chamber with her mother. The mother (Duchess of Kent) overtly hoped to become de facto ruler behind the throne. However, the new monarch had “Mumsy” moved to the remotest room in the castle and afterwards very seldom consulted with her previously domineering mater.
In 1650, there were an estimated one-half billion people living on earth. In 1900, the population was 1.6 billion. As of 2011, this planet had 7 billion of us to tolerate.
Some folks lead very interesting lives. For instance, Turkey’s Sultan Mohammed VI (1861-1926) began his 1918 coronation day in prison. He had been in prison 53 years.
Armored military vehicles were disguised as water tanks during WWI. The name “tank” stuck.
The famous Brooklyn Bridge has been open for traffic since 1883. The structure connects Brooklyn and Manhattan, but was never commonly known as the Manhattan Bridge. Until 1903, the 1595 foot mass of steel and concrete was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
In 1923 a company called Phonofilm was the first to market movie film with synchronized sound features. It was not until 1927 that a full-length movie (The Jazz Singer) was released and that production was not originally recorded on film, but on discs made by Vitaphone. The phenomenon of “talking movies” was an immediate hit with the American public. However, skeptical people observing the “talkies” for the first time would often look for live actors and/or Edison Phonographs being concealed behind curtains.
Well, do not permit humiliation to fetter your genius – and have a splendid week.