Spotty's Little Known Facts

[TANGODANCER]

Without knowing the truth, so hypothetically, the very thought of a pregnant woman and the Irish Sea is cause for shudders on a grand scale.

[bobo the clown]

According to my father and historians local to the area she was born in Ormond Castle, Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary.

Interesting .... it's not right, but it's interesting.

Her great grandparents had some link to Tipperary. There is no record at all of her birth ... they aren't even sure what year she was born, but her mother rarely moved out of Norfolk. She was occasionally in Suffolk or London but no record of her traipsing around the South of the island of Ireland ... and highly unlikely she'd have travelled far from her home while pregnant. Especially in 1501 or so.

Maybe if anyone here was pregnant they could shine a light on that likelihood but no-one is, so they can't.

Apologies .... my mistake.

89bwfc89 is due around Christmas. Sorry T.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Found out the other day Anne Boleyn was born in Tipperary.

And yes, it IS a fecking long way.

You surprise me. I thought no one knew when she was born so had no idea where. Even then Tipperary, however far and no matter where your heart is, seems improbable. Or has a joke gone over my head comme d'habitude.

Can't find anything to support her being anything but English with a grandfather who was Lord Mayor of London...Not claiming it as true mind...

http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/sir-t ... ne-boleyn/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's why it's a little known fact!

According to my father and historians local to the area she was born in Ormond Castle, Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary.

I think it is more like a little known fiction.

[Gary the Enfield]

Found out the other day Anne Boleyn was born in Tipperary.

And yes, it IS a fecking long way.

You surprise me. I thought no one knew when she was born so had no idea where. Even then Tipperary, however far and no matter where your heart is, seems improbable. Or has a joke gone over my head comme d'habitude.

Can't find anything to support her being anything but English with a grandfather who was Lord Mayor of London...Not claiming it as true mind...

http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/sir-t ... ne-boleyn/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's why it's a little known fact!

According to my father and historians local to the area she was born in Ormond Castle, Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary.

I think it is more like a little known fiction.

It's an interesting story Monty, with a few connections to make it just plausible. Maybe not an actual fact and so I retract my post but not something you can dismiss out of hand, because no one really knows.

For me, I'll choose to believe it's true.

[wigan white]

Recently a friend posted me some popular msiconceptions:-

Sharks don't get cancer - yes, they do, quite frequently suffer from skin cancer
Napolean was short - he was 5'7", which was above average height for a frenchman at that time.
Bananas grow on trees - They infact grow on on massive herbs that resemble trees
Strawberrys aren't actually part of the Berry family, but Bananas are!!!
Vikings helmet horns - Actually invented by a costume designer for a 19th century Wagner opera.
Chastity belts - not actually anti-adultery devices but instead invented by "Prudes" to prevent "dangerous" masturbation.

[KeyserSoze]

gif of the Rosetta/Philae thing's journey

[Worthy4England]

Napolean was short - he was 5'7", which was above average height for a frenchman at that time.

At a huge 5' 7 and 3/4. I'll still be referring to him as "that's shortarsed French bastard!"...

[Montreal Wanderer]

Vikings helmet horns - Actually invented by a costume designer for a 19th century Wagner opera.

Doubtless true regarding vikings, but horned helmets go back to prehistory.

[TANGODANCER]

Haworth, home of the Bronte sisters. They didn't live fast, but they sure died young:

The 1850 Babbage Report into public hygiene in Haworth showed that villagers reached an average age of just 25.8 years of age. In this context the Brontës' lifespans seem fairly healthy. ( Charlotte was 39, Emily 30 (or so?) and Anne 29) Somehow they managed to avoid numerous epidemics of dysentery, cholera, typhus and smallpox, possibly because they lived at the top of Main Street rather than the bottom, so that sewage was draining away from them; possibly because they had access to their own water supply via a well in their back yard.

[bobo the clown]

↑↑↑↑ so, basically, the Bronte's were murdering b"stards !!

[TANGODANCER]

On August 24th 1969, Freddie Bulsara made his debut live performance in Great Britain, fronting Ibex at a gig in Bolton, Lancashire. Freddie Bulsara was the real name of Freddie Mercury.

[clapton is god]

^ Any idea where the gig was, Tango? Might have been there and didn't know it.

[Bruce Rioja]

I've heard that Queen played (a) Moss Bank Park Festival, and (B) The Octagon. Maybe it was this lot (If any of it happened at all)?

[TANGODANCER]

^ Any idea where the gig was, Tango? Might have been there and didn't know it.

Here you go Clapton:

"Freddie first met Ibex on 13th August 1969. Such was his enthusiasm, that just ten days later, he'd learned the bands' set, brought in a few new songs, and had travelled up to Bolton, Lancashire, for a gig with them - his debut public performance. The date was 23rd of August, and the occasion was one Bolton's regular afternoon 'Bluesology' session, held at the town's Octogon theatre. For Ibex and friends it was the event of the summer. No fewer than 15 bodies, including Freddie, Ken Testi, and the band's other roadie Geoff Higgins, Paul Humberstone, assorted friends and girlfriends, plus Ibex's instruments were squeezed into a transit van borrowed from Richard Thompson, a mate of Freddie's who'd previously drummed in 1984 with Brian May and Tim Staffell."

[KeyserSoze]

I went back to the place of the ria this weekend, namely Kingsbridge. A great time was had.

Anyway, more importantly in the spirit of this thread, I visited Towcross which is about 7 or 8 miles away. Was expecting just a nice lovely walk down the coast, which I got. I didn't bargain on there being a Sherman Tank in the vicinity, however.



Turned out this is where they had practised the D-day landings, as this plaque testifies



The tank had been sunk in the action. What action? The action of nine German u-boats turning up and attacking a convoy of follow-up troops. Around 800 US army personnel were killed in the attack



This all around some bloody lovely places, too.

Start Bay


Slapton Ley (which apparently called a ley for some reason, though I'm not sure what)

[Montreal Wanderer]

I went back to the place of the ria this weekend, namely Kingsbridge. A great time was had.

Anyway, more importantly in the spirit of this thread, I visited Towcross which is about 7 or 8 miles away. Was expecting just a nice lovely walk down the coast, which I got. I didn't bargain on there being a Sherman Tank in the vicinity, however.

Slapton Ley (which apparently called a ley for some reason, though I'm not sure what)

'Ley' is 'lake' in the local dialect - Slapton Ley is a freshwater lake though very close to the sea - so not the standard meaning of ley.

[TANGODANCER]

Next time you're in a traffic jam. :

In 1700 York was a week distant from the metropolis. Between London and Edinburgh, even so late as 1763, a fortnight was consumed, the coach only starting once a month. The intermediate Sunday was quietly spent at Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, as much for the sake of relief to exhausted nature as from motives of piety. The first vehicle which plied between Edinburgh and Glasgow was started in 1749. It was called "The Edinburgh and Glasgow Caravan," and performed the journey of forty-five miles in two days. Two years after, another vehicle was started, and called the "Fly," because it contrived to perform this same journey in a day and a half. Latterly, it took the daylight of one day. The average coach took two days to make the journey from Cambridge to London in 1750 - in 1820 it only took 7 hours.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Next time you're in a traffic jam. :

In 1700 York was a week distant from the metropolis. Between London and Edinburgh, even so late as 1763, a fortnight was consumed, the coach only starting once a month. The intermediate Sunday was quietly spent at Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, as much for the sake of relief to exhausted nature as from motives of piety. The first vehicle which plied between Edinburgh and Glasgow was started in 1749. It was called "The Edinburgh and Glasgow Caravan," and performed the journey of forty-five miles in two days. Two years after, another vehicle was started, and called the "Fly," because it contrived to perform this same journey in a day and a half. Latterly, it took the daylight of one day. The average coach took two days to make the journey from Cambridge to London in 1750 - in 1820 it only took 7 hours.

A week? A fortnight? Dick Turpin did it in a day!

[TANGODANCER]

Next time you're in a traffic jam. :

In 1700 York was a week distant from the metropolis. Between London and Edinburgh, even so late as 1763, a fortnight was consumed, the coach only starting once a month. The intermediate Sunday was quietly spent at Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, as much for the sake of relief to exhausted nature as from motives of piety. The first vehicle which plied between Edinburgh and Glasgow was started in 1749. It was called "The Edinburgh and Glasgow Caravan," and performed the journey of forty-five miles in two days. Two years after, another vehicle was started, and called the "Fly," because it contrived to perform this same journey in a day and a half. Latterly, it took the daylight of one day. The average coach took two days to make the journey from Cambridge to London in 1750 - in 1820 it only took 7 hours.

A week? A fortnight? Dick Turpin did it in a day!

"Turpin became a legend after his death. His story became linked in print with a legendary ride from London to York to establish an alibi, a tale previously attributed to the highwayman William Nevison. This fictional version was further established when it was included in an 1834 bestseller called Rockwood, in which the author Harrison Ainsworth added a new twist: that Turpin’s horse, Black Bess, expired at York after the record-breaking ride. None of this was true. "

[Lost Leopard Spot]

I thought I knew every single vertebrate on the planet, from quagga to star-nosed mole, wolverine to stella's sea-cow, narwhal to okapi, three toed sloth to aurochs, echidna to duck billed platypus, drongo to firecrest, and bird of paradise to poison tree frog.
But no, I was mistaken: today I've discovered a vertebrate I was totally unaware of...

The quokka.

The little fecker's been hiding from me off the lefthand bottom bit of Australia all these years...