Odd factoids

[ClichéGuevara]

In medieval times, poverty was so bad, that most people were illiterate. This created problems with documentation. Rather than spend time on schooling instead of working, people chose to learn to spell one name, and use it for all of their children.

Modern scholars missed this, and it still causes confusion today, as people misunderstand what is meant by the 'Norman' invasion, and the saying 'Norman' is an Island.

 

[Dirk]

The first British soldier to be killed in WW1 is buried 15 feet from the last one to die.
The proximity of the graves of Private John Parr, killed 17 days after Britain declared war, and Private George Ellison, who died 90 minutes before the armistice, is said to be a coincidence – a consequence of the fact that Mons was lost to the Germans at the opening of the war and regained at the very end.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

In medieval times, poverty was so great that people tended not to travel too far from the homestead, where they were needed to help grow produce. As a consequence, incest was rife, with subsequent genetic abnormalities, such as extra fingers.

The impact of this can still be seen in egg boxes, as they're still sold by the handful, which became 6 or 12 rather than a metric or imperial amount.

 

[Jenkins]

I was Kaiser Bill's Batman.

(Total random coincidence - when looking the above track up on YouTube, the next suggested track is Mouldy Old Dough by Lieutenant Pigeon. These were used by Spedeworth at Foxhall Stadium as the theme music for Hot Rods & Banges respectively)

 

[classic33]

The battle of Hastings was fought at Battle, near Hastings

This may perhaps seem unsurprising, but it is worth emphatically re-stating, given the various alternatives that have attracted media attention in recent years.

 

[Drago]

Kaiser Willhelm I I (Kaiser Bill of WW1) had a deep seated hatred of the British.
Apparently, this stemmed from the time he was beaten up as a boy, by a local lad whilst holidaying in Ilfracombe, North Devon.*




*This is actually true.

Much like one of his later colleagues, a certain mono-testiculated chap named Hitler. I've read Mein Kampf, and it seems he was pretty ambivalent towards the Jews until an incident occurred before WWI. He was working in a factory, and when the staff went on strike Hitler decided he would break the picket and carry on working, as he needed the cash for a prosthetic space hopper to replace his missing gland. Three strikers didn't like this and gave him a good kicking. It just so happened the trio were Jewish, and from that point on his opinion of their entire race nose dived*




* Most of this is also actually true. The only bit I'm unsure about is saving for a new nut, but that bit could be true, because the song tells us that he was testicularly challenged.

 

[raleighnut]

Much like one of his later colleagues, a certain mono-testiculated chap named Hitler. I've read Mein Kampf, and it seems he was pretty ambivalent towards the Jews until an incident occurred before WWI. He was working in a factory, and when the staff went on strike Hitler decided he would break the picket and carry on working, as he needed the cash for a prosthetic space hopper to replace his missing gland. Three strikers didn't like this and gave him a good kicking. It just so happened the trio were Jewish, and from that point on his opinion of their entire race nose dived*




* Most of this is also actually true. The only bit I'm unsure about is saving for a new nut, but that bit could be true, because the song tells us that he was testicularly challenged.

I heard he'd had one shot off in WW1 and this earned him the nickname 'Squealer' with his comrades.

 

[Dirk]

The Nazi dictator had relatives in Liverpool following the marriage of his half-brother Alois and Bridget Dowling (later Hitler), an Irish woman from Dublin, in 1910. The Hitlers lived in a flat at 102 Upper Stanhope Street in Toxteth.
The flat was destroyed in the last German air-raid on the city during World War II, in January 1942.

 

[Drago]

Edward Elizabeth Hitler from the hit TV comedy Bottom, is the Son of the testicularly challenged moustache fan.

On a serious(ish) note, Hitler's surviving relatives many years ago formed a pact not to have children so the name would eventually die out.

 

[Dirk]

On a serious(ish) note, Hitler's surviving relatives many years ago formed a pact not to have children so the name would eventually die out.

 

[Dave7]

The Nazi dictator had relatives in Liverpool following the marriage of his half-brother Alois and Bridget Dowling (later Hitler), an Irish woman from Dublin, in 1910. The Hitlers lived in a flat at 102 Upper Stanhope Street in Toxteth.
The flat was destroyed in the last German air-raid on the city during World War II, in January 1942.

That is true.
Also true is that Hitler actually visited them....in his best tank.
While he was inside someone put the tank on bricks and nicked the tracks.

 

[Drago]

Hitler was inspired by Jeremy Corbyn.

Hitler first met Corbyn during WWI, when the famous BMX racer was Tsar of Russia. Eva Braun was said to have been very fond of The Tsar's concubine, Diane Abbot, who also happens to be the first person to row the Atlantic without a boat.

 

[classic33]

The world’s first passenger railway line was built in 1830, from Liverpool to nearby Manchester. A local member of Parliament was killed soon after, in the first ever railway accident.

 

[Dirk]

In 1935, the first person to pass the newly instigated driving test in Britain was a chap named Mr Bean.

 

[Dirk]

The pit in an Apricot contains enough cyanide to kill an average sized dog.