I’ve watched the Oversimplified Video and there was a bit about Wilmer McClean.

And the best part is, it was actually true!

Here let me copy and paste something from the internet

“The Battle of Bull Run, one of the first battles of the US Civil War, occurred on and around Wilmer McClean’s farm in Northern Virginia. Not wanting to live surrounded by war, McClean and his family moved to Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. The Battle of Appomattox Courthouse was the last significant battle between Union and Confederate forces. The Confederates signed the surrender order in Wilmer’s sitting room. It is said that the Civil War started on Wilmer’s farm and ended in his sitting room.”

  • IllegallyBlonde@kbin.social
    31·
    1 year ago

    There’s always the remarkable story of Rasputin’s death. He was an advisor to Nicholas II of Russia, and refused to die after being poisoned, shot, and beat.

    “The would-be killers first gave the monk food and wine laced with cyanide, however, when Rasputin seemingly failed to respond to the poison, they shot him at close range and left him for dead. In spite of these murderous measures, Rasputin revived shortly thereafter and made an attempt to flee the palace grounds, only to be intercepted by his assailants who shot him again and viciously beat him. They then bound Rasputin, who was remarkably still alive, and threw him into the freezing Neva River. His battered body was found several days later and it was reported that there was water in his lungs, indicating that he finally died by drowning.”

    https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/10/the-murder-of-rasputin/#:~:text=On%20the%20night%20of%20December,and%20left%20him%20for%20dead.

    I will also add, it’s pretty neat that Ernest Shackleton’s famed lost ship, the Endurance, was found 100 years to the day that Ernest was buried.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12236603/amp/The-wreck-Sir-Ernest-Shackletons-ship-Endurance-discovered-100-years-day.html

    • cruspies@kbin.social
      18·
      1 year ago

      Shackleton’s journey by open lifeboat from Elephant Island to South Georgia was in itself pretty astonishing. Captain Frank Worsley navigated using iirc a couple of pencils and a rubber band, and only caught a few glimpses of the sun to help his calculations. They landed on the wrong side of the island and had to climb a mountain pass to get to the whaling station. At the top of the pass they decided, what the hell, and slid down on their backsides. This didn’t kill them, phew, but it did shred their trousers, so at the bottom they carefully safety-pinned the bits together, “in case there are ladies”.

    • Nougat@kbin.social
      11·
      1 year ago

      With regard to Rasputin, the story of his death may have been exaggerated by the people who did it, in an attempt to convince the Czar that Rasputin was some kind of supernatural evil. The Czar really liked Rasputin, and the people who killed him (people whose wives Rasputin had likely bedded) wanted to avoid repercussions.

    • Tigbitties@kbin.social
      9·
      1 year ago

      I read that the rasputin thing was probably made up by the people that killed him to convince the Tzar that he was a demon. He was fucking all their wives and embarrassing them. Unfortunately, the tzar and his wife were convinced he was curing their son with some kind weird ass spirituality nonsense. Truth is, what was keeping the kid alive was not letting him go to the horrible doctors of the time.