# Conveniently forgotten historical facts **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 26, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087 "2009-06-26T17:07:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/41 "2009-06-27T03:23:33Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > One of the deaths resulting from the Boston Massacre was a black man named Crispus Attucks. Other than that, I got nothin. Although it is curious: five people were killed in the Boston Massacre, but the only name anyone knows is that of the one black man. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/42 "2009-06-27T03:25:26Z")
> [@TheMadEngineer](#): > > Sorry I should clarify, some units were 50-80% black. There were at least a couple all-black units, one British and one Colonial. A massive difference from your OP claim, which was a jaw-dropper. The Colonial regiment was likely the[1st Rhode Island Regiment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Rhode_Island_Regiment). The British regiment was from the Carribean, IIRC. Want to hear something really odd, though? Some of the German regiments had black drummers & musicians. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/43 "2009-06-27T03:44:50Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Well, how about the inconvenient facts that Mohandas Gandhi… > > 1. Suggested that, in response to the Holocaust, the Jews should commit mass suicide. > > 2. Raised a brigade of Indian soldiers to suppress Zulu uprisings in South Africa, and received a medal for valor in combat from the British Army. > > 3. Wrote an open letter to the people of England, in 1940 (when Britain stood alone against Hitler), recommending that they surrender to Germany. He elaborated “Let them take possession of your beautiful island with your many beautiful buildings. You will give all these, but neither your souls, nor your minds.” Heh, kinda reminds me of a Harry Turtledove story (I’ve read the synopsis/spoilers, online, 'haven’t found a copy of the full story in print, yet) involving Gandhi’s efforts for Indian independence…against Nazi colonial officials, taking possession of India after their total victory in Europe. Things do not go well. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/44 "2009-06-27T11:43:49Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > Although it is curious: five people were killed in the Boston Massacre, but the only name anyone knows is that of the one black man. I think it is because he was the only black man there. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/45 "2009-06-27T11:48:25Z")
> [@TheMadEngineer](#): > > Sorry I should clarify, some units were 50-80% black. There were at least a couple all-black units, one British and one Colonial. And now you know why it was so convenient to forget the other ‘historical fact’. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/46 "2009-06-27T12:43:48Z")
King James I of England - the guy who commissioned the King James Bible - is widely believed to have been homosexual. He had a male “favourite” named George de Villiers upon whom he lavished ridiculous amounts of money, gifts and power. He was made Duke of Buckingham (with no qualification whatsoever) by the king, and a secret passageway was even built linking his bedchamber with the king’s. Théophile de Viau, a poet of the time, wrote “Apollo with his songs / debauched young Hyacinthus…And it is well known that the king of England / fucks the Duke of Buckingham.” Prior to this King James also had a homosexual relationship with a man named Robert Carr. Like Villiers, Carr was also given a bunch of noble titles like they were penny candy; he was made Earl of Somerset, Lord Chamberlain and Treasurer of Scotland despite the fact that he had no education or intellectual abilities whatsoever. He was also painted in [the gayest pose ever](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/James_I%2C_VI_by_John_de_Critz%2C_c.1606..png) for his portrait. And, unsurprisingly, King James made a point of specifically targeting “sodomites” for punishment under his rule. You can read more about all of this stuff [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_relationships_of_James_I_of_England) ---
**Author:** ![SmashTheState](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SmashTheState](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmashTheState)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/47 "2009-06-27T14:08:21Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Yes, but technically he never ‘took’ anything from Colombia, which was my point. There’s no doubt that the US was the moving force behind the Panamanian Revolt, but all the agreements were with the Panamanian government. > > No doubt the Colombians viewed it differently. When the democratically-elected Marxist government of Afghanistan was being relentlessly attacked by CIA-funded Islamic fundamentalists, they requested assistance from the Soviet Union. When the Soviets finally sent military forces to assist, the US referred to it as an “invasion.” You can’t have it both ways. Did the US invade Colombia and steal Panama, or did the Soviets simply supply aid to a duly elected government? ---
**Author:** ![SmashTheState](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SmashTheState](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmashTheState)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/48 "2009-06-27T14:24:47Z")
Little known fact (to everyone but us anarchists): The reason the US and Canada have a Labour Day rather than May Day like the rest of the world is because of the murder by the State of the [Haymarket Martyrs](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Riot_Monument.JPG/1280px-Riot_Monument.JPG) the year before. On May 4th, 1886, in Haymarket Square in Chicago, striking workers gathered for a rally. They were fighting for the 8 hour workday and the capitalists, the State, and the police were trying to stop them. Two hundred police arrived to shut down the rally. An agent provocateur working for the police threw a bomb in order to justify an attack on the strikers. The police opened fire (killing several of their own people). Eight people, all anarchists, were arrested. Some weren’t even organizers or participants, just labour people who had come to speak at the event. All eight were quickly convicted of murder. Four were hanged and one managed to commit suicide in prison to rob the State of the satisfaction of killing him. The remaining three were freed when outrage over the events erupted nationally. The men who died for your right to an 8 hour workday have become known collectively as the Haymarket Martyrs. _“If the ruling classes think that by hanging us – hanging a few anarchists – they can crush out anarchy, they will be badly mistaken, because the anarchist loves his principles more than his life. an anarchist is always ready to die for his principles.”_ – **Adolph Fischer** , Haymarket Martyr, at his trial _“Anarchism is on trial! If that is the case your honor, very well; you may sentence me, for I am an anarchist. I believe that the state of castes and classes – the state where one class dominates over and lives upon the labor of another class, and calls this order – yes, I believe that this barbaric form of social organization, with its legalized plunder and murder, is doomed to die and make room for a free society, voluntary association, or universal brotherhood, if you like. You may pronounce the sentence upon me, honorable judge, but let the world know that in AD 1886, in the state of Illinois, eight men were sentenced to death because they believed in a better future; because they had not lost their faith in the ultimate victory of liberty and justice!”_ – **August Spies** , Haymarket Martyr, at his trial After all of this, the State was – quite rightly – worried about how people would react the following year on May Day, since it would fall on the same day the strike culminating in the Haymarket Riot had begun. In New York, the Knights of Labour had its own day of celebration in September. In its typically sly, underhanded fashion, the State decreed that the official day of recognition for the sacrifices of workers and unionists would be Labour Day, in September, completely ignoring May Day. The icing on the cake? In 2007, Dubya declared May 1st to be “Loyalty Day,” a deliberate kick in the balls to those who had been murdered by the State for the crime of fighting for freedom and justice. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/49 "2009-06-27T15:05:10Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > When the democratically-elected Marxist government of Afghanistan was being relentlessly attacked by CIA-funded Islamic fundamentalists, they requested assistance from the Soviet Union. I don’t believe the Communist government of Afghanistan was democratically elected. It gained power in the [April 1978 Revolution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Afghanistan_(1978%E2%80%931992)), which started a war almost immediately. > [@SmashTheState](#): > > Little known fact (to everyone but us anarchists): > > The reason the US and Canada have a Labour Day rather than May Day like the rest of the world is because of the murder by the State of the [Haymarket Martyrs](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Riot_Monument.JPG/1280px-Riot_Monument.JPG) the year before. The Haymarket strike may not be so well-known among the general public, but it’s certainly not hidden. Even Cecil [wrote about it](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/40/does-may-day-actually-commemorate-the-birth-of-the-illuminati). ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/50 "2009-06-27T15:31:04Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > The Haymarket strike may not be so well-known among the general public, but it’s certainly not hidden. Even Cecil [wrote about it](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/40/does-may-day-actually-commemorate-the-birth-of-the-illuminati). “Hidden” is a relative term. Much of what Cecil writes about is relatively obscure to the public at large. When I was teaching at the University of Illinois, only a few of my students had heard of the Haymarket strike, and none of them knew of the May Day connection. As far as the OP goes, I’ve always found it fascinating that Andrew Jackson’s supporters trashed the White House like a party of uncontrolled teens when some poor shlub’s parents were away. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/51 "2009-06-27T15:40:42Z")
Here’s a much more recent instance of conveniently forgotten history, yet one which is hugely influential in defining our collective remembrance of the 1960s and has been used over and over again by historians and pop-culture commentators alike. It’s “common knowledge” that “The End Of The Sixties” was symbolized by the Altamont concert, where the Hells Angels stabbed a man to death during the Rolling Stones’ performance. This seemingly senseless act of brutality has apparently come to represent “what went wrong” with the Summer of Love mentality and has been considered the biggest buzz-kill of all time. And the Hells Angels are, naturally, the villains of this historical tale - quasi-fascist brutes who rained on everyone’s parade of love and peace and mellowness with their acts of thuggery. Here’s the real story. While the Rolling Stones played “Under My Thumb,” a man named Meredith Hunter, who was mentally-deranged and under the influence of methamphetamine, pulled out a revolver and began waving it around, pointing it at the stage and at fellow concert-goers. The Hells Angels, who were there to provide security at the show, responded to this threat. Alan Passaro, a member of the Angels, stabbed Meredith Hunter with a knife - Hunter later died of his wounds. An autopsy showed the presence of meth in his system. If Alan Passaro hadn’t stabbed Meredith Hunter, he could very likely have fired that pistol, and very likely could have killed people in the audience or even the Rolling Stones themselves. The guy was a dangerous lunatic with a gun, in the middle of the crowd. The Hells Angels neutralized the threat. The overall violent nature of the incident isn’t going to change anyone’s notion of the Altamont show as being the “end” of the peaceful, mellow 60s. But it should at least be understood that the Hells Angels were not the villains of Altamont. Meredith Hunter was. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/52 "2009-06-27T16:11:04Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The overall violent nature of the incident isn’t going to change anyone’s notion of the Altamont show as being the “end” of the peaceful, mellow 60s. It was almost the end of the _chronological_ 60s as well, held as it was on December 6, 1969. There’s quite a lot of conflicting accounts of what went on that day, but everyone agrees it got out of control. [Wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/53 "2009-06-27T18:47:04Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > The British regiment was from the Carribean, IIRC. > . The British regiment he’s talking about is probably Lord Dunmore’s Royal Ethiopian Regiment, which was made up of escaped Virginia slaves. There were also the Black Pioneers, also made up of escaped slaves, who were primarily a support unit…they did manual labor and didn’t fight. Unfortunately, after the war, most of the escaped slaves who served as British were screwed. A lot of them ended up as slaves, some of them managed to get to Nova Scotia or London, where they were treated like second class citizens. A lot of the former slaves in that group ended up creating the settlement of Freetown in Sierra Leone (The first ships setting up Freetown in 1791 carried 1100 former Black Pioneers and their family) If you’re interested in the topic, I’d suggest Simon Schama’s “Rough Crossings”, which talks about black loyalists and the settlement of Sierra Leone. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/54 "2009-06-27T19:12:24Z")
I only recently discovered that Alexandre Dumas was half-black (his mother was Afro-Caribbean). I remember my copy of _The Three Musketeers_ had a supposed portrait of him on the cover and it was a _white_ guy. Lies, all lies! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/55 "2009-06-27T19:21:37Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > I only recently discovered that Alexandre Dumas was half-black (his mother was Afro-Caribbean). Quarter black. His paternal grandmother was a black farmer in what’s now Haiti who married his paternal grandfather, an French nobleman and army officer who was stationed there. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/56 "2009-06-27T19:42:33Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > [I’m pretty sure that isn’t true.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake) [Better cite](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/550/did-marie-antoinette-really-say-let-them-eat-cake). 😃 I assume you only meant that the part about cake/brioche being the stuff stuck to the pan was untrue. [QUOTE=Argent Towers] Here’s a much more recent instance of conveniently forgotten history, yet one which is hugely influential in defining our collective remembrance of the 1960s and has been used over and over again by historians and pop-culture commentators alike. It’s “common knowledge” that “The End Of The Sixties” was symbolized by the Altamont concert, where the Hells Angels stabbed a man to death during the Rolling Stones’ performance. This seemingly senseless act of brutality has apparently come to represent “what went wrong” with the Summer of Love mentality and has been considered the biggest buzz-kill of all time. And the Hells Angels are, naturally, the villains of this historical tale - quasi-fascist brutes who rained on everyone’s parade of love and peace and mellowness with their acts of thuggery. [/QUOTE] While it may indeed be true that the Hell’s Angels neutralized a threat by stabbing Meredith Hunter, stabbing people isn’t exactly what you pay security guards to do. ---
**Author:** ![Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kneepants_Erasmus_the_Humanist)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/57 "2009-06-27T19:48:05Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > The icing on the cake? In 2007, Dubya declared May 1st to be “Loyalty Day,” a deliberate kick in the balls to those who had been murdered by the State for the crime of fighting for freedom and justice. WHOA! I had never heard of “Loyalty Day” before I read your post. Very, very creepy. Although, to be fair to ol’ Dubya (words not often uttered), it had been declared an official holiday during the Eisenhower administration. All Bush did was issue a proclamation, as did each president since Eisenhower (except Johnson and Nixon … guess they other things to worry about). [Linkapedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalty_Day) I will second the recommendation of Lies My Teacher Told Me. I knew Woodrow Wilson was a racist asshole, but I didn’t realize how bad he really was before reading this book. I also strongly recommend The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/58 "2009-06-27T21:06:51Z")
I don’t know where anybody gets the idea that Haymarket (or the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, or the imprisonment of Japanese-Americans during WW2, or the treatment of the American Indians) was hushed up. MAYBE that happens in some places, but I grew up in NEw York City in the Sixties and Seventies, and I found just the opposite to be true. History texts were, if anything, very liberal, and emphasized America’s crimes over her accomplishments, her sins over her flaws. My brother’s 5th grade history book had 4 total pages on World War 2- a full 2 of them were devoted to the imprisonment of Japanese-Americans. We sure didn’t need “Lies My Teacher Told Me,” because the lies WE heard were those favored by the Left. ---
**Author:** ![SmashTheState](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SmashTheState](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmashTheState)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/59 "2009-06-27T21:12:02Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > History texts were, if anything, very liberal, and emphasized America’s crimes over her accomplishments, her sins over her flaws. […] We sure didn’t need “Lies My Teacher Told Me,” because the lies WE heard were those favored by the Left. I’ll make you a deal. When Amerika stops committing atrocities, we’ll stop writing about it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087/60 "2009-06-27T21:45:17Z")
For what it’s worth, I hadn’t heard of the Haymarket affair until today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveniently-forgotten-historical-facts/501087.md?page=4)