# Historical oddities **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 23, 2018, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-oddities/814666 "2018-05-23T09:58:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-oddities/814666/161 "2019-10-06T22:20:07Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > What was it doing in Germany? The painter was a German national who had lived in the US, Emmanuel Leutze. The original was in a Bremen museum which was bombed. He also painted a full scale copy and a smaller one, which have never left the US. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-oddities/814666/162 "2019-10-06T22:46:03Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > The poster boy for the “short guys overcompensate” historical meme, Napoleon was actually a bit on the tall side for his era (5’8"). > > Moreso my personal bugbear than oddity: the Amish and Mennonite are Pennyslvania DEUTSCH, not Dutch. They were/are Germanic peoples, not wooden shoe-windmill folk. The Dutch are also Germanic. Deutsch and Dutch are cognates, I believe they both simply mean “people” or “folk”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-oddities/814666/163 "2019-10-06T23:43:24Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > There is a third gen Honda Civic up the street from me with “QQ” Histotic Liscence Plates. > > In other words… > > _There are Electronically Fuel Injected cars on the road today labeled ANTIQUES!_ My brother’s car is a 1990 Toyota Camry, and he got “classic vehicle” plates for it, simply because that means the property taxes are less. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-oddities/814666/164 "2019-10-07T03:52:48Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > The painter was a German national who had lived in the US, Emmanuel Leutze. The original was in a Bremen museum which was bombed. He also painted a full scale copy and a smaller one, which have never left the US. Who bombed it, British or Americans? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-oddities/814666/165 "2019-10-07T13:28:52Z")
The discussion of **Washington Crossing the Delaware** brought to mind that other “patriotic” painting, **The Spirit of '76**. This was painted by a guy from Ohio for the American Revolution Centennial exposition in 1876. After a tour of the United States, it ended up – for reasons that have never been clear to me – not in any museum, but in the Selectmen’s Room at Abbott Hall (City Hall) in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The building isn’t even open after hours or on weekends. If you want to see it, you have to come to the Hall during regular business hours during the week. > **[Marblehead's "The Spirit of 76" Painting | Marblehead MA](https://www.marblehead.org/selectmens-office/pages/marbleheads-spirit-76-painting)** > > "The Spirit of 76", located in the Selectmen’s Room of Abbot Hall in Marblehead, MA, was painted by Archibald M. Willard of Ohio. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald\_Willard#The\_Spirit\_of\_'76](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Willard#The_Spirit_of_'76) ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-oddities/814666/166 "2019-10-07T15:21:07Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > A group of Vikings traveled to Constantinople and became the bodyguards of the Pope, thus founding the Swiss Guard. No, The [Swiss Guards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard) were/are indeed Swiss, not Vikings, and started out as mercenaries in the 15th century. The [Varangian Guard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian_Guard) were vikings who became the personal guard of the emperors in Constantinople. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-oddities/814666.md?page=8)