# Little-known American history **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227 "2007-11-05T00:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/1 "2007-11-05T00:07:36Z")
What are some American historical oddities that you know about, but nobody else seems to? I, for one, was surprised to find out earlier this year that Jimmy Carter had been attacked by a giant rabbit in 1976. Help me out! ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/2 "2007-11-05T00:31:15Z")
You obviously haven’t been keeping up with [Uncle Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_019.html). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/3 "2007-11-05T00:39:23Z")
General Robert E. Lee’s intended invasion of the North was largely repelled because a military aid accidentally dropped a copy of the orders, wrapped around some cigars (to keep them dry, I believe), and a Northern Corps happened to set up camp in the same spot a few days later and found them. Doh! :smack: > **[Special Order 191](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Order_191)** > > Special Order 191 (series 1862), also known as the "Lost Dispatch" and the "Lost Order", was a general movement order issued by Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee on about September 9, 1862, during the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. A lost copy of this order was recovered on September 13 by Union Army troops in Frederick County, Maryland, and the subsequent military intelligence gained by the Union played an important role in the Battle of South Mountain and Battle of Antietam... ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/4 "2007-11-05T00:40:26Z")
Peter Francisco, the US Revolution’s Hercules. > **[Peter Francisco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Francisco)** > > Peter Francisco (born Pedro Francisco; July 9, 1760 – January 16, 1831) known variously as the "India," the "Giant of the Revolution," and occasionally the "Virginia Hercules," was a Portuguese-born American patriot and soldier in the American Revolutionary War. > Francisco is shrouded in mystery. It is believed he was born on July 9, 1760, at Porto Judeu, on the island of Terceira, in the Archipelago of the Azores, Portugal. In the case of the origin of his identification with the child named P... ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/5 "2007-11-05T00:45:25Z")
[Norton I, Emperor of the United States of America](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_the_United_States) ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/6 "2007-11-05T00:49:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] [Norton I, Emperor of the United States of America](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_the_United_States) [/QUOTE] 😃 That’s been my favorite ever since I read “A Dirty Job” by Christopher Moore. I named my character after him in an online game. ---
**Author:** ![Dosipede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dosipede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dosipede)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/7 "2007-11-05T01:45:33Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] 😃 That’s been my favorite ever since I read “A Dirty Job” by Christopher Moore. I named my character after him in an online game. [/QUOTE] Likewise for me. Christopher Moore is my favorite author. My contribution: In 1843, Yucatan asked nearby countries for help repelling a force intent on returning the peninsula to Mexican rule. Although Sam Houston forbade any Texan involvement, the Texas navy, under Commadore Edwin Moore, sailed and defeated Santa Anna’s invading force in the Battle of Campeche. The navy was greeted as heroes upon its reurn to Texas, and Moore was arrested for violating orders. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/8 "2007-11-05T01:53:34Z")
[QUOTE=Dosipede] defeated Santa Anna’s invading force in the Battle of Campeche. [/QUOTE] A depiction of which was engraved on Colt’s 1851 Navy revolvers. ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/9 "2007-11-05T01:54:58Z")
New York City had [major explosions well before 9/11](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom). ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/10 "2007-11-05T02:08:47Z")
Among the worst tragedies in the history of Massachusetts was the 1919 [Boston Molasses Disaster](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boston_Molasses_Disaster). ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/11 "2007-11-05T02:09:11Z")
[QUOTE=Paladud] New York City had [major explosions well before 9/11](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom). [/QUOTE] New York City? Last I checked, that was in Jersey City, New Jersey. I’ve been to the site of the explosion. (It’s just down the street, after all.) ---
**Author:** ![Dosipede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dosipede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dosipede)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/12 "2007-11-05T02:12:31Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] A depiction of which was engraved on Colt’s 1851 Navy revolvers. [/QUOTE] That I did not know. Another tidbit I was unaware of before a little research tonight to refresh my memory on the incident: it was the only time a sailing vessel was victorious over a steam-driven warship. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/13 "2007-11-05T10:17:03Z")
9/11 wasn’t the first time that any of NYC’s landmark skyscrapers was struck by an airplane. In 1947 or so a USAF B-25 crashed into the Empire State Building in heavy fog, killing everyone on the plane and several inside the building (fortunately, this happened on a Sunday, so hardly anybody was at work, and a B-25 is a rather small airplane on the scale of things). Probably a bit better known since Hurricane Katrina than it was before, but the costliest natural disaster in US history was the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, where the entire city of Galveston, Texas was literally swept into the sea by a storm surge, killing somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,000 people. Before the American entry into the First World War, many American pilots flew in the Lafayette Esquadrille, a French fighter squadron made up entirely of American pilots. Similarly, No. 33 Squadron, The American Eagles, flew for the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, having forfeited their US Citizenships and sworn loyalty to the King of England in order to get into the fight. In China, before the US was officially operating on the Asian mainland, the American Volunteer Group, nicknamed “The Flying Tigers”, flew as mercenaries for the Nationalist Chinese against the Japanese. They were suprisingly well equipped for a group of freelancers, having gotten quite a deal on P-40 Warhawks from the US government, and including numerous American military pilots who were allowed to resign their commissions in order to join up with the AVG. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/14 "2007-11-05T13:41:59Z")
The biggest industry to hit the colonies _ **after** _ logging and clear cutting of all the New England Forests was charcoal from all the stumps. Colonial homes were taxed on the thickness of their hardwood flooring, which gave way to the thicker planks being used in the up stairs and the thinner ones used downstairs, this is because it was considered rude for the tax collector to go upstairs in a home, which was deemd for the family living space and not for guests or strangers. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/15 "2007-11-05T13:49:45Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] The biggest industry to hit the colonies _ **after** _ logging and clear cutting of all the New England Forests was charcoal from all the stumps. Colonial homes were taxed on the thickness of their hardwood flooring, which gave way to the thicker planks being used in the up stairs and the thinner ones used downstairs, this is because it was considered rude for the tax collector to go upstairs in a home, which was deemd for the family living space and not for guests or strangers. [/QUOTE] Used to be in New Spain that you got a tax break on unfinished public buildings, so many towns featured a church that lacked a steeple. They’d use the church for all of their town meetings and such, and they’d never get around to putting up the steeple. Supposedly this tradition is why the chapel at Randolph AFB in San Antonio does not have a steeple. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/16 "2007-11-05T14:12:29Z")
Anything discussed on QI. Like the Olympics in the early 1900s where one of the marathon runners stopped to pick apples, which were unripe, so he had to stop and take a nap. He ended up coming in third or fourth. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/17 "2007-11-05T14:24:47Z")
The worst fire in American history – both in terms of loss of life and monetary damage – was the [Great Peshtigo Fire](http://www.rootsweb.com/~wioconto/Fire.htm) of 1871. It is obscure partly because it took place at the same day, and almost the same time as the Great Chicago Fire, which caused far less damage. If you ask anyone to guess the name of the worst fire in US history, they’ll get the date right, but not the location. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/18 "2007-11-05T15:33:24Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] I, for one, was surprised to find out earlier this year that Jimmy Carter had been attacked by a giant rabbit in 1976. [/QUOTE] Twas in 1979, when he was already President and experiencing a particualrly rough patch in his administration. In 1912, the incumbent Vice President died eight days before the presidential election. Imagine how big a story the equivalent event would be today. At the time, nobody seems to have cared in the slightest. Sometimes I long for the calm wisdom of our ancestors. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/19 "2007-11-05T15:44:44Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] In 1912, the incumbent Vice President died eight days before the presidential election. Imagine how big a story the equivalent event would be today. At the time, nobody seems to have cared in the slightest. [/QUOTE] He was not only incumbent VP, but was also the running mate of the incumbent president running for re-election. However, Taft never had a chance, since Roosevelt had spoiled the election for him. Taft carried just 2 states with 23% of the popular vote; Wilson won the election by carrying 40 states with under 42% of the popular vote. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227/20 "2007-11-05T15:58:27Z")
One more thing about how odd the 1912 election was: the Socialist candidate (Debs) beat the incumbent GOP president in 6 states (Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Nevada). That’s not counting South Dakota, where Debs was on the ballot paper but Taft wasn’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-american-history/425227.md?page=2)