10 things you didn't know about Fort Knox

(a thread 🧵)

1. Fort Knox Was Named For The First US Secretary Of War

The first fortifications at the future location of Fort Knox were established during the American Civil War. Located in Kentucky, the site served as a military outpost from the late 19th century until the first World War.

In 1918, the government set up an artillery training facility on 40,000 acres of land in Kentucky and named it Camp Henry Knox, after the first Secretary of War.

After World War I ended, the number of troops at the camp was reduced, with part of the land briefly becoming a national forest.

In 1931, Camp Knox became permanent home to the Mechanized Cavalry, and in 1932, the name changed to Fort Knox. 2. Very Few People Have Seen The Gold At Fort Knox

In August 2017, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin visited the gold vault at Fort Knox and, along with a few other politicians, surveyed the site. Kentucky congressman Brett Guthrie also made the trip, and issued the following statement:

"It was an honor to join Secretary Mnuchin, Governor Bevin, and Senator McConnell to visit the depository yesterday - the first time visitors have been allowed at the facility since members of Congress inspected the depository in 1974... I am glad to report that everything at the depository looked to be secure and in order."

The last Congressional visit prior to this occurred in 1974. To date, only one US president has been inside the vault - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who served as president when the US Bullion Depository within Fort Knox was established.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thread of U.S. presidents on their wedding day

1. John F. & Jackie Kennedy, 1953. 2. Rutherford B. & Lucy Hayes in Chillicothe, OH, on December 30, 1852.

Living in the White House might seem glamorous, but it comes with some strange quirks.

From secret rooms to bizarre rules, life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is weirder than you know

Here are some of the strangest things about living in the White House... (thread 🧵) 1. There Is No Private Entrance Or Exit To The Residence

It makes sense the first family can't just come and go as they please, but did you know, according to 'The Obamas' by Jodi Kantor, they do not have any private entrances or exits where they live?

It's one of the downsides to living in a combination fortress/museum.

Staff & tourists have access to the Diplomatic Reception Room - close to where the entrance to the White House bedrooms is located - during regular operating hours, so the first family has to crouch behind brown screens to avoid detection.

Fort Knox is the most secure vault in the world.

It holds 147 million ounces of gold, worth over $300 billion - or so they say.

Few have ever seen inside. Some claim it's empty. Others believe it hides something far more valuable than gold.

Here's the truth... (thread 🧵) 1. By the 1930s, the U.S. was stockpiling gold to stabilize the economy during the Great Depression. But where do you store thousands of tons of gold?

In 1936, Fort Knox was built in Kentucky, chosen for its central location & distance from coastal threats.

It was designed to be impenetrable - and it still is.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day as well as the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz

Millions of innocent lives were taken - but their stories must never be lost.

We remember, so history is never repeated - some of these images are difficult to view, but it is necessary that they are seen

1. Survivors of the Dachau concentration camp demonstrate the operation of the crematorium by dragging a corpse towards one of the ovens in a crematorium, 1945. 2. The bodies of former prisoners stacked outside the crematorium in the newly-liberated Buchenwald concentration camp, April 23, 1945.

Do you remember high school history or did you sleep during class?

Here are ten questions from a 10th-grade level U.S. history quiz to test your knowledge!

7/10 correct to pass

Key at the end

1. Which English colony was the first permanent settlement in North America? 2. What was the significance of the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison (1803)?

Thread of what popular websites used to look like when the Internet was still young

Which of these do you remember?

1. Twitter's landing page when the site was launched in 2006 2. The Facebook's profile page layout in 2005

Today, college dorms have laptops, LED lights, & mini-fridges - but what did they look like long ago?

Dorm life used to be a different world

Here’s a look inside college dorms from 100+ years ago

(thread 🧵)

1. College dorm room in 1910 at the University of Illinois 2. Group of female students enjoying what is often thought of as a modern pastime, a sleep over, at Peace College, Raleigh, NC in the 1910s.

Can you pass the test taken to become a U.S. citizen?

Here are 10 questions from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Naturalization Test

6/10 to pass

Answer key is at the end

1. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers. 2. When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?

The Panama Canal is one of history’s greatest feats of engineering

It revolutionized global trade

But it almost never happened...

Disease, failure, & political battles nearly doomed it.

Here’s the story of how the U.S. built the canal that changed the world

(thread 🧵) 1. Before the canal, ships had to sail 8,000 miles around South America to travel between the Atlantic & Pacific.

A shortcut through Panama had been dreamed of for centuries.

The Spanish explored it in the 1500s & France tried to build it in the 1880s.

Imagine being drugged without your consent

Your mind warps, reality distorts

The people experimenting on you?

They work for the U.S. government

This isn’t a bad dream - it’s MKUltra, the CIA’s real-life attempt to master mind control

This is the terrifying truth... (thread🧵) 1/ After WWII, the U.S. became obsessed with mind control and psychological warfare

The CIA feared the Soviets, Chinese, and North Koreans had developed powerful brainwashing techniques.

Determined to catch up, the CIA launched MKUltra in 1953, a program designed to unlock the secrets of mind control - by any means necessary.

Thread of heartbreaking before and after photos

1. Before & after the Los Angeles fires 2. North Carolina's Chimney Rock Village before & after Hurricane Helene

In 1974, Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase photographed his wife, Yōko Wanibe, every morning from the window of their apartment in Tokyo as she left for work

These are some of my favorite from the series

(thread 🧵)

Historical images you didn't know were altered from the original

Thread 🧵

1. This might be one of the most famous portraits of Lincoln, but it is actually a composite image. At the time it was made, Lincoln lacked a truly commanding photo, so one was made using an existing photo of Southern politician (and anti-abolitionist) John Calhoun.

It had the right framing, the patriotic background, everything you could want in an inspirational photograph. Now it was just a matter of taking Lincoln’s head and placing it over Calhoun’s–the famed states-rights, pro-slavery politician. 2. Here is a relatively standard photo of Stalin along with other Soviet officials. To Stalin’s left is Nikolai Yezhov, head of Stalin’s “police force”.

However, at one point Yezhov fell out of Stalin’s good graces and was removed from office. As was standard practice for Stalin, he attempted to have Yezhov removed from history as well, and had him eliminated from public record, including the above image, one of history’s most infamous photoshopped photos.

Leopold II of Belgium ruled the Congo Free State from 1885–1908

He exploited the land for ivory & rubber using forced labor

His reign became infamous for brutal policies of terror & mutilation

10+ million died

This is the grim story of King Leopold II's reign... (thread 🧵) 1. Belgium may not be the first European country that most people think of when they hear the words “blood-soaked colonial tyranny.”

Historically, the little country has always been more famous for beer than epic crimes against humanity.

But there was a time, at the peak of European imperialism in Africa, when Belgium’s King Leopold II ran a personal empire so vast and cruel, it rivaled the crimes of even the worst 20th-century dictators.

On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz & the 7,000 starving prisoners inside

This was the first time that the horrors of the Holocaust were fully revealed to the world

Here is what the Soviets found in Auschwitz, where over 1 million were murdered

Thread 🧵 1. "We saw emaciated, tortured, impoverished people,” Soviet soldier Ivan Martynushkin recalled

Martynushkin added: "It was hard to watch them. I remember their faces, especially their eyes which betrayed their ordeal."

Entertaining old photos taken with Santa Claus to get you in the Holiday Spirit

A thread 🧵

1. 2.

221 years ago today, on December 20, 1803, one of the greatest land deals in history was finalized

The Louisiana Purchase

828,000 square miles of land that cost just $15 million & changed the nation’s trajectory

Here’s how it all happened… (thread🧵) 1. In the early 1800s, the Louisiana Territory was a vast, mysterious land stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

France, under Napoleon Bonaparte, controlled the territory but had little ability to defend it.

Dawn Brancheau was living her dream

As one of SeaWorld’s top trainers, she had a rare bond with orcas, especially Tilikum

But in 2010, her tragic death during a live show shook the world & exposed the darker side of marine mammal captivity

Here’s her story… (thread🧵) 1. Brancheau grew up in Indiana & fell in love with SeaWorld after visiting the park as a child.

Her dream was to work with orcas.

After earning a psychology degree and training as a zookeeper, she joined SeaWorld in 1994 and quickly became one of their top trainers.

By the end of WWII, Hitler wasn’t just a dictator - he was also a drug addict

Fueled by a cocktail of cocaine, amphetamines, & other bizarre injections, his substance abuse spiraled into full-blown dependency

Here’s how it started - and how it shaped his downfall… (thread🧵) 1. Hitler’s drug use began innocuously.

In the 1930s, he was a teetotaler & opposed smoking, promoting a “pure” lifestyle.

But by 1941, he relied heavily on drugs provided by his personal physician, Dr. Theodor Morell, who was nicknamed the “Reich Master of Injections."

A thread of what everyday life used to look like in the United States of America 🇺🇸

1. Average American family in Detroit, Michigan, 1954. A house, car, and enough to support a family, all on a Ford factory worker's wages! 2. Housewife poses with a weeks’ worth of groceries in 1947. She spent a total of $12.50 (not including milk) to buy her groceries. On this budget, she is able to feed herself, her husband, her four-year-old twins & their cat.