Wojtek wasn’t your average bear - he was a beer-guzzling, cigarette-eating soldier who fought Nazis during WWII.
Wojtek would wrestle with the soldiers, salute his commanders & when it came time to fight, he was ready
This is the true story of Corporal Wojtek
(thread 🧵) 1. Wojtek was a Syrian brown bear born in Iran. After his mother was shot by hunters when he was young, Wojtek was found as a cub by a young Iranian boy who sold him to Polish soldiers. They fed him condensed milk out of an empty vodka bottle (what else?) & quickly adopted him into their ranks.
Nov 7 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
Thread of bizarre beauty pageant queens from American history
1. Miss Sausage Queen Geene Courtney of 1955. Sponsored by the Zion Meat Company during National Hot Dog Week. 2. Connie Blake from Bassett, Nebraska was "Miss Stock Grower" of 1969.
Oct 29 • 11 tweets • 10 min read
A thread on how to recognize & combat Holocaust denial
1/ It's important to define what is talked about here. Within the relevant scholarly literature & for the purpose of this post, the Holocaust is defined as the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews and millions more Roma, Sinti, & other groups by the Nazi regime & its collaborators.
Holocaust Denial is the attempt & effort to negate, distort, and/or trivialize the established facts about the Nazi genocides against Jews, Roma, & others with the goal to rehabilitate Nazism as an ideology.2/ The fact that the Nazi regime applied the tools at the disposal of the modern state to genocidal ends, their sheer brutality, and a variety of other factors, the ideology of Nazism & the broader historical phenomenon of Fascism in which Nazism is often placed, have become – rightfully so – politically tainted.
As an ideology that is at its core racist, anti-Semitic, and genocidal, Nazism and Fascism have become politically discredited throughout most of the world.
Holocaust Deniers seek to remove this taint from the ideology of Nazism by distorting, ignoring, & misrepresenting historical fact & thereby make Nazism and Fascism socially acceptable again. In other words, Holocaust Denial is a form of political agitation in the service of bigotry, racism, & anti-Semitism.
Oct 26 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
Thread of historical images if they had been taken today
1. A Bird's Eye View of New York City, 1851 & 2020 2. Quincy Market, Boston, 1900 & 2018
Oct 25 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
Thread of what everyday life used to look like
1. Teenagers at a party in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1947. 2. A happy, thankful family, 1959.
Oct 24 • 12 tweets • 8 min read
If you ask what the evilest event in history is, many would say the Holocaust
Ask who the most monstrous figure was, and Josef Mengele - nicknamed the “Angel of Death” - often tops the list
The more you learn about Mengele, the more horrifying & sadistic he gets
Thread 🧵 1. Josef earned a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Munich in 1935. He followed this by working in genetics with some of the leading medical minds of Germany & and he earned a second, medical doctorate
Mengele was a dedicated Nazi & joined the SS around the same time he earned his medical degree. When World War II broke out, he was sent to the eastern front as an officer to fight the Soviets. He earned an Iron Cross Second Class in 1941.
Oct 23 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
In 2014, Lars Mittank was caught on camera running into a forest in Bulgaria. He vanished without a trace.
This came days after Lars got in a fight & became paranoid, saying that he was being chased & hunted.
The more you learn about the case, the stranger it gets (thread🧵) 1. 28-year-old Lars Mittank joined a handful of his friends on vacation to Bulgaria
At one point during the trip, Lars found himself involved in a bar fight with four men about which football club was better: SV Werder Bremen or Bayern Munich.
Mittank was a Werder supporter, while the other four supported Bayern. Mittank left the bar before his friends did & they allegedly didn’t see him again until the next morning, after he had been beaten up.
Oct 22 • 5 tweets • 4 min read
A thread of last-minute decisions that changed the course of history
1. The Officer That Doomed The Titanic - The sinking of the Titanic is one of the greatest naval tragedies in history. The ship, famously described as “unsinkable,” hit an iceberg in the Atlantic and sank shortly thereafter. There is plenty of blame to be passed around for the massive loss of life on that night, but one portion belongs to a last-minute decision to switch officers.
Second Officer David Blair was removed from the crew just before the ship set sail, and he forgot to hand in his key to a locker that contained binoculars for the lookout. The ship had set off before he realized, and so the crew had to watch for icebergs using only their eyes. Obviously, this proved woefully inadequate.2. MLK Improvised 'I Have A Dream' - If there’s one Martin Luther King Jr. quote that everyone knows, it’s “I have a dream.” This line came as part of a powerful and inspiring speech on civil rights delivered by the reverend August 28, 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. In it, King espoused his vision of a future that included racial harmony, framed around the idea of a “dream” he had. However, originally, there wasn’t meant to be any mention of dreaming.
King had an entire speech written and prepared, but when Mahalia Jackson, a gospel singer in the audience, shouted “tell ‘em about the dream,” King started to improvise. He began speaking from the heart, not his prepared notes, & the result was perhaps the greatest example of public speaking in American history.
Oct 19 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
A thread of captivating historical images you've (probably) never seen before
1. The New York Military Academy marching in the 1963 Columbus Day Parade
Commanding Officer Donald J. Trump, age 17, leads the way 2. An Officer Halts Traffic To Make Way For A Cat Carrying A Kitten Across The Street, 1925.
Oct 18 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
A thread of unnerving historical images you've (probably) never seen before
1. Eunice Winstead Johns, 9, with her husband, Charlie Johns, 22, at their home in Tennessee, 1937. 2. Picture of Mary Lincoln with the alleged ghost of her husband Abraham Lincoln behind her, 1872.
Oct 17 • 11 tweets • 8 min read
Tank Man took on a column of Chinese tanks a day after the Tiananmen Square massacre, leaving behind a legacy of defiance & resistance against oppressive regimes
His identity & what happened to him remain unknown to this day
This is is all that we do know about him
Thread 🧵 1. The story of Tank Man begins in April of 1989, when a Chinese politician named Hu Yaobang was forced to resign from the Communist Party & then subsequently died of a heart attack.
Hu was a reformer, someone who was pushing back against some of the big problems facing Communist China in the 80s – rampant corruption, secrecy, & the suppression of civil liberties that were typical of totalitarian regimes from this era.
With his death, protests began in cities across China, demanding greater civil liberties, a continuation of Hu's policies, and more freedom & liberty for the Chinese people.
The biggest of these demonstrations took place in the heart of Beijing, at Tiananmen Square.
Oct 16 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
The historical origins of popular English phrases
Thread 🧵
1. Close But No Cigar
Meaning: Said to someone who falls slightly short of a successful outcome
Historical Context: The phrase originated from traveling fairs & carnivals during the 1800s, when cigars were given out as prizes to games.
As many carnival games seem designed to feel winnable, but then are nearly impossible to actually win, people were often said to be, "close, but no cigar."2. Rule of Thumb
Meaning: A general guide or principle, based on experience or estimation rather than exact science.
Historical Context: The phrase is thought to be derived from an old English law that said a husband could beat his wife, so long as the stick he used was no thicker than his thumb. Judge Sir Francis Buller supposedly made the ruling in 1782 and became known as "Judge Thumb."
Another theory is that the phrase came about from the many ways a thumb can be used to estimate or measure things. Whether a seamstress roughly estimating an inch of fabric or a brewmaster dipping their thumb into the beer to get the temperature, there are plenty of old-school ways that a "rule of thumb" was likely used.
The phrase is found in Sir William Hope's The Compleat Fencing Master (1692): "What he doth, he doth by rule of Thumb, and not by Art."
James Kelly's The Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs, 1721, includes: "No Rule so good as Rule of Thumb, if it hit", meaning a practical approximation.
Oct 15 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
Thread of interesting documents from history you've (probably) never seen before
1. A woman applied to Disney in 1938 for an apprentice position. This was the letter of rejection sent to her from Disney.
"Women do not do any of the creative work..." 2. In 1983, Steve Jobs sent this ironic reply to someone that asked for an autograph
Oct 14 • 10 tweets • 7 min read
Marie Curie wasn’t just a scientist - she was a trailblazing, genius badass
She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize & then just to flex, she won ANOTHER
During WWI, she brought mobile X-ray units to the front lines THAT SHE INVENTED
These are her "greatest hits" (thread) 1. Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie was born in Warsaw in 1867, at a time when her beloved homeland of Poland was basically being neck-stomped into submission by the Russian Empire.
Her family had tried to make a stand against the oppression of their people (and had subsequently lost all of their wealth and property due to their involvement in a rebel Polish nationalist society), but I guess you can't blame them for trying.
Maria herself worked in the secret underground "free university" as a teenager, where she went around and read to Polish women who were working in factories in an effort to try and educate them to do something awesome with their lives.
Oct 13 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
Harriet Tubman was the kind of badass you just don't see anymore
Tubman escaped from slavery & then went back 13 times to rescue 70+ others
Her legacy goes beyond the Underground Railroad - did you know she was a spy during the Civil War?
Here are her "greatest hits" (thread)1. Born into slavery on a Maryland plantation, Harriet spent her first 25 years living under the watchful gaze of a number of different jackass overseers and housemistresses.
While this five-foot-two tall woman may not have been the most physically imposing, hard work made her tough as hell – she toned her body and her muscles working grueling manual labor twelve hours a day, seven days a week.
Out in the unforgiving Maryland sun, she beat the hell out of trees with an axe, hacked up firewood, plowed an endless assortment fields, and drove unwieldy ox-carts.
Before long, her physical strength matched her unshakable willpower.
Oct 12 • 12 tweets • 6 min read
Australia has the largest concentration of dangerous, venomous creatures on Earth
Its been described as, "a terrible place that leaves none but the strongest alive."
No one embodied Australia more than Steve Irwin
These are his "greatest hits" (thread 🧵) 1. Steve Irwin didn't even think twice about tackling fifteen foot crocs, wrestling giant pythons or holding the most poisonous spiders on the planet ten inches from his face. Not only did he do stuff that most so-called badasses would never even THINK of attempting in their right minds; he LOVED doing it. He lived for it. Steve traveled to every corner of the earth to find the deadliest, most ferocious animals imaginable. He was fearless, reckless & balls-out 110% of the time.
Steve said, “Crocodiles are easy. They try to kill and eat you. People are harder. Sometimes they pretend to be your friend first.”
Oct 12 • 14 tweets • 8 min read
Teddy Roosevelt was the 26th U.S. President from 1901 to 1909
While his presidency is perhaps best known for his conservation legacy, Roosevelt was one of the most face-smashing, rough-riding, badass dudes to grace the Oval Office
These are his "greatest hits" (thread 🧵) 1. Teddy Roosevelt suffered from sever Asthma & nearsightedness but didn't let that hold him back. He spoke French & German fluently, studied in Europe, wrote numerous literary works & attended Harvard & Columbia Law School.
Oct 11 • 19 tweets • 6 min read
A thread of some of the most harrowing images from the Holocaust that everyone needs to see, lest we forget
1. Two workers showing their liberators what their work was like in a crematorium at Dachau, May 1945. Sonderkommandos were work units made up of German Nazi death camp prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the disposal of gas chamber victims.2. Smoking remains of some of the victims of the Gardelegen Massacre, Germany 1945. This scene was discovered 2 days later by American soldiers.
Oct 10 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
As we take time today to recognize #WorldMentalHealthDay we also take a look back at those we wish were still with us.
Tell those you love that you love them
1. Robin Williams taking a photo with a Dairy Queen worker in Aug. 2014. Robin is 63 here and looks fragile. This was one of the last pictures he took before taking his life.2. The very last photo of Chester Bennington (Linkin Park's lead singer) taken by his wife just one day before he took his own life.
Sep 26 • 16 tweets • 8 min read
Obsolete jobs that no longer exist - thread 🧵 1. Lector - In the past, factories often employed individuals known as “lectores” to read stories aloud, providing entertainment and a break from the monotony of work.
Sep 20 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
A thread of before & after Ancient Civilizations
Thousands of Years Ago to Today
The passing of time is inevitable; history is what's left behind