Page 121 - History Facts

In 1937, a Florida teenager and her father may have overheard several hours of Amelia Earhart's post-crash distress calls on a shortwave radio.

A fifteen year old girl in St Petersburg, Florida might have picked up signal from Amelia Earhart’s distress calls. Her father had erected a 60 foot long antenna across the yard to the nearest pole by the street. She would routinely pick up radio signals from all across the world. 

One afternoon in July of 1937 she picked up something entirely different. She was surfing the channels when she came across a woman very upset saying that she was Amelia Earhart. The girl was an airplane fanatic and knew all about Earhart’s World Flight. 

She opened her notebook and began jotting down everything that was said. The speech was too fast for her to write everything down and the signal faded in and out making some things very distorted. She also heard a man with Amelia who seemed to have a head injury. 

They had crashed on land, but were worried about rising waters around them. They struggled to get out of the plane. The signal continued for three hours. When her father got home he notified the Coast Guard and was told it was under control. No one ever took them seriously. 

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The Statue of Liberty was originally meant to go to Egypt, not the U.S.!

The Statue of Liberty was originally meant to look like an Arab peasant and to be at the entrance of the Suez Canal in Egypt and her flame was to symbolize the light she was bringing to Asia. 

The sculptor, Barthaldi, fell in love with the Middle East and all it entailed in 1855. Barthaldi returned to Egypt in 1869 with the blueprint of giant statue of a woman that would double as a lighthouse at the entrance of the Suez Canal. 

Egypt wasn’t reaping any of the monetary benefits of the canal even though it was located in Egypt. Barthaldi realized that he could never put his statue in Egypt, because they didn’t have the financial means. 

He was heartbroken and sailed to New York. As his ship entered New York Harbor, Barthaldi spotted the deserted, oval island of Bedloe. It was perfect for his statue. The French and the Americans were friends and between the two of them, they paid for statue. The statue was revamped and sent to the U.S. 

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In 1983, a Mexican private jet made an emergency landing in Mallow, Ireland and had to stay for five weeks so a runway could be built, during which time the pilot became a local celeb.

The nearest airports to Mallow are in Cork, which is 42 kilometers away and Shannon Airport, which is 59 kilometers away. There is also a flying club nearby in a town called Rathcoole and a Helicopter Charter Company in Dromahane. 

In 1983, though, the Mallow Racecourse, now known as Cork Racecourse, became an emergency landing strip for a Mexican private jet. The Mexican Gulfstream II business jet was piloted by Captain Reuben Ocana who said he needed to make a cautionary landing. 

A temporary tarmac runway was built within five weeks of the emergency landing, so that it could leave. The strip was 3,000 feet long and paid for by the jet’s insurers. In the mean time, Captain Ocana became a local celebrity. Just before the plane left Mallow, the Captain said his goodbye to the people of Ireland in the Irish language. 

He left a big impression that forever endeared himself to the nation. The runway was subsequently utilized for parking during race meets and was a popular place for learning to drive. 

Light aircrafts have occasionally landed at the racecourse on the grass area. The F3A World Model Aircraft Aerobatic Championship was held there in 2001. 

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Native Americans didn’t originally use or know about horses. They were introduced to them by the Spaniards!

Primitive horses lived in North America in prehistoric times. They died out during the last ice age. So, at the beginning of the Columbian Exchange, there weren’t any horses in North America. 

They were reintroduced to the continent during the time of the conquistadors, beginning with Columbus. He imported horses from Spain to the West Indies on his second voyage in 1493.

Then, domesticated horses were brought by Cortes in 1519. Mustangs were brought to Mexico and Florida. They were mostly of Arabian and Barb ancestry. Some of them escaped and were captured by Native Americans who quickly adapted to the horses and utilized them for transportation. They replaced the dog in carrying and pulling objects. 

Horses also improved battle strategies, hunting, and trade. Hunting bison was considerably improved by the use of horses who could keep up with the running herds. Native Americans grew more successful in hunting and using bison. 

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The Imperial House of Bonaparte continues to keep track of Napoleon’s bloodline just in case the dynasty is put back in power!

The House of Bonaparte is an imperial and royal European dynasty founded by Napoleon I of France in 1804. Napoleon dominated Europe with the Grande Armee and put his family members as head of the states to ensure his dynasty. They were eventually ousted. 

Napoleon had no direct descendents, but the family line passes on through his brother, Jerome Bonaparte. Today, Napoleon’s great-great-great-grandnephew, Jean Christophe, is head of the Imperial House of Bonaparte. The House continues just in case France happens to want to put the dynasty back into power. 

Jean Christophe’s grandfather made him successor of him in his will instead of Jean Christophe’s father, Charles, who had chosen more republican stances and married without his blessing. The pass over never came between Charles and Jean Christophe, surprisingly. 

The Imperial House of Bonaparte doesn’t seem to really do anything. People who are sympathetic or pro Bonaparte party are called Bonapartists. I reckon that there aren’t a lot of them, though. 

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