Page 122 - History Facts

Some Civil War soldiers had wounds that glowed in the dark.

After the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, which left 3,000 dead and 16,000 injured, there weren’t enough medics on either side to aid the wounded. Infection wasn’t well understood at that time, and so soldiers were very prone to infections. 

Many of the soldiers died due to problems that could be easily cured today. Some of the soldiers sat in the mud waiting for medics. When night fell, they realized their wounds were casting a faint light. Stranger still, those exhibiting the glowing wounds turned out to have a much better survival rate than those not. 

For over a hundred years after, this mysterious phenomenon was called Angel’s Glow. In 2001, its secret was cracked. It turns out bacteria were to blame. 

Photorhabdus luminescens is a type of bacteria that lives in the guts of nematodes. Nematodes hunt down insect larvae, burrow into their bodies, and then vomit the bacteria into the larvae hosts. There, the bacteria (which glow in the dark) begin producing chemicals that kill the larvae and all other microorganisms inside it. 

It turns out those nematodes were to blame for Angel’s Glow and its related survival rate. The bacteria had essentially killed all other harmful infectants in the wounds which increased survival and decreased infection, and its bioluminescence had produced the strange glow effect. 

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In 2005, a ton of explosives were found under a Moscow hotel.

They were there in case of occupation to kill members of the Nazi Third Reich. The hotel Moskcva was a favorite hotel of Stalin and located near the Moscow Kremlin. A kremlin is a Russian citadel, and the Moscow Kremlin is the best known kremlin because it houses the president. 

The walls of the Kremlin contain several palaces and a church. The hotel Moskcva was just outside of the Kremlin walls. Stalin could be found in the hotel’s restaurant every year on his birthday and the hotel commonly housed Soviet elites. What people didn’t know was that underneath the hotel were more than a ton of explosives! 

They were discovered in 2005 when workers were demolishing the hotel. There were 58 boxes of explosives containing more the 20kg of explosive materials. In theory, this would be enough to cause serious destruction for everything within a 150-meter radius. 

Fortunately, the explosives were not connected to a detonator, so they were easy to disarm and remove. Many areas of Moscow were mined in case the Nazis invaded and took over the capital. It was a plan approved by Stalin in case of invasion. The Muscovites were not going to take invasion lightly. They were going to go out with a bang! 

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A serial killer’s mother sold him for a pitch of beer when he was a child!

Charles Manson was the leader of a destructive, doomsday cult referred to by the media as “The Family.” At one point, its numbers went over 100 individuals at Spahn Ranch some 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. 

Manson was referred to both as “God” and “Satan” by his followers. He himself claimed to be the reincarnation of Christ. His most notable crime as cult leader were the murders of Sharon Tate (an 8 month pregnant actress), and four others at her home. 

Charles Manson’s 16- year old mother, Kathleen Maddox was known to be promiscuous, a criminal, and a drunk. These things don’t usually lead to good parenting. A waitress once jokingly told his mother that she’d buy Charles from her. 

His mother replied, “A pitcher of beer and he’s all yours.” The waitress set up the beer, his mom stayed long enough to finish it, and then left without Charles. He was later retrieved by his Uncle.

This story is just a small reflection of Charles’s chaotic childhood. It’s a strangle feeling to feel sorry for a serial killer. Had his family been different, then maybe “The Family” wouldn’t exist. 

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An acre used to be the amount of land an ox could plow in a day!

The word acre comes from an Old English word that meant open field. Originally, that was pretty literally what an acre was: an open field and the amount of it that an ox could plow one sunny day. 

An acre was considered to be a rectangle with one side that was one chain length and the other side that was one furlough length. Before measurements were more standardized, the size of an actual acre varied widely between different countries. Internationally, one acre is now considered to be equal to 4,046.8564224 square meters. 

Other types of acres include the builder’s acre and other regional acres. The builder’s acre is a measurement used in the United States for construction and real estate. One acre is equal to 40,000 square feet, which is about 10% smaller than an international acre. The number is used because it is even and makes calculations easier. 

Other countries also have their own varied measurements for an acre. For example, the Irish acre is 7,840 square yards and the Roman acre is 1,260 square meters. God’s acre isn’t a measurement at all, but a term for a churchyard. 

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Rodney Marks may have been Antarctica’s first murder victim.

The details surrounding the death of Rodney Marks have never been fully determined. What is known is that Rodney Marks had been feeling unwell for at least 36 hours before he died in Antarctica. 

He went to see the doctor several times before he died, but the doctor was never able to diagnose the source of his illness. Later, when Rodney Marks passed away his body was sent to New Zealand to be autopsied. Doctors were trying to evaluate whether his death was due to natural causes or by murder. 

His death was given a lot of media attention because it would be the first murder in Antarctica. New Zealand doctors learned that Marks had died due to methanol poisoning. Although Marks drank frequently, he had no reason to commit suicide by poisoning himself with his job going well and with a new girlfriend. For this reason, officials ruled out suicide, and, of course, the man would not accidentally poison himself. 

The most likely cause of his death was murder, but it was never proven by New Zealand police. Marks’ family were never given a reason for his death, but thanked the police anyway for their efforts. 

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