Page 127 - History Facts

The first computer programmer was Lord Byron’s daughter, born in 1816.

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (originally Augusta Ada Byron) was an English mathematician who lived in the early 19th century. Despite that the time she lived in was about 150 years before the commercial home computer, she is often considered the world’s first computer programmer. 

This is because of her work on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine (seen right). Her work includes what is recognized as the first algorithm processed by a machine. This is why she is cited as the first programmer. On top of this, Ada Byron was the daughter of the Romantic poet Lord Byron, whom you may have heard of. 

Lord Byron left Ada and her mother in 1816, a month after Ada was born, and died in Greece in 1823. Though she never met her father, she clearly shared his keen mind. Lady Byron wanted her daughter to be nothing like Lord Byron, so she made sure she received extensive tutoring in math and music to counter poetic tendencies. 

These only really sharpened her mind, though, because in 1828 she produced a design for a flying machine. Charles Babbage, a scientist and Cambridge professor of mathematics, became a close friend of Ada. They met when Ada was only 17, and through their lives shared discussions and notes on mathematics and logic. 

In 1834, Babbage made the plans for the Analytical Engine. Between 1842 and 1843, Ada translated a French memoir on the subject and worked feverishly on the set of notes that she added to it. These notes are today what have earned her her fame. Ada died of cancer in 1852 at the age of 37 and was buried next to her father. 

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President John Tyler still has two living grandchildren. Tyler was born in 1790!

We may be on to the 21st century, but John Tyler, a president born in the 18th century still has two grandchildren alive. These grandchildren are named Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr. and Harrison Ruffin Tyler. 

Lyon was born in 1924 and Harrison was born in 1928. They are both the children of Lyon Gardiner Tyler. 

And if you’re saying to yourself, ‘so what?' consider that Abraham Lincoln, born in 1809, has no living descendants. John Tyler had many children. He had eight children with his first wife Leticia Christian Tyler: 5 daughters and 3 sons. Unfortunately, one of the daughters, Anne Tyler, died as an infant. 

With his second wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler, John Tyler had 7 children. One of those 7 children was Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Unfortunately for John Tyler, though he was successful in fathering many children, he was less successful as a president. 

Overall, historians consider Tyler a poor president. Still, Tyler’s name can still be found, especially in Virginia, where he was from. Several colleges, cities and roads carry his name. And, of course, Tyler lives on in his two living grandchildren. 

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A Nazi used tickle torture during the Holocaust!

A man named Heinz Heger was being kept in the Flossenberg concentration camp when he witnessed a very strange form of torture. One of the other men was being tickled with goose feathers. The man was naked and his feet, armpits, legs, and other parts of his body were tickled. 

The man initially bore the torture in silence, but he eventually began laughing, which then turned into sobbing. Heger would later describe the strange incident in his book The Men with the Pink Triangle. 

Surprisingly, tickle torture, though still uncommon, is not limited to this one example. In Europe, for example, a common torture was dipping a victims feet in salt water and having a goat lick the salt water off. When the salt water was completely licked off the process would be repeated. 

The victims' feet were constantly tickled by the goat’s tongue as a form of torture. Japan also has records of a torture called kusuguri-zeme, which is basically “merciless tickling.” 

Tickling has also been noted as a contributing form of abuse in victims being abused by their siblings. It’s amazing to realize that something that is used for fun can also be used for torture. Do you hate being tickled? 

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The Church of Scientology orchestrated the largest infiltration of the U.S. government!

Operation Snow White was a huge infiltration by the Church of Scientology of the U.S. government, foreign embassies, and private organizations. The goal of the operation was to eliminate all negative records of the Church of Scientology, and of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. 

The Church of Scientology teaches that people are eternal, spiritual beings that have since forgotten who they used to be. The church is fairly controversial with many refusing to accept it as an actual religion, rather considering it either a cult or a commercial organization. It is especially controversial due to instances of “harassment and abuse of civil courts.” 

Records of such instances were part of what the Church of Scientology sought to eliminate. Participants in the illegal infiltration tapped wires and stole documents from the government. 

Some of the higher ups in the Church of Scientology organization were charged with “obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property” in the case United States v. Hubbard. Eleven higher ups pleaded guilty or were convicted and sentenced. 

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10,000 people constructed a 380 mile road in just one hour!

In 1909, Iowa experienced heavy rainfall, that combined with an increase in automobile use, created the need for a new road. Officials, as well as the community supported the creation of a new road. 

Governor Carroll was especially instrumental in convincing people along the proposed path of the road to support its construction. The result of this support raising was the creation of the River to River Road (RRR). The idea was to create a road that was 380 miles long, and, like the name says, that stretches from river to river. 

Up to the summer of 1910, preparations were made. This included preparing machinery and materials and gathering around 10,000 men to work on the road. 

They made repairs to all the bridges, so that when they began work, they’d be ready to finish it quickly. All the men, coordinated together began work in early summer. 

They began at 9 a.m. on a Saturday. The exact date is unknown, probably in May or June, but what is known is that the road was completed by 10 a.m. that very day. Street signs went up later that day! 

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