Page 147 - History Facts

A British soldier fought in WW II with a longbow, bagpipes, and a broadsword!

Lieutenant Colonel John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, or more commonly known as “Fighting Jack” was a British soldier renowned for his outlandish battle techniques in World War II. Routinely called mad, Churchill would go into every battle with a Scottish broadsword slung across his back, bagpipes under his arms, a longbow, and a quiver with arrows. 

Churchill joined the army relatively early in his life. He joined the Commandos because it “sounded dangerous,” unsure of what his duties would be. Churchill was put in charge of raiding several German garrisons and became famous for his strategies. While in Poland, Churchill would give the signal to attack by shooting at the enemy commander with his longbow. This marks him as the only known British soldier to have killed an enemy with a longbow throughout the entire war. 

Churchill also became famous for his routine attack style while trying to capture different enemy territories. He would jump from his position while playing a tune on his bagpipes. As he did this he would throw a grenade and sprint into the midst of the fighting, attempting to fell as many men as possible with his broadsword! 

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In March of 2011, South Korea released 3,000 balloons over North Korea to spread news about world uprisings.

It is a well-known fact how oppressive the North Korean regime is and the massive efforts the government undergoes to ensure censorship. North Koreans live in some of the worst conditions in the world and are completely secluded from contact with anyone outside of the country, while South Koreans live with freedom and prosper. 

As the war never technically ended after the Armistice was signed, tensions remain extremely high on the border. Recently in 2010, North Korea fired several artillery shells on the island of Yeonpyeong, which killed two military personnel and South Korean civilians. 

This caused tempers to swell and although it was not formerly stated, the South Koreans responded by released 3,000 balloons, which contained over 3 million leaflets, relaying information to the North Korean people. Inside the balloons were flyers outlining the uprisings that were occurring in Africa and the Middle East against repressive regimes in the hopes it would inspire some popular sentiment against the North Korean government. 

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A severed head killed a man.

Sigurd Eysteinsson was a leader in the Viking Conquest of what is now northern Scotland. Near the end of his reign, Sigurd challenged a native ruler named Máel Brigte the Bucktoothed to a 40-man-a-side battle to “settle their differences.” 

Brigte agreed, but Sigurd deceived him, and brought 80 men. Brigte immediately knew he was defeated and told his men “kill at least one man before we die ourselves.” Sigurd's army quickly defeated Brigte's, and as trophies, Sigurd's men strapped the severed heads of their enemies to the saddles on their horses. 

On the return home, Brigte's head, which was hanging from Sigurd's saddle, scratched Sigurd's leg with his bucktooth. The leg became inflamed and infected, and Sigurd died as a result. Quite a strange testament to the existence of karma, don’t you think?

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Ohio is the only U.S. state that doesn’t have a rectangular flag!

John Eisemann designed the Ohio state flag in 1902. The blue triangle in the flag is to represent the state’s hills and valleys. The stripes represent roads and waterways in Ohio. Ohio is one of the 5 states that make up the Northwest Territory, thus it has 5 stripes on its flag. 

Being the 17th state admitted into the union, the flag has 17 stars on it and the 13 stars above and below the circle are to represent the 13 original colonies. Ohio’s nickname is the Buckeye State, which is why it has the white circle with the red dot in the middle of it. The circle also makes an O, which represents Ohio. 

The flag’s shape is not just unique among States in the American union; it’s one of two flags that are not quadrilateral shaped at a state-level or above, the other being the flag of Nepal. The flag was fashioned after the flags flown by the cavalries during the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. 

‘Barbarian’ was originally a term for someone who didn't speak Greek.

The Greeks used the term ‘barbarian’ against people from Northern Europe, because to the Greeks it sounded as though they were saying ‘bar-bar- bar’ when they spoke their own language. Compared to Greek, the other languages sounded like barking, and so they coined barbarian to describe the sound of the language and the people who spoke the language.

The term was further adapted in meaning as the Greeks began to apply it more frequently to the Northern Europeans. Because they were a nomadic people, the term barbarian also took on the meaning of a ‘wanderer.’ The term ‘barbarian’ also became more derogative because the Northerners raided Greek villages.

The term then meant not only a strange speaker and wanderer, but also a violent and uncivilized population. The fact that these new people could not read classic Greek, only compounded the Greeks' belief that they were uncivilized since they believed the Northerners to be illiterate.

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