Page 4 - History Facts

The third worst nuclear disaster ever was kept secret by the US government for more than 19 years!

The Kyshtym disaster was a radiation contamination incident that occurred on 29 September 1957 at Mayak, a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in the Soviet Union. Making it the third most serious nuclear accident ever recorded behind the Chernobyl disaster, and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

The cooling system in one of the tanks containing about 70–80 tons of liquid radioactive waste failed and was not repaired. The temperature in it started to rise, resulting in evaporation and a chemical explosion of the dried waste. At least 22 villages were exposed to radiation from the disaster with a total population of around 10,000 were evacuated. Some were evacuated after a week but it took almost 2 years for evacuations to occur at other sites.

The CIA knew about this since 1959, however, they decided to keep it a secret stateside because they didn't want to spook people into not supporting the growing US nuclear power industry. They started declassifying documents pertaining to this starting in 1989.

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Hitler predicted the Cold War!

Adolf Hitler predicted the cold war among the United States and the Soviet Union! In his testament, he said thatonly two great powers capable of confronting each other will remain (U.S and USSR). What was his exacts words in this document?

“… there will remain in the world only two Great Powers capable of confronting each other -- the United States and Soviet Russia. The laws of both history and geography will compel these two Powers to a trial of strength, either military or in the fields of economics and ideology. These same laws make it inevitable that both Powers should become enemies of Europe.And it is equally certain that both these Powers will sooner or later find it desirable to seek the support of the sole surviving great nation in Europe, the German people.”

With Hitler, it always comes back to Germany, but considering the intense Cold War battleground that Berlin became, he was more right than wrong on this one

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Most pirates' careers only lasted about 2 years!

Piracy was a really difficult profession. Even the most famous pirates didn’t really last very long. Think about it: Many were killed or injured in battle, there were fights amongst themselves and don’t even think about going to a doctor. In fact, even Blackbeard, probably the most famous of pirates, was only active for 3 years, from 1719 to 1722.

Other pirate facts:

• The didn’t really do the whole treasure-burying thing. In fact, most of the loot gathered after a raid was split among the crew, and it also included perishables.
• Women pirates were uncommon, but not unheard of.
• It was not uncommon for some merchants to join a pirate ship when they were raided. The ‘honest’ work at sea was even tougher.
• Piracy was not limited to just poor people trying their luck at see. Many were from higher social classes and they just happened to turn to piracy.

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A chemist has solved a major historical mystery: what color was Lincoln's funeral car?

Yes, historians really have been wondering that for years. In the spring of 1865, a train carried the body of Abraham Lincoln on a nearly two-week-long funeral procession from Washington DC to Springfield, Illinois. It’s said that millions of people watched the procession and many held memorial services along the route.

However, one detail was lost to history: What color was it? And yes, they had spent many years trying to figure it out, until it was finally solved this year. The original car had been sold at an auction and was lost to a fire in 1911, which is why this detail had been lost until today.

A chemist found a scrap piece of the original railcar’s window frame. He and his friends analyzed a small piece of the window trim under the microscope, and managed to get microscopic flecks of paint and finally came with an answer: A brownish-red described as a ‘dark maroon.’ Finally we can all rest easy.

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Pompeii is so well preserved; you can still read graffiti on its walls!

Pompeii, the thriving city that was swallowed by a volcanic eruption, is actually still very well preserved. So much so; you can still read graffiti on walls around the city. Some of it is poetic and beautiful; however, some of it was very very dirty. Check out some examples:

• From the Bar/Brothel of Innulus and Papilio: "Weep, you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men's behinds. Goodbye, wondrous femininity!"
• From Herculaneum (a bar/inn joined to the maritime baths): "Two friends were here. While they were, they had bad service in every way from a guy named Epaphroditus. They threw him out and spent 105 and half sestertii most agreeably on whores."
• From just outside the Vesuvius gate: "Defecator, may everything turn out okay so that you can leave this place."
• From the peristyle of the Tavern of Verecundus: "Restitutus says: 'Restituta, take off your tunic, please, and show us your hairy privates.'"
• From Herculaneum (a bar/inn joined to the maritime baths): "Apelles the chamberlain with Dexter, a slave of Caesar, ate here most agreeably and had a screw at the same time."

More at the source!

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