03-03-2004, 09:15 AM | #21 | |
Elf Lord
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Yeah just a slight historical inaccuracy in U571...the fact that in real life the Royal Navy pulled the heist and not the US Navy. I'm sure it won't be the last, I can just imagine "Spitfire!", the story of how a batch of Lockheed Spitfires are flown direct from the factory (ignoring orders from some angry fat bloke in an office) to save Maine from a Nazi invasion (small print in the credits saying it's based on something that happened over Kent) Forget a Historical Trivia thread, we could do with one for Trivialising History - I'm sure we'll end up talking about film-makers who decide to cram the complexities of a real life event into a 2 hour visual treat with clear-cut goodies and baddies - with one nation NEVER supplying any of the baddies, it goes without saying!
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03-03-2004, 06:27 PM | #22 | |
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And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
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03-04-2004, 01:59 PM | #23 |
Elven Warrior
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It is amazing what a strategically brilliant stroke Pearl Harbour was by the Japanese. Tactically superb.
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03-04-2004, 03:49 PM | #24 |
Elf Lord
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Originally posted by Radagast
It is amazing what a strategically brilliant stroke Pearl Harbour was by the Japanese. Tactically superb. _________________________________ Yes, but in Pearl Harbor Betrayed, by Michael Gannon, a study which also shows the silliness of conspiracy theories of letting the Japanese attack Pearl harbor: "On assuming command at Pearl, and expecting a second air strike, Admiral Nimitz observed, 'There remain untouched the very important and tempting objectives of fuel supply, navy yard industrial establishment and drydocks, commercial docks and the city of Honolulu.' But by the date of those remarks, 7 January 1942, Nagumo's carriers were moored back in home waters, having shot their bolts in the wrong direction. Though they may not have realized it yet, their great tactical victory had become a strategic defeat. Attacking Pearl Harbor, as shown earlier [in the book], was not even necessary to protect their warlords' seizure of rubber, tin, tungsten, and oil. And for their pains they had riled up an American public as no other act in our history had. Said historian Morison in an oft-quoted judgment, 'One can search military history in vain for an operation more fatal to the aggressor.' " _________________________________ Trivia: Hannah Penn was Pennsylvania's first woman governor. "Although she did not hold the formal title of governor, Hannah Penn served as Pennsylvania's acting proprietor and head of government from October 1712 until her death in December 1726. Residing in England throughout that period, her only visual knowledge of Pennsylvania came from her stay there with William Penn from December 1699 to September 1701." Fall 2003, Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine
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Democrat for Kerry-Edwards! Take Back America Aure entuluva! Last edited by Tuor of Gondolin : 03-04-2004 at 10:16 PM. |
03-04-2004, 04:59 PM | #25 | |
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I don't know if it is true that it was 'delusions of pathetic Republican right wingers' or if it really was a plan by the US for a reason for war, but the Japanese really made a mistake (so far as I can see). Let's face, the wrong side of America is the wrong place to be... (not a criticism of the US!)
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03-04-2004, 05:33 PM | #26 | ||
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We might have even lost WWII without reinforcements from the Americans. It could even be argued that if the Japanese hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour, the Allies would have lost the war! (Except if the USA saw that Europe was nearly overrun, maybe they would have stepped in anyway. Except... wasn't it already?)
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03-04-2004, 08:49 PM | #27 |
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The attack on Pearl Harbor was both strategically and tactically brilliant: Japan knew it would be in conflict with the US at some point over US denial of rubber, oil and scrap iron (embargoed at the time). So they needed to attack, and do it in as overwhelming a means as possible. And the tactical excecution was perfect, except that the carriers weren't in the harbor.
The big strategic mistake was Germany, three days later, declaring war on the United States. The US had not declared war on Germany (and might not have), but once they had had war declared on them, they went at it fully.
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03-05-2004, 11:03 AM | #28 | ||
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And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
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03-05-2004, 11:19 AM | #29 | ||
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It's more serious than trivia, but since I mentioned Dunkirk, here's a fascinating story about one man's experience of it: Quote:
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And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
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03-06-2004, 08:05 PM | #30 |
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Tuor, I thought it was stipulated that this should not go into persecution, and I think that comment on the Republican right-wingers was uncalled for. To be honest, most, if not all, of the political parties have made up conspiracy theories at one time or another.
Also, The Yorktown was fired upon and severely damaged in the battle of Midway, but it did manage to make it back to port. Another one of my favorites is a Napoleon Story (it's quite famous actually): Napoleon's favorite horse ran away one day and he had practically the entire army out looking for it. Finally an upstart young private found the horse and returned it to Napoleon. Napoleon asked the young man's rank. "Private, sir," said the boy. "Thank you, Captain," said Napoleon.
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03-06-2004, 09:16 PM | #31 | ||
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I'd never heard that story - very cool Nar!
About my earlier posts, though we have dark moments in our history, not all Canadian history is negative. For example, Trudeau created the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 198(3)?, which I feel has been extremely good for this country. Especially in terms of Native land rights and gay rights.
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03-06-2004, 09:51 PM | #32 |
Elf Lord
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And wasn't about half of the Northern Territories returned to Inuits? How's that working out? Much more enlightened then American policy towards Indians. As sem-trivia, one American president I think should have been impeached and removed from office was Andrew Jackson, who nor only forced Indians who were making enormous efforts to "civilize" in the South (including holding slaves!, to remove West, but ignored the Supreme Court when they delared his actions unconstitutional.
http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/...ic/jackson.htm "Two years later Jackson did nothing to make Georgia abide by the Supreme Court's ruling in Worcester vs. Georgia in which the Court found that the State of Georgia did not have any jurisdiction over the Cherokees. Georgia ignored the Court's decision and so did Andrew Jackson. In 1838-1839 Georgia evicted the Cherokees and forced them to march west. About twenty-five percent of the Indians were dead before they reached their new lands in Oklahoma. The Indians refer to this march as the "Trail of Tears" and even though it took place after Jackson's presidency, the roots of the march can be found in Jackson's failure to uphold the legal rights of Native Americans during his administration."
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Democrat for Kerry-Edwards! Take Back America Aure entuluva! Last edited by Tuor of Gondolin : 03-06-2004 at 09:57 PM. |
03-08-2004, 11:40 AM | #33 |
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During the War of the Spanish Succession, at the Battle of Almanza in 1707, the commander of the French army was an Englishman, while the British commander was French (Catholic and Protestant respectively)
The French won.
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03-12-2004, 04:28 PM | #34 |
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Korean leader Kim Yong Il was once introduced on a forgein visit:
'Ladies and gentlemen, Kim Yong the Second'
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Janny's Songs Janny's lyrics and random photographs Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who happen to be walking about. ~ Mercutio... erm, GK Chesterton. |
03-18-2004, 02:17 PM | #35 |
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Income tax in the UK is still a temporary law. It has to be renewed every year by act of Parliament.
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And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
03-18-2004, 03:11 PM | #36 |
The Blobbit
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Under British Law 200 years ago there was a distinction made between 'insanity' and 'lunacy', insanity caused by the effect of the moon, with lunatics receiving more lenient punishments.
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Janny's Songs Janny's lyrics and random photographs Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who happen to be walking about. ~ Mercutio... erm, GK Chesterton. |
03-21-2004, 01:35 PM | #37 |
Elf Lord
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The existing painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware" in the Metropolitan Museum in New York is actually the second one done by Emanuel Lentze. The original one (finished in 1850) was partially damaged in a fire but still won a gold medal in Berlin and was a part of the permanent collection of the Bremen Art Museum.
In Washington's Crossing, by David Haskett Fischer: "There it stayed until September 5, 1942 when it was destroyed in a bombing raid by the British Royal Air Force in what some have seen as a final act of retribution for the American Revolution."
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03-22-2004, 11:54 AM | #38 |
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Janny, are you sure about that? It would seem to me to be the other way around, since "lunatic" comes from the Latin root for "moon"
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03-22-2004, 12:01 PM | #39 | |
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03-22-2004, 03:51 PM | #40 |
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Will do [exclaimation mark] Thanx Valandil [comma] Nariel had me think I was going senile [hyphon] at 16 [comma] too [exclaimation mark] Truns out I'm just careless [stop] sorry!
In 1948 a Washington radio station asked various ambassadors what they would like most for Christmas. The French ambassador said 'Peace throughout the world'. The Soviet said 'Freedom for all people enslaved by imperialism'. The British Ambassador, Sir Oliver Franks sadly misunderstood the question and replied: 'Well, it's very kind of you to ask. I'd quite like a box of crystalised fruits'.
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