History Challenge & Journal

[PeteC]

^ More examples.

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[PeteC]

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The world's first commercially printed Christmas card is up for sale, depicting a merry scene that scandalized some of 19th-century Britain's more puritanical citizens.

The card, which is on sale with Boston-based book dealer Marvin Getman from Friday, was produced by Henry Cole, John Calcott Horsley and Joseph Cundall in 1843 -- the same year that Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was published.

The modern idea of Christmas, and its associated traditions, is understood to have emerged in the first half of the 19th century.

But the hand-colored lithograph card -- which features a family and a small girl gathered around a table, enjoying glasses of wine -- caused a scandal among the UK's temperance movement, who were calling for abstinence from alcohol, Justin Schiller, president of Battledore Ltd., the New York antiquities dealership that currently owns the card, told CNN.

Schiller told CNN that the image on the greetings card provoked outrage among the movement -- "it was not only encouraging drinking, it was encouraging drinking by a child!" he said.

The card proved so controversial that it was three years before the publisher produced another, he added.

"Consequently, that delayed the enthusiasm for there being a second card," he said.

A thousand copies of the card were originally printed to be sold for a shilling each -- but it is now estimated that fewer than 30 examples are left, with some on display in museums or for sale, according to Battledore.

One such card, addressed to "Mother and Father," is up for auction at Christie's next week, with an estimated price of $10,752.

Battledore's specimen is thought to be a publisher's file copy, Schiller told CNN, noting that it has an array of prices jotted on the back.

The card is priced at $25,000.

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/o ... index.html

[PeteC]

December 21, 1988. Many unfortunate people never made it home for Christmas. What happened?

[Big Boy]

Was that the PanAm air crash?

[PeteC]

Yes, the Lockerbie disaster. Video from 1988 at link.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/jumbo-jet ... ckerbie%5D

[Big Boy]

Lockerbie - that's it. It was on the tip of my tongue. Drove through there many times. When it happened, wreckage was being found all over our area (I lived quite a way away). We were asked to check our gardens for anything untoward. Terrible.

[migrant]

OK I'm sure this is too easy for most you history buffs but no google please

Is this based on real events and, if so, how accurate, if not what is this referring to

[PeteC]

The "Christmas Truce".

[PeteC]

It's accurate, but it was Christmas 1914, not 15 I think.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

[migrant]

I figured too easy but time of year appropriate! Also I think the Germans singing starting it isn't true but I wasn't there

[PeteC]

The History Channel version indeed has the German soldiers singing Silent Night which was the initial event that attracted the British across the line. True or not no idea but it's in more than one source.

[pharvey]

You often hear Hawaii being the "50th State", the UK sarcastically referred to as the "51st State", and recently whilst I was watching a program on Nat Geo, where Alaska was referred to as the "49th State". I thought I'd have a look into this and hence the question(s)...

Our American friends on the forum I'm sure are well schooled/knowledgeable on the subject, so perhaps 2 questions: -

1. What is the "1st State" and what date was it formed?
2. "New Mexico" - which state (ie number) and when was it formed?

NOTE: I'm saying "Formed" when maybe I should be saying accepted/introduced/made a part of the United States. No offence meant in terminology....

[PeteC]

No quiz, but an interesting clip. Does it still get that bad there, or has modern technology on highways and rail limited the crippling effect?


https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/fog-bring ... 59/zk7bvk7

.....and another. This one I've heard of.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/great-smo ... on/zhjx7nb

[dtaai-maai]

Very interesting, Pete, thanks.
One of my earliest memories (I was born in 57) is of walking with my mother to Bolingbroke Hospital (next to Wandsworth Common in SW London) to visit my father, who had had a minor operation. It was less than a mile from home, so very familiar territory, but we still lost our way and had to retrace our steps. I assume it was 1962: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_London_smog

The 1962 London smog was a severe smog episode that affected London, England in December 1962. It occurred ten years after Great Smog of London, in which serious air pollution had killed as many as 12,000 people. While the 1952 smog had led to the passing of the 1956 Clean Air Act, which restricted the burning of domestic fuels in urban areas with the introduction of smokeless zones, fogs continued to be smoky in London for some years after the act as residents and operators were given time to convert from domestic fuels. The December 1962 smog is thought to have led to the deaths of up to 700 people.

I assume the fog still occurs occasionally, as it's a natural phenomenon, but I think the Clean Air Act of 1956, which (gradually) introduced a number of measures to reduce pollution, and in particular the introduction of 'smokeless zones' and the banning of coal, etc. as a domestic fuel, eventually took effect and drastically reduced the 'smog' element.

I imagine the closure of the nearby coal-fired Battersea Power Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea ... ar_culture in 1975 also helped!

[PeteC]

Another item is gold mining in Wales, which I never even knew existed but apparently has been going on since ancient times. Quite a history and an apparent special colour to it due to a bit of copper in the ore. In any event, it seems a dead industry still has some life in it per the below article.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wale ... d-19384122

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_gold

Maybe you can give up your traveling days Pharvey and use your skills closer to home.