Category: History of the World

In our last episode of history, we learned about Europe and Puritans and sticks.  The main characters of the story were on a ship, cruising around the Atlantic Ocean looking for fun.  Actually they weren’t.  Cruises back then were horrible experiences with people cramped into tight living conditions and they often suffered from outbreaks of disease.  On second thought… cruises back then were very much like cruises today.  Except for the buffet.  Cruises in days of Yore had horrible buffets.

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Popularity: 26%

A lot of people in this country have forgotten the truth behind the great American holiday of Thanksgiving.  Most people are still attached to the mythology they were taught in elementary school where a bunch of people dressed in big black hats and shiny buckles arrived in the New World with Chris Columbus in 1812.  Folks like to remember the idea that the Puritans had fled England due to fights other Puritans to make their way in the wilds of coastal Virginia, Delaware, and Kentucky.  They remember how the colonists were starving during their first winter and their dirt houses were a mess, but fortunately encountered some Indians.  After killing the Indians and taking their stuff, the Puritans gave Thanks to Puritan Jesus for helping them kill the Indians and get corn on the cob.  This is what we were taught in school… but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Here’s what really happened.  Ladies and Gentlemen… (drum roll)  I give you… the First Thanksgiving.

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Popularity: 25%

While modern America associates St. Patrick’s Day with drinking and… drinking, it wasn’t always a holiday of celebration.  Centuries ago, in the ancient times before the birth of the United States, there was a small island with not much going for it other than lots of green grass and some potatoes.  That all changed in 1492 with the birth of a man we know today as… Saint Patrick.

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Popularity: unranked