This week started with the Fourth of July, so we've been thinking a lot about Independence Day, both the holiday and the movie. About a lot of American movies actually, but also a lot of American history.
America started with people wanting to rule themselves, and continued with people randomly declaring their own countries. We've had the Wild West and the Great Depression and more than one presumed apocalypse. We've had strange presidents, both real and fictional, and the land keeps trying to kill us, but it's still pretty fun.
Here's a look back at the facts we learned this week. The links all lead to full articles with much more info, so click every one that interests you, or you will be exiled to outer space.
At least, people thought Jesus was coming back, based on one preacher's prediction. Jesus' failure to return is known as The Great Disappointment.
Tombstone had stricter gun control in 1881 during the OK Corral fight than it does today.
He had to warn his son, though, not to walk on stilts through the White House flower beds.
Zachary Taylor ate cherries and iced milk, then stomach pains set in, and he died days later. Still worth it.
They were just going to call it Doomsday and have no patriotism theme, but they advanced the release date and centered the film on July 4 to beat Mars Attacks.
He declared himself Director-General of the Creek Nation. No Creek people asked for this.
10 million people attended, and this was all the way in 1876.
In fact, more than twice as many people died this way, as prisoners-of-war, than in combat.
He used a drill to clean gunk off the ball, and a spark set the fuse alight and blew him up.
11 out of 12 people to walk on the Moon were scouts as kids, and even when you look at astronauts overall, the figure's around 2 out of 3.
The timeline is impossible to keep straight, and only one of these presidents (David Palmer, the guy Jack has to save right at the start of the series) presides for a full term.
The attacks were unrelated and miles apart, though the victims both happened to be 19-year-old blonde women.
The estate fired a gardener, and he tried to steal the president's skull out of revenge.
It's hard to imagine the meat product being a success if people got their first taste of it during less desperate times.
He said this in English, having already learned the language from previous English settlers.
It costs $850, which is probably $850 too much.
Literally on top—20 feet up, while the original city remains visible underground.
Thanks to an astronomer's claims being taken out of context, people feared the comet would surround us with poison gas. They took (questionable) precautions accordingly.