Join The History Guy from YouTube in conversation about his videos and various topics in history. Here you can find behind-the-scenes peeks of the set and The History Cats. Share ideas for future videos or ask questions of both the community and The History Guy himself. Early releases and the occasional extras are available for supporting members.
The bright red flower called the poinsettia has become a traditional part of American Christmas celebrations. But the flower’s common name, which, while it sounds exotic, has nothing to do with the native name for the plant, is a reference to an American diplomat of whom a 1929 edition of the Baltimore Evening Sun wrote “His Career was as flamboyantly colorful as the poinsettia, and yet he is almost forgotten.”
In 1906, a famed explorer saw something on the horizon that would lead an expedition of men to search for a magnificent land they hoped would be full of new and undiscovered treasures for science.
One famous dolphin lived near the shores of New Zealand in the late 1800s, and swam alongside hundreds of ships, becoming a beloved figure to locals and foreigners alike, and described as ”the best known fish in the world.”
It was relatively common in the middle ages for Kings, royals, and various other titled men to die in combat, and they were at least usually expected to fight personally. Despite the dangers of medieval combat and the expectations of nobility, however, many at the highest levels of aristocracy died in less than noble mundane accidents, and even in embarrassing circumstances.
Two gunmen drawing on each other in the middle of town was actually a rare occurrence in the American west. Still, it did happen, and most historians agree that the first example came July 21, 1865, and involved one of the west’s most famous gunfighters.
Commercial passenger aviation was new enough that, when, in July 1948, the first attempt was made to hijack a commercial passenger plane in flight occurred, the word “hijacking” hadn’t yet been coined. Instead they called the criminals “Air pirates.”
On July 16th, 1439, King Henry VI of England banned kissing. The public attitude towards kissing, a very intimate act, says a lot about culture, the people and the times. A history of kissing is, to an extent, a history of human interaction that deserves to be remembered.
