Perhaps one of the least well known European ventures in the Americas was the German Colonization of the New World and the Colony of Klein Venedig. Though the country of Germany didn’t exist until 1870, Germans from the many principalities of the Holy Roman Empire were just as interested as anyone in striking it rich by conquering a wealthy new world empire like the Aztec or Inca. Some were even driven by the desire to find that mythical city of gold, El Dorado.
An Olympic medal event only since 1998 you might think that curling is a relatively new sport apparently invented in Canada. And, of course, neither is true. The sport dates back at least to the 16th century, and comes from perhaps a surprising place.
During the later half of the nineteenth century numerous attempts were made to assassinate Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Killing the Tsar, however, turned out to be no easy task.
The St Louis World’s Fair, officially known as the Louisiana Purchase Expedition, was an enormous event, with more than 60 countries and 43 states maintaining exhibition spaces for nearly twenty million visitors. In addition to the many exhibitions, a variety of private enterprises set up camp near the fair in the hopes of making money off the guaranteed audience. Some of those ideas worked better than others, but few among them went as ridiculously badly as the attempt to put on a Spanish-Style bullfight.