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Countries Interesting History - Fun Facts

The Turbulent HISTORY Of The LITTLE MERMAID SCULPTURE.

August 5th 2009 12:06
Little Mermaid
One of Denmark's most famous attractions is the statue of The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen who was based on the story by Danish Storyteller Hans Christian Anderson. Usually tourists are surprised at first, on witnessing her small size as she is only 1.25 metres high and weighs around 175 kg. She was sculpted by Edvard Eriksen and revealed to the public in August 1913.

Her history since has been a very turbulent one, even having her cut cut off more than once. There is actually a very faint line that can still be seen on her neck from having her head replaced. Having just come back from seeing her myself, I can attest to that, but I had no idea until this that she had been vandalised so often until I was introduced to her 'vandalism timeline'.

* 24 April 1964 – Her head was sawn off and stolen.The head was never recovered and a new head was produced and placed on the statue. (Apparently, or so I was told, the original mould for her head is still in existence.)

* 22 July 1984 – her right arm was sawn off. The arm was returned 2 days later.

* 1990 – another attempt was made to cut her head off as she was discovered with an 18 cm deep cut in the neck.

* 6 January 1998 – she lost her head again. The head was returned anonymously to a nearby TV station, and by February the head was back on.

* Red paint has been thrown on her several times, including one episode in 1961 where her hair was painted red and a bra was painted on her.

* March 8, 2006 – a dildo was attached to the statue's hand, green paint was dumped over it, with 'March 8' scrawled on it. Suspicion pointed to something to do with International Women's Day (March 8).

* March 3, 2007 – the statue was covered with pink paint.

* May 2007 – the statue was again covered in paint.
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WHY Are SHIPS Christened With A Bottle Of CHAMPAGNE???

June 30th 2009 16:10
Upon the launching of a newly completed ship, a bottle of champagne is usually smashed over the bow to christen it. The origins of this are a little unclear and can vary slightly from culture to culture, but for the most part it is believed that blood or wine, depending on the particular culture, was originally used as a sacrifice to the gods of the sea to allow for a smooth passage.

Namcy Reagan ship christening
Over time this became wine by those who originally used blood, and the wine was poured first into a silver chalice, from which a sip was taken before spilling the wine over the ship and casting the chalice into the sea.
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STRANGE IRISH CURSES

June 25th 2009 19:49
grave
May your obituary be written in weasel's piss.

May the lamb of God stir his hoof through the roof of heaven and kick you in the arse down to hell.
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CRAZY About CARROTS And Their NON-ORANGE COLOUR!!!

June 17th 2009 08:13
coloured carrots
According to the World Carrot Museum, (yes, it really does exist!), carrots are the second-most popular vegetable after potato, and the most popular in the UK.

Originally carrots were found in a variety of colours including purple, white, black, yellow and red. Orange carrots did not appear until later on in the 1500's when the Dutch Royal House of Orange was in power and the Dutch decided therefore to breed an orange carrot by using a mutant yellow carrot seed from North Africa. Beta carotene, found in orange carrots is converted in the human body to vitamin A.
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The ORIGINS of GOLF

May 31st 2009 08:21
Lorena Ochoa Number 1 golfer
Lorena Ochoa, currently World No.1 female golfer.
The origins of golf can be a little murky as some researchers claim they have discovered references to a form of golf from Egyptian hieroglyphics, while in China, Chui Wan ("chui" = striking and "wan" = small ball) a game of driving a ball with a stick into holes in the ground, was first mentioned in records from the 11th century.

The Dutch game also seemed to have an early version played with a stick and leather ball, while the Scottish game of 'goulf' was mentioned in two ancient laws prohibiting its play.
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IS SHE, ISN'T SHE?!!

April 30th 2009 13:48
During the 1936 Olympic Games, Stella Walsh, otherwise known as Stanislawa Walasiewicz, a Polish sprinter, was then known internationally as the fastest woman in the world, so when she was beaten by Helen Stephens of the U.S. who simultaneously set a world record, running 100 metres in 11.4 seconds, a Polish journalist protested that Helen Stephens must be a man.
sprinters sprint

Supporters of Stella Walsh joined in the protest, arguing that no woman could possibly run that fast.
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K Stands For KALAMITY!!!

April 28th 2009 13:36
Model of a K-Class Submarine
Model of a K-Class Submarine

During World War 1 while the German Navy displayed its supremacy beneath the waves, the British Military decided that it needed its own fleet of similar submarines to contest them.

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The MYTH Behind SALUTING As A WINNER Or LOSER Of The WAR!

March 7th 2009 10:00
US naval salute
U.S Naval salute - palm down.
Recently I was involved in a conversation where an American decided to, quite arrogantly I might add, tell an Englishwoman that the reason that the American military salute with their palms down (as if shading the eyes from the sun) is because they have never lost a war, whereas the British, who salute with their palms facing outwards, have lost in the past and therefore must salute as such.

Upon pointing out that they lost at Vietnam, the American initially tried to deny that it was actually a war, and when challenged on the issue subsequently snapped and the night turned into a smaller, but more tense version of Fawlty Towers ‘don’t mention the war.’
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Alphabetical CAMELS!!!!

February 21st 2009 09:32
book pile
During Persia's 10th century, the ruling grand Vizier had amassed a private library collection of a considerable size - 117,000 books..

The almost unbelievable part about this however, is that he took his entire library with him whenever he went travelling. How did he manage this?
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Christmas Babies

December 8th 2008 10:27
Here is a short list of famous people who happen to have been brought into this world on Christmas day.

Marcus Trescothick - cricketer - 1975
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CONTROVERSY During The 1908 OLYMPICS!

August 25th 2008 11:30
The 1908 Summer Olympics, held in London endured quite a bit of controversy......
1908 Olympic marathon


At the opening parade the Finnish team were expected to march under a Russian flag instead of a Finnish one so they chose to march without a flag at all.
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SORRY BUT I'M NOT DEAD YET!!!

August 20th 2008 23:45
gravestone headstone
People who reportedly 'died' before they did!

* Bertrand Russell (British mathematician) - reported in print as having died in 1937, had to have his obituary reprinted when he actually died in 1970.
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Machine Guns and Warfare? Never!

July 14th 2008 10:30
Douglas Haig
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, born June 19, 1861 was a senior British commander during World War I and has been regarded as somewhat of an idiot.
Known as the "Butcher of the Somme", he had a reputation for issuing orders which led to excessive casualties of British troops and never actually visited the direct warfront.

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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: Countries, Idiots, Interesting History
   


Top Hats! A Menace To Society!!!

July 9th 2008 10:30
top hat
James Heatherington, the inventor of the top hat, introduced his design to the world in London during 1797.

Upon leaving the shop wearing his unusual headwear he was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers where some pushing and shoving ensued, resulting in women fainting and a young boy having his arm broken.
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