War comes to us soon - Let's get one last beheading Out of our system France's last public execution by guillotine took place 79 years ago today. The spectators were apparently so rowdy that President Lebrun went ahead and banned all future public executions. And who was among those spectators? A young Christopher Lee. (You … Continue reading Eugen Weidmann Haiku
John Snow Haiku
Cholera outbreak! Is a miasma to blame? No. Shitty water. John Snow (no, not that guy) died 160 years ago today. He is most famous for tracing the source of the 1854 cholera epidemic in Soho to a water pump where the mother of an afflicted infant rinsed the soiled diapers. (How did the poor … Continue reading John Snow Haiku
Kaiser Wilhelm II Haiku
Hereditary Power over millions - Let us rethink that. Kaiser Wilhelm II became emperor of the German Empire 130 years ago and proceeded to mess everything up for millions and millions of people. "Let's play tough guy against every country in the world and let my hatred of my British mother dictate foreign policy. That … Continue reading Kaiser Wilhelm II Haiku
Emmeline Pankhurst Haiku
Won't give her the vote? She'll use the bombs under skirts To blow your shit up. Emmeline Pankhurst, English suffragist, died ninety years ago today. Hobbies included politics, hunger strikes, arson, and long marches on the street. I find myself with mixed feelings about her - did her increasingly violent tactics advance the suffragist movement … Continue reading Emmeline Pankhurst Haiku
Grover Cleveland Haiku
All presidents have Secrets, but few more so than Cancer surgery 125 years ago today, Grover Cleveland discovered a concerning spot in his mouth swiftly leading to super secret jaw surgery to remove a cancerous mass. How secret was it? The public didn't find out about it until 1917, nine years after Cleveland's death. Thus … Continue reading Grover Cleveland Haiku
Peasants’ Revolt Haiku
Ungrateful peasants Scream for fair wages, less tax, When there's France to fight! The Peasants' Revolt, led by Wat Tyler, occurred in England in 1381, on account of life really sucking for the lower classes at the time. (Onerous taxes and laws keeping wages at pre-Black Death levels despite the drastic reduction in the available … Continue reading Peasants’ Revolt Haiku
John Wayne Haiku
Fancy creating Film so bad, crew gets cancer, Dies. Literally. John Wayne died 39 years ago today. Some theorize that his death from cancer was caused by this movie, which was filmed downwind from a former nuclear testing site. (Or it could have been his massive smoking habit.) Certainly a high percentage of the cast … Continue reading John Wayne Haiku
