Miscellaneous Facts thread

Graffiti is a plural, graffito is singular.
...
It's still vandalism though. :mad:

'Vikings' were not a race of people, the word described the act of going adventuring - going 'viking', the kind of historical equivalent of all the young fellas heading off to trash a holiday resort in another country. With pillaging as a bonus.

It's four, man, come on....

I think it's that there's no Democratic presidents on it, although the further back you go, the more murky "Democrat" and "Republican" become as designations.


Looking it up, the four presidents were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. It was done in Calvin Coolidge's presidency to celebrate the first 130 years of the US, and he wanted Washington, plus two Republicans and one Democrat up there (Coolidge was Rep too).

Out of these, George Washington was basically Independent and a member of neither party.

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) was a member of the helpfully named Democratic-Republican party, which was the predecessor of the Republican party and its inspiration (also known as Jeffersonian Republicans).

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) was first a Whig, until 1854, then Republican, then finally a member of the National Union party, which was the Republican Party under a name to appeal to the moderate Unionists that might not otherwise vote for them as part of Reconstruction after the Civil War. It worked briefly to bring both parties together before Lincoln was shot. NU lost most of its Republican support and became a Democratic Party offshoot, before everyone gave up and went home.

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) was a member of the Republican Party when he became President, but split off to form his own party in 1912 - the Progressive Party, which shared a lot of what modern-day Democrats would probably claim to be Democratic values. That keeled over in 1916 again though.


Out of those, Roosevelt and Lincoln are definitely listed as Republicans in various lists of presidents, and Jefferson as a Democratic-Republican, so I figure he was Coolidge's "Democrat" of the group. Overall though, technically there are no Democrats on Mount Rushmore.

I have always been curious about Billy the Kid or Henry McCarty as his Mom and friends called him. I stumbled across a story about him in a history magazine, which piqued my interest. I've been doing a lot research since then.

Apparently the District Attorney who prosecuted Henry, William Rynerson, was handed 50 indictments by a Grand Jury based on Henry's testimony and a few other brave souls who took a stand against corruption. Rynerson refused to prosecute almost all of the indicted men and orchestrated acquittals for the rest.
A magazine described how, Rynerson objected to several eye witnesses testifying about the murder of English shopkeeper John Tunstall, saying that they were unreliable. John was murdered in cold blood by Lincoln County Sheriff Brady's Posse, which was made up mostly of outlaws, including several murderers. This is the judgment of an investigator from the Secretary of the Interior, which had jurisdiction over the territory. Corrupt Judge Bristol, who presided over the trials, immediately ruled that the eyewitness testimony was excluded as unreliable.
DA Rynerson is interesting because of a personal run-in he had with the law himself. President US Grant had appointed General John Slough as Chief Justice of the New Mexico Territory and told him to clean out the criminals in government and the judiciary. He fired a number of judges and DA's. He started an investigation of Rynerson, finally accusing him of corruption. Rynerson ran into the Chief Justice in Santa Fe, pulled out his gun, shot and killed him. Since Chief Justice Slough was able to pull out his Derringer as he fell, but died before he had to shoot in self-defense, another corrupt DA, ruled it self-defense.

Judge Bristol would also be the man who sentenced Billy the Kid to death for the shooting of corrupt Sheriff William Brady. His charge to the jury is interesting. He said that if Henry was within 5 miles of town he was guilty, period. Not quite the same evidentiary standard as the other case, obviously.
Tunstall's crime, opening a store in Lincoln, New Mexico. The men who ran the other store in town and their bosses in Santa Fe, didn't like competition. Murder was their chosen method of redress.
Henry worked for Tunstall and liked him. He and Tunstall's other ranch hands were so outraged by the murder that the went to the local Justice of the Peace and were sworn in as Special Deputies to find the murderers of John Tunstall. Thus began the Lincoln County War.
A Grand Jury was convened because of a complaint and protest to US Government by the British Government. Henry was offered a pardon by Governor Lew Wallace, if he testified before the Grand Jury which he did.

I wrote a page on my blog about the convoluted story of how Henry "Billy the Kid" McCarty was shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett. And all the facts that I have found about the 20-year-old orphan.

But most people don't know that Garrett was voted out of office in the next election. People liked Henry, they didn't like Garrett. Years later, Garrett would blame his downward spiral on Billy the Kid. Maybe he deserved it. The problem is with the version of Henry's shooting in the book Garrett wrote "The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid". Billy supposedly entered the room with a gun and a knife in his hands. Pat said he shot him in self defense.
Only one problem, The Maxwell's Navajo maid, Dulvina Maxwell, accused Pat of shooting the kid in the back. She should know, she was cradling the boy's head in her hands, she had "adopted" Henry as her own. She screamed that Pat wasn't much of a man, shooting the unarmed kid in the back. The Maxwell's daughter also repeated the same charge.
Pat Garrett ordered the Coroner to re-write Henry's death certificate.

It is impossible to give Henry the Pardon he was promised, apparently. If you know the whole truth, you may come away with the feeling that Henry was on the side of the angels, but those who are opposed to giving a pardon will never give an inch. I've always wondered why the English don't make an issue of it. Their complaint forced the Governor to convene a Grand Jury. Henry told them the truth and was promised a pardon for his testimony.

But there is one other thing which bothers me. The local chamber of commerce, put up a tombstone for his Mom.

Kathrine Antrim 1829-1871 Mother of Billy the Kid

What is wrong with that? They didn't even get her name right and forgot that she had two sons. She was also one of the founders of Wichita, Kansas. I am trying to get their Mom's tombstone replaced with one that her two sons would have been proud of.

Catherine McCarty Antrim (1829-1874) Beloved Mother of Joe and Henry McCarty, better known to history as "Billy the Kid" She was one of the founders of the city of Wichita, Kansas. Catherine was a friend to everyone who met her.

I figure if we can't we can't get other people to do what's right, we Irish can stick up for one of our brothers and do it ourselves. Henry, his brother Joe and his Mom would appreciate that.

OldGoat wrote: »

Graffiti is a plural, graffito is singular.
...
It's still vandalism though. :mad:

Ahhh so thaaaat's why Banksy is so highly sought after....and elusive. Nothing to do with his art at all, the sneaky fecker lol

Steve wrote: »

Hibernea, what the Romans called 'Ireland', means land of winter, they weren't wrong. It's also where 'hibernate' comes from.

Wow, who'd have guessed that one. Mind you, we can't complain this year (yet), so far it's been a grand winter!

Sudance wrote: »

Wow, who'd have guessed that one. Mind you, we can't complain this year (yet), so far it's been a grand winter!

The correct spelling is Hibernia - just for the record

Muffin the Mule is not a criminal offence.

Rubecula wrote: »

It is in donkey society

See my avatar!

On the subject of avatars we all know that in the computer age avatars are icons representing users but the older Hindu definition is more applicable to me.
"a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth; an incarnate divine teacher."

According to Mrs.Goat I look like a fat Buddha, dance with the grace of Ganesha and (after a few oysters) have more hands than Shiva.