The term ‘British Empire’ was first used by the British during Henry VIII’s propaganda attempt to convince the Scots that Scotland was always ruled by the British King. The Scots were not amused.
(The Great Courses – The Age of Henry VIII)
During the Tutor era (1500’s) 2/3 of all people didn’t own anything except what they wore.
(The Great Courses – The Age of Henry VIII)
Hitler was a victim of chemical warfare in World War I. During WWII Germany did not use chemical warfare because Hitler thought that the Allies would respond with chemical warfare and they would be better at improving them over the course of time.
(The Great Courses – World War I)
On average people consume 236 more calories on Saturdays.
(Xbox Kinect program – Fitness Evolved 2012)
The Russian composer Shostakovich was one of the few composers like Mozart who would sit down and write out his composition without sketches or revisions. He said that he had already composed the piece in his head and was just writing it out when he was done.
(The Great Courses – Great Masters: Shostakovich – His Life and Music)
The Russian composer Shostakovich was famous for his first symphony when he wrote the opera ‘Lady Macbeth’. It was an instant success…until Stalin went to see it. He wrote an ‘anonymous’ editorial in Pravda declaring it to be ‘Muddle instead of Music’. Everyone including Shostakovich expected him to disappear. Shostakovich lived in constant fear for the rest of his life. When he wrote his fifth symphony he lied about the meaning of the music to satisfy the authorities. He constantly spoke the party line in public. However in an interview before his death he revealed his hatred of the Soviet system. These revelations were later published after his death in a book called ‘Testimony’. The notes for this book were all signed by Shostakovich so that it could be verified that these were his thoughts.
(The Great Courses – Great Masters: Shostakovich – His Life and Music)
Henry VIII desperately wanted a healthy male heir to the throne which is one of the reasons he wanted to divorce his first wife. She did produce two male heirs who died young. He actually did have a healthy male son at the time but unfortunately for him it wasn’t with his wife. He did get a noble title but was never considered in line for the throne.
(The Great Courses – The Age of Henry VIII)
A fossil is any sign of ancient life that is at least 10,000 years old.
(The Great Courses – Major Transitions in Evolution)
At the time of Darwin there were about 12 known species of dinosaurs, now there are about 1000.
(The Great Courses – Major Transitions in Evolution)
A chaotic system is not a random system. A chaotic system in a particular state will always move to another specific predetermined state. A random system may move in an unpredictable way.
(The Great Courses – Chaos)