Confederate Gold

The fact that the Confederate capital, Richmond, would soon fall, caused General Lee to send an urgent message to President Jefferson Davis that the government must evacuate or face certain capture. Late that night a special train carrying the President and Members of the Confederate Cabinet departed Richmond for Danville, Virginia. Although the news was bleak, it was  hoped that the struggle could continue.

Shortly after midnight a second train departed the Richmond station also heading south. On board were all the hard currency reserves of the Confederate States of America guarded by a group of young midshipmen from the Confederate Navy.Amongst the official records of the Confederacy crates and barrels containing gold and silver coins, bullion, and a substantial amount of fine jewelry donated to the Cause by women across the South. In addition there was more than $450,000 in gold from Richmond bank reserves, taken to keep it from falling into the hands of the invading Yankees.

By the end of the day on April 3, 1865 Richmond lay in ashes. The gold could not be found.

Spreading Economic Depressions May Have Begun Earlier Than You Thought

A depression caused the first covered wagon treks west. An economic depression that began in London in the 1830s and quickly spread to the East coast of the USA caused people to head west in droves hoping for a better life..

I'll Drop You a Line

At the beginning of WWI, airplanes served as artillery spotters using a map and a notepad the spotter noted troop movements and artillery positions. They then put the materials and a pebble in a bag and dropped it to their artillery.

Later a Morse Code radio was added to confirm hits. Still later as trench warfare bogged down aerial photography began.

The Luxury of Civilization

The urge to look pretty and have a good time are often considered a bad thing, but these desires for luxury may be responsible for civilization. The first trade routes were probably established for trading in shells for beads and later beautifully colored stones to be drilled for beads. The first trade city was established to support the obsidian trade for sharp volcanic glass razors and polished volcanic glass mirrors.

The first fields were probably planted to provide more barley for beer. In early times beer was not just for getting drunk, brewing created a safe to drink beverage in a time when most water was not safe to drink. It also added B vitamins to the diet.

The Triumph of The Nerds

The USA has won more wars by being nerdy than being brawny. Guns made with rifling by German gunsmiths in Pennsylvania, known as Kentucky long rifles because of their use in hunting there, were far superior in range and accuracy to UK muskets and helped to win the Revolutionary War. Sails made of a cutting-edge fabric that was superior to the linen us by the UK helped win the War of 1812. Cotton needed less wetting to keep the weave tight enough to hold the wind. Applying assembly-line techniques to gun making helped the North to win the Civil War. Being the most technically advanced nation has been one of the top 5 reasons for winning every war the USA was ever in. The USA is falling dangerously behind in technical education ranking 25th in science and math.

Coffee, Tea, or Revolution

Did you know that the American Revolution is the reason that most Americans prefer coffee over tea? Before the American Revolution, most Americans, like other British subjects, drank tea, The Boston Tea Party marked the beginning of a protest against the tea tax. ("No taxation without representation.") that would result in a switch to drinking coffee for that caffeine boost. Coffee houses had been popular for some time and coffee grown in South America was readily available in North America.

Secrets of The Pharaoh's Tomb

Tutankhamun’s famous death mask wasn’t really his. It was probably reworked adding a different face to someone else's golden death mask after the boy king died unexpectedly. The evidence of a repurposed death mask is that the gold of the surrounding headpiece is better quality than that of the face section. The entire mask is made up of eight pieces riveted together. The blue stripes in the head piece are glass, in the face (such as the eyebrows) the blue is lapis lazuli. Tiny holes for earrings were covered up with gold leaf. Earrings were used in female death masks. It is speculated that the death mask and many other items in the tomb may have been originally a part of Nefertiti’s funerary objects. Nefertiti’s tomb has never been found. Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovery by Howard Carter, his team, and his patron, the Earl of Caernarvon, on Sunday November 26, 1922.