Baroness Lubinska who presided over the famous duel between Princess Pauline Metternich and the Countess Kielmannsegg in 1892, insisted that the duelists remove their clothing above their waists to avoid infection in the event that a sword pushed clothing into the wound it caused. Being a doctor, the baroness had seen many instances of septic infection in soldiers for this very reason throughout her years of medical training.
“The cause of the duel is reputed to be an argument over arrangements for the Vienna Musical and Theatrical Exhibition.” – I like these ladies.
Fun fact: Though being gay in the 40s sucked, being gay in the military was easier, and pretty common. There were apparently, at one point in time time so many lesbians in the military that when they tried to crack down on it, the girls wrote back and said “Look I can give you the names, but you’ll lose some of your best officers, and half your nurses and secretaries.” And they pretty much shut up about it unless you were especially bad at subtlety. (Source: Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers. A good source for gay history from 1900s onwards.)
Sergeant Phelps worked for General Eisenhower. Four decades after Eisenhower had defeated the Axis powers, Phelps recalled an extraordinary event. One day the general told her, “I’m giving you an order to ferret those lesbians out.’ We’re going to get rid of them.”
“I looked at him and then I looked at his secretary. who was standing next to me, and I said, ‘Well, sir, if the general pleases, sir, I’ll be happy to do this investigation for you. But you have to know that the first name on the list will be mine.’
“And he kind of was taken aback a bit. And then this woman standing next to me said, ‘Sir, if the general pleases, you must be aware that Sergeant Phelps’s name may be second, but mine will be first.’
“Then I looked at him, and I said, ‘Sir, you’re right. They’re lesbians in the WAC battalion. And if the general is prepared to replace all the file clerks, all the section commanders, all of the drivers—every woman in the WAC detachment—and there were about nine hundred and eighty something of us—then I’ll be happy to make the list. But I think the general should be aware that among those women are the most highly decorated women in the war. There have been no cases of illegal pregnancies. There have been no cases of AWOL. There have been no cases of misconduct. And as a matter of fact, every six months since we’ve been here, sir, the general has awarded us a commendation for meritorious service.’
“And he said, ‘Forget the order.’
– The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America
I’ve reblogged this before but it didn’t have these comments and HOLY HOT DAMN DID IT NEED THEM.
So, when someone sits down to write a fiction about Women commandos, and a Dudebro steps in to say “Huh, that is so unrealistic huh.”
Harold… oh, Harold…sit down, shut up, and stay out of our way.
History is infinitely gayer than a lot of people want to admit <3
Just a little addendum to that otherwise perfect post I reblogged about liveblogging the apocalypse.
We know as much as we do about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum because Pliny the Younger wrote about it in letters to his friends – the “liveblogging” of his day. We know as much as we do about the Great Fire of London in 1666 because Samuel Pepys wrote down what he did and observed as it was happening. Chidiock Tichbourne sat down and wrote a poem about how facing death felt the night before his execution, and it’s still taught in English literature courses – as much for the context as the content. And I know I don’t have to explain the historical and cultural significance of diaries like that of Anne Frank.
What were some of the most widely shared and moving quotes in the wake of the deaths of Leonard Nimoy and Terry Pratchett this past month? Their final tweets: Pratchett’s lines about walking with Death and Nimoy’s reflection about life as a garden.
It is such a very human impulse, in the face of disaster, in the face of death, to try and express what we’re experiencing and feeling, and to reach out with those words. Scratched on a cell wall. Graffitted in a bomb shelter. Sealed into a final letter. Recorded in a diary. It’s just one of the things humanity does, has done since we developed written language.
And I side-eye anyone who derides it because the technology isn’t what they’re used to.
The businessman who had Dr. Louhelainen test the shawl is named Russell Edwards – he owns the shawl and also had a book coming out named “Naming Jack the Ripper”. This claim coming out right around the time his book was meant to was probably done to boost sales.
Scientists quickly pointed out that he had made an error in his calculations. The mutation that he claimed to have matched was 314.1C. This is a very rare mutation and could be used as evidence, except for the fact that he had made an error – the mutation he actually looked at was 315.1C – a mutation that’s shared by about 99% of Europe.
Dr.
Louhelainen’s work hasn’t been peer reviewed (as best as I can tell, at least, as I haven’t found anything from him but if anyone does, then yay peer reviewed article?). That doesn’t mean it’s valid or not, and there certainly are articles that have been published in a peer-reviewed journal that…should not have been, but still, it’s a bit odd that he’s made this claim and I haven’t seen it published in any journals.
The shawl has been touched by many people over the years, and there may be DNA from other researchers on there – it’s not a clean piece of evidence to use.
As of yet it’s just him and his team claiming they’ve found this match, and unless it’s been replicated by others, it’s not a valid claim.
Oh gosh I remember this. Seconding the above and adding “it sure is interesting how Jack the Ripper was ‘revealed’ to be a Jewish Polish immigrant at the exact same time prejudice towards all three of those groups was on the rise in Britain”
oxford was built and operational as a college before the rise of the mayans and cleopatra lived in a time nearer to pizza hut’s invention than to the pyramids being built
I need a noncomprehensive history book that covers Known World History in time periods, like “in this century, all this shit was happening concurrently” and not just all spread out so I have to piece it together like some unpaid uneducated scholar
I actually have a book with this exact premise!
It’s a m a z i n g! The isbn number is 978-0-7566-8681-9 :) :) :)
