Robert Williams was 25 and worked as an American engineer for the Ford Motor Company factory in Flat Rock, Michigan. He was killed by an industrial robot arm on January 25, 1979 when he was struck in the head and killed by the arm of a 1-ton production-line robot as he was gathering parts in […]
Tag: Bite Size
There’s No Such Thing as Dying With Dignity!
Just a fairly short one tonight. Inspired by a chat with a friend, I thought I would share a few tit-bits on the subject of a famous funeral that endured a couple of mishaps and all things awkward, that did not discriminate on the basis of class or fame. When Winston Churchill died in January […]
Napoleon’s Strangest Battle
Napoleon was arguably one of the greatest military minds of the his age. However, he was outwitted by a strange opponent. No, not Wellington at Waterloo (learn more about that here: http://www.historynaked.com/battle-waterloo-2nd-abdication-napoleon-bonaparte/ ) nor a beautiful and dedicated queen (read more about Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz here: http://www.historynaked.com/louise-mecklenburg-strelitz-queen-prussia/ ). He was attacked and almost vanquished by […]
Military Mishaps
Major-General Sir William Erskine was born in 1748, becoming 2nd Baronet on the death of his father, Lieutenant-General Sir William Erskine, in 1795. He twice represented Fife in Parliament, in 1796 and then from 1802-1805. Erskine was appointed one of the senior commanders in the Peninsular War, despite having twice been detained in an insane […]
BITE SIZED: The Origins of the Poison Pen Letter
In 1527 the first known letter to England from North America was received, sent by the mariner John Rut to Henry VIII. The world’s first adhesive stamp available for public posting at a single price, the Penny Black, was introduced in 1840, replacing the previous system which saw the recipient pay for postage based on […]