http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1727
Here are some one liners...
Coffee Comes to Brazil -- A brief history of coffee.
The Hessians Are Coming! The Hessians Are Coming! -- England begins hiring mercenaries instead of conscripting its subjects.
King George Takes Up His Wife's Challenge -- King George the 1st has had a rocky marriage. Before she died, she challenged him to meet her in Heaven for judgment.
Coffee Comes to Brazil
The coffee bean has been known for centuries. An Ethiopian noticed that his goats became more energetic whenever they chewed the local coffee berries. He began chewing them and became energetic himself. Coffee plants were cultivated in Yemen and shipped through the sea port of Mocha (pronounced, MOH-kah). Toward the end of the 1600s, the Dutch planted coffee beans on the Indonesian island of Java. Now coffee beans have reached Brazil. Coffee plants require a particular environment in order to thrive. Central and South America will be ideal. The plant is susceptible to many diseases, but those diseases have trouble taking hold there. The farmers are watching carefully and destroying infected plants before disease can spread. The coffee plant does well in shade so it will thrive under the canopy of Brazil's forests. Brazil is about to become a major coffee producer. [1] [2] [3]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Coffee produces caffeine, and computer programmers everywhere are grateful, but one wonders why the plant would produce it in the first place? In fact, caffeine is toxic to the plant, but caffeine protects the seeds from fungus and bacteria. It might also repel insects. A coffee plant can live for 100 years but commercial production will fall off after 10 to 20 years due to an excess of caffeine build-up in the soil from falling leaves and overripe berries from the plant itself. [3]
Coffee produces caffeine, and computer programmers everywhere are grateful, but one wonders why the plant would produce it in the first place? In fact, caffeine is toxic to the plant, but caffeine protects the seeds from fungus and bacteria. It might also repel insects. A coffee plant can live for 100 years but commercial production will fall off after 10 to 20 years due to an excess of caffeine build-up in the soil from falling leaves and overripe berries from the plant itself. [3]
The Hessians Are Coming! The Hessians Are Coming!
England is having trouble recruiting troops, but they have plenty of money so it makes more sense to hire mercenaries rather than conscript British subjects. The Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (a princedom in Germany) already has a standing army but the Hessian troops have nothing to do, so the Prince is hiring out his troops, sometimes committing them to both sides of a conflict. Historians speculate that the Prince built up a large number of troops for the express purpose of hiring them out. Many of these Hessian rent-a-warriors have been pressed into service... (read as "forced"). During the American Revolution, a substantial portion the British forces will be made up of these Hessian troops. Since the Hessians are forced into service, in 1776 the Continental Congress will offer each of them 50 acres of land to entice them to desert and up to 800 acres to British soldiers depending on rank. The land will be across the Appalachians so after the war, many of the soldiers who took the Congress up on the offer will sell their land certificates for pennies on the dollar. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The English Kings of that time were from the House of Hanover in Germany. While the English King was not supposed to have entanglements with his German holdings at the king-level, the Kings were still tripped up by their association with Germany. If you watched the movie "The King's Speech" you will look inside the workings of the English royal family before World War 2 and how important it was to speak proper English. What you will not see in the movie (and did not hear) was that the English royal family spoke German between themselves. During World War 1, the royal family changed their name to Windsor. Before that time they had a distinctively German family name... "Saxe-Coburg and Gotha." Is Queen Elizabeth the 2nd from this German family line? Jawohl (Yes). [9] [10]
The English Kings of that time were from the House of Hanover in Germany. While the English King was not supposed to have entanglements with his German holdings at the king-level, the Kings were still tripped up by their association with Germany. If you watched the movie "The King's Speech" you will look inside the workings of the English royal family before World War 2 and how important it was to speak proper English. What you will not see in the movie (and did not hear) was that the English royal family spoke German between themselves. During World War 1, the royal family changed their name to Windsor. Before that time they had a distinctively German family name... "Saxe-Coburg and Gotha." Is Queen Elizabeth the 2nd from this German family line? Jawohl (Yes). [9] [10]
King George Takes Up His Wife's Challenge
King George the 1st of Great Britain has had a rocky marriage. He arranged his marriage with Queen Sophia mostly for political purposes. She bore him a daughter and a son, but somewhere down the line they were estranged. The King took a lover and had two bastard children through his mistress. For some reason, this upset the Queen so she decided to elope with the Colonel of the Guard. Oddly, he ended up dead and his body thrown into the river... maybe. No one knows for sure. Queen Sofia was then locked up for 31 years... until her death. She had servants but she never again went unsupervised. Before she died, she issued a challenge to her husband to meet her in Heaven to stand before God in final judgement. King George has now taken up that challenge. The King is dead. Long live the King. [11] [12]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Well... King George the 1st was a royal pain. He also had a falling out with his son, the Prince of Wales, who became King George the 2nd. Apparently the Prince had been a lot more popular than the King. In a jealous fit, the King forbade the Prince from seeing his own children. I'd like to say that King George the 1st was insane at that point but I don't believe it. I think he was just a mean old cuss. Once King George the 2nd took the throne, he entitled his daughter, Princess Anne, as Princess Royal. It is a special title given for life to the eldest daughter of the royal family. Princess Anne was the 2nd woman to receive the title. The current holder is the 7th... Her Royal Highness, the Princess Anne. She is the daughter of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd. [13]
Well... King George the 1st was a royal pain. He also had a falling out with his son, the Prince of Wales, who became King George the 2nd. Apparently the Prince had been a lot more popular than the King. In a jealous fit, the King forbade the Prince from seeing his own children. I'd like to say that King George the 1st was insane at that point but I don't believe it. I think he was just a mean old cuss. Once King George the 2nd took the throne, he entitled his daughter, Princess Anne, as Princess Royal. It is a special title given for life to the eldest daughter of the royal family. Princess Anne was the 2nd woman to receive the title. The current holder is the 7th... Her Royal Highness, the Princess Anne. She is the daughter of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd. [13]
This Year in Wikipedia
Year 1727, Wikipedia.
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