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European settlers began establishing themselves as large-scale farmers in the Kenyan highlands in 1903, taking lands from local tribes like the Kikuyu and Masai. In 1920, the British designated the interior of the region Kenya Colony and a coastal strip the Protectorate of Kenya Africans began protesting their inferior status, and the Kikuyu staged an armed revolt in the 1950s. Britain eventually put down the rebellion, but Kenya gained its independence soon after. Who was its first president? More...
Historic Trivia pick - The Caterer
THE CAT WHO USED PIGEONS TO HELP A JAILBIRD
Throughout most of human history, politics was a winner-take-all proposition in which losers forfeited their fortunes and lives. Such was almost the case for Sir Henry Wyatt, who was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1460. During the two-year reign of King Richard III, he supported the claims of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, to the throne. The king had Wyatt imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he was kept in freezing conditions, tortured, and fed a starvation diet.
But one day a feline walked through the grate covering the cell's window and made the acquaintance of the room's emaciated inmate. Wyatt, overjoyed to have company, petted and praised the cat. The two became fast friends, and the stray promptly set about saving its human companion's life by killing pigeons and fetching them to Wyatt's cell.
The famished prisoner gladly accepted them, and he convinced one of his jailers to dress and cook the birds. Soon the feline was referred to as Wyatt's acater (caterer). Thus fortified, Wyatt held out against all adversity until, finally, Richard III was ousted from the throne by Henry Tudor, who was crowned Henry VII. Needless to say, the former prisoner's prospects rapidly improved. He was freed from the Tower, given wealth and title, and lived to the ripe old age of eighty.
Through it all he never forgot the kindness of the Tower cat, whose fate is unrecorded. One hopes that Wyatt found a way to help his benefactor, as he did almost every other cat he encountered. "Sir Henry in his prosperity would ever make much of a cat, and perhaps you will never find a picture of him anywhere without a cat beside him", said one historical account.
Today, the Church of St Mary the Virgin and All Saints in Maidstone features a stone memorial to Wyatt, "who was imprisoned and tortured in the Tower, in the reign of King Richard the third, kept in the dungeon, where fed and preserved by a cat."
The monument is a touchstone of sorts for the extended Wyatt family, which thrives in both the United States and Canada - and would be all but extinct were it not for one resourceful feline.
Kenya Gains Independence from the United Kingdom
European settlers began establishing themselves as large-scale farmers in the Kenyan highlands in 1903, taking lands from local tribes like the Kikuyu and Masai. In 1920, the British designated the interior of the region Kenya Colony and a coastal strip the Protectorate of Kenya Africans began protesting their inferior status, and the Kikuyu staged an armed revolt in the 1950s. Britain eventually put down the rebellion, but Kenya gained its independence soon after. Who was its first president? More...
- 2009 - Houston, Texas elects Annise Parker
The City of Houston becomes the most populous city in the United States to have an openly gay mayor. - 1969 - Piazza Fontana bombing
A bomb exploded at the building of the National Agrarian Bank, Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and injuring 88. - 1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
It was the first of the larger states to vote to ratify the document.
Historic Trivia pick - The CatererTHE CAT WHO USED PIGEONS TO HELP A JAILBIRD
Throughout most of human history, politics was a winner-take-all proposition in which losers forfeited their fortunes and lives. Such was almost the case for Sir Henry Wyatt, who was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1460. During the two-year reign of King Richard III, he supported the claims of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, to the throne. The king had Wyatt imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he was kept in freezing conditions, tortured, and fed a starvation diet.
But one day a feline walked through the grate covering the cell's window and made the acquaintance of the room's emaciated inmate. Wyatt, overjoyed to have company, petted and praised the cat. The two became fast friends, and the stray promptly set about saving its human companion's life by killing pigeons and fetching them to Wyatt's cell.
The famished prisoner gladly accepted them, and he convinced one of his jailers to dress and cook the birds. Soon the feline was referred to as Wyatt's acater (caterer). Thus fortified, Wyatt held out against all adversity until, finally, Richard III was ousted from the throne by Henry Tudor, who was crowned Henry VII. Needless to say, the former prisoner's prospects rapidly improved. He was freed from the Tower, given wealth and title, and lived to the ripe old age of eighty.
Through it all he never forgot the kindness of the Tower cat, whose fate is unrecorded. One hopes that Wyatt found a way to help his benefactor, as he did almost every other cat he encountered. "Sir Henry in his prosperity would ever make much of a cat, and perhaps you will never find a picture of him anywhere without a cat beside him", said one historical account.
Today, the Church of St Mary the Virgin and All Saints in Maidstone features a stone memorial to Wyatt, "who was imprisoned and tortured in the Tower, in the reign of King Richard the third, kept in the dungeon, where fed and preserved by a cat."
The monument is a touchstone of sorts for the extended Wyatt family, which thrives in both the United States and Canada - and would be all but extinct were it not for one resourceful feline.
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61-BLUES
