Odds and Ends

In the 18th century, the Swedish King Gustav III wanted to prove the harmfulness of coffee. To this end, he allegedly recruited two twins condemned to death as guinea pigs. From then on, one of them had to drink a lot of coffee every day, the other tea. With whose death did the experiment end after many years? (And by what...?)

In Basel in 1474, a rooster was sentenced to death and publicly executed. He was accused of having laid an egg! According to the chronicle written 150 years later, people were afraid that from the egg...

Near Goldsboro (North Carolina) in the USA, an airplane crashed on January 24, 1961. Fortunately, nothing even worse happened, because the plane had a significant cargo on board, which was dropped uncontrollably during the crash. What fell to the ground from high in the air?

The U.S. state of Ohio has been listed as the 17th state of the U.S. since the year 1803. On the occasion of the anniversary in 1953, Congress noticed something that was not corrected until August 7 of the year 1953, namely...

In 1325, a conflict between the cities of Bologna and Modena (or the supporters of the emperor and the pope) escalated. Almost 40,000 soldiers were led into the field, and about 2,000 died. The war was triggered by a stolen object that still hangs as a trophy in Modena's town hall (replica). What sparked the war and gave it its name?

In what is now Belgium, the village of Kelmis (German: Altenberg) is located south of Aachen. What made this village with an initial population of just 256 so special between 1816 and 1915?

John of Luxembourg, also called John of Bohemia and John the Blind, was Bohemian king from 1311-1346 (and holder of other important titles).

In his 40s, he lost both eyes due to a hereditary disease. In the eyes of his contemporaries, however, he was considered the embodiment of chivalric virtue: he remained loyal to the alliance until the end, but died in his 50th year. How did he die according to tradition?

Who was there to be afraid of in the past if he had no scruples?

What did people in southern Germany and Austria in the 18th and 19th centuries understand by the so-called "shit days"?

In the 1630s, Europe experienced the first well-documented speculative bubble in history. In what product did numerous speculators suddenly want to invest, leading to enormous prices?(And to some financially ruined speculators).