/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.5098539]

What are some lesser known yet absolutely based historical figures?

>Samuel Whittemore (July 27, 1696 - February 3, 1793) was an American farmer and soldier. He was 78 years of age when he became the oldest known colonial combatant in the American Revolutionary War (1775–83).

>On April 19, 1775, British forces were returning to Boston from the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the opening engagements of the war. On their march, they were continually shot at by colonial militiamen.

>Whittemore was in his fields when he spotted an approaching British relief brigade under Earl Percy, sent to assist the retreat. Whittemore loaded his musket and ambushed the British Grenadiers of the 47th Regiment of Foot from behind a nearby stone wall, killing one soldier. He then drew his dueling pistols and killed a grenadier and mortally wounded a second. By the time Whittemore had fired his third shot, a British detachment reached his position; Whittemore drew his sword and attacked. He was shot in the face, bayoneted numerous times, and left for dead in a pool of blood. He was found by colonial forces, alive, trying to load his musket to fight again. He was taken to Dr. Cotton Tufts of Medford, who perceived no hope for his survival. However, Whittemore lived another 18 years until dying of natural causes at the age of 96.

[Anonymous No.5098687]

Though celebrities, Sir Richard Francis Burton led an extraordinarily exciting life:
>Burton's best-known achievements include traveling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after early translations of Antoine Galland's French version), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile.
>Despite his intelligence and ability, Burton was antagonized by his teachers and peers. During his first term, he is said to have challenged another student to a duel after the latter mocked Burton's mustache.
>n 1842, he attended a steeplechase in deliberate violation of college rules and subsequently dared to tell the college authorities that students should be allowed to attend such events. Hoping to be merely "rusticated"—that is, suspended with the possibility of reinstatement, the punishment received by some less provocative students who had also visited the steeplechase—he was instead permanently expelled from Trinity College. In a final jab at the environment he had come to despise, Burton reportedly trampled the college's flower beds with his horse and carriage while departing Oxford.
>his party was [once] attacked by a group of Somali waranle ("warriors"). The officers estimated the number of attackers at 200. In the ensuing fight, Stroyan was killed and Speke was captured and wounded in eleven places before he managed to escape. Burton was impaled with a javelin, the point entering one cheek and exiting the other. This wound left a notable scar that can be easily seen on portraits and photographs. He was forced to make his escape with the weapon still transfixing his head.

[Anonymous No.5098737]

Ivor Thord-Gray is pretty cool. One of those adventurer types who went everywhere. Just his enlistment record is pretty amazing.
>Africa
>Worked as a Prison Guard on Robben Island 1896
>In 1897 he enlisted in the Cape Mounted Riflemen and fought the Boer War 1899–1902
>Served in the South African Constabulary 1902–1903
>Transvaal Colony Civil Service 1903–1906
>Captain in the Lydenburg Militia 1904
>Joined Royston's Horse as a Lieutenant and fought in the Bambatha Rebellion 1906 being promoted Captain.
>Captain of Nairobi Mounted Police 1907

>Asia
>Captain Philippine Constabulary ("US Foreign Legion") 1908–1909
>Planter in Malaya 1909–1911. Served a short time in the Chinese Revolution 1913

>Mexico
>Joined Mexican Revolution as Captain and Commander of Pancho Villa's artillery 1913
>Promoted Major, Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel 1914
>Chief of Staff 1st Mexican Army 1914

>Britain
>Joined British Army 1914 as a Major and second in command of 15th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers[4]
>Lieutenant-Colonel and Commanding officer of 11th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers 1915, 1/26th Battalion Royal Fusiliers 1916[5]
>Awarded 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, and Allied Victory Medal
>Lieutenant-Colonel Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF-S) to Siberia 1918[6]

>Russia
>Transferred to Russian "White" Army February 1919 as Colonel
>Commanding Officer of 1st Siberian Assault Division
>Major General November 1919 and High Representative of the Provisional Siberian Government to the Allied Expeditionary Corps in Vladivostok

[Anonymous No.5098776]

>>5098687

>Burton was impaled with a javelin, the point entering one cheek and exiting the other. This wound left a notable scar that can be easily seen on portraits and photographs. He was forced to make his escape with the weapon still transfixing his head.

what the fuck

[Anonymous No.5099151]

Hereward the Wake, anglosaxon outlaw, fought the normans for years after the conquest.

King Athelstan,
>victory in 937 by the army ofÆthelstan,King of England, and his brotherEdmundover the combined armies ofOlaf III Guthfrithson, theNorse–GaelKing of Dublin;Constantine II,King of Alba; andOwen I,King of Strathclyde. Though relatively little known today, it was called "the greatest single battle in Anglo-Saxon history before theBattle of Hastings."[2]Michael Livingston claimed that Brunanburh marks "the moment when Englishness came of age."[

Justinian II, gets deposed and has his nose cut off, comes back and starts a reign of terror

Aetius, succesful roman general, defeats the huns, gets executed by the emperor

Zhao Tuo, vassal of Qin, once the Qin are desttoyed he carves out a kingdom in the south encompassing southern china and vietnam, dies at 103 years old

Emperor aurelian, restores order in the empire, recovers gaul and destroys palmyra, he starts what diocletian finishes