Catherine > Recent Status Updates

This is fascinating!! Zip codes in the US weren’t implement until the 1960’s?? Surnames weren’t common is Europe until the 14th century? Maria Theresa, empress of the Habsburg empire im the 1700’s, named all eleven of her daughters Maria after herself??

Lots of info so far. A few reflections on why history has a rosy view of WWII. I didn’t realize how brutal the war was, especially in the Pacific. Divorce was high, Americans weren’t as supportive of the war as history would have you believe, and soldiers just wanted to come home.

This might be one of my favorite lines ever 😂

"Halloa!" shouted Will Stutely, when they had come out from the forest into the little open spot. "Who art thou, fellow, that liest there killing all the green grass with salt water?"

There wasn’t a lot of support for US involvement in WWI - not enough people volunteered to fight so they had to institute the draft. Despite objections to the communist witchhunt in the 50’s’s, Congress continued to pretty much unanimously fund it. The FBI was shady AF towards leaders of black power movements in the 60’s. The US murdered civilians in Vietnam similar to the way Nazis murdered Jews during WWII.

There’s so much info in this book. Things of note so far for me: Congress has always been corrupted, unions got us the 8 hour work day, and the south got shafted on reconstruction after the Civil War. 13.5 hours down, 20.5 still to go. 😳