Virginia Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Seeing as we are from pretty much all over the world, how bout we tell of something interesting specific for where you (we) live, you know, little known facts, or something quirky, bizarre or fascinating! I live in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA. Our claim to fame is Pat Conroy (sweet old man, always kisses me on the check when we see each other) Candice Glover, last years American Idol winner, one of only two military bases that train Marines (the other in California) History goes back to the French encampment followed by the Spanish (St. Helena) and then the English and then there is the Gullah culture. They are descendents from Africans brought over as slaves. They managed to maintain their identity and automony because they were left virtually unmolested. Thousands of Africans come here in May and November for teh Gullah Festival. Even more tourists come out to participate. That's all I can come up with right now. Whats the 411 on where YOU live?! Pictures would be great, hint, hint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 That's pretty interesting! I'd have to look it up about Helmond (my memory is fuzzy atm), but what I do know is that Nuenen, a town nearby here, is the birthplace of Vincent van Gogh. Eindhoven is famous for many things, for example Philips was funded there and we are a Brainport region with a lot of technology research. I think Helmond is famous for some things too, but I'd have to think about it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I like this thread! I grew up in the area to the west of Birmingham called The Black Country. It's pretty much where the Industrial Revolution started, due to the fact that there was a coal seam just under the surface of the ground. The story goes that the coal was so plentiful and easy to dig up, that individual houses could dig coal up straight out of their back gardens. But, all that coal dust and industry meant everything was black with dust and even the sun was blotted out by the smoke during the day - hence the name Black Country. Queen Victoria thought it was so ugly that when she passed through the area on her royal train, she ordered the blinds to be dropped until they were past! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) This thread is so interesting! I used to live just near President Ulysses S. Grant's home, Hardscrabble. It is the only house built by and lived in an American president. He also built the fence out front. Interestingly, he made it out of the barrels of Civil War rifles. Also interesting is that the Busch family (of Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser fame) have their mansion (a castle, practically) on the same property set back aways behind some woods. During the winter when the trees are bare, you can catch glimpses of it. Edited May 1, 2014 by dtrpath27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Queen Victoria thought it was so ugly that when she passed through the area on her royal train, she ordered the blinds to be dropped until they were past! well that was rude! (I love the Black Country Museum, I think that should be included, it's basically a whole Victorian village, it's brilliant!) I live in Birmingham, which (like the Black Country... since it's next to it) has a really industrial past. We apparently have more canals than Venice, which was pretty useful for transporting goods at the time. Quite a few famous people came from Birmingham actually. The ones that come to mind are Black Sabbath and UB40 (and I think Led Zepplin, but possibly not the whole band) and Julie Walters. There is actually a 'Walk of Stars', I'll link the wikipedia page for it in case anyone's interested in seeing the others... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Walk_of_Stars We have the Cadbury factory too, which is great but I was slightly disappointed to discover they don't actually use waterfalls to mix chocolate. J.R.R Tolkien lived here, and you can see lots of the places he was inspired by in his writing. For example Sarehole Mill seems to be the direct inspiration for the Old Mill in Hobbiton, and Mosely Bog (which is next to it), Fangorn Forest. They have Tolkien Festival there once a year which is really good. I know W.H. Auden lived here too, but I don't know as much about that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleW Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Nice thread! Anybody heard of Kaspar Hauser? The alleged prince kept prisoner as a child and being murdered later? That happened near to where I live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Nice thread! Anybody heard of Kaspar Hauser? The alleged prince kept prisoner as a child and being murdered later? That happened near to where I live. What?!? That's quite a story. I've never heard of it before. Who were his captors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleonora Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 My German teacher told us about Kaspar Hauser when I was at school She was born in Ansbach, where there should be a statue of him, if I remember the story correctly. I let all the explenations to LittleW, by the way I was born in a little village in the north east of Italy, which is now called Castelmassa, but when it was founded, back in the 900 d.C., it was called Massa Superiore. It was one of the greatest port on the river Po. Castelmassa had a huge castle built by Matilde di Canossa (known as The Great Countess Matilda of Tuscany). She was a great supporter of pope Gregory VII against King Henry IV. The legend says there are many underground tunnels that connect the place where the caste used to be to the church and other "safe places" outside the village. No tunnel has been found so far, but a dangerous pit with old knives all around is well known, maybe it was digged during the wars against Austria in the 1800s. During the Second World War, a group of young guys found it by accident and decided to use it to kill some Nazis who lived here and who tortured some prisoners. A Nazi young soldier fell in it and died. The italian guys were discovered and killed. More cheerful facts, the church and the square of my village are famous because they are on the italian version of the book The Little World of Don Camillo, written by Giovanni Guareschi. That's not interesting as the facts you've all mentioned before, but I think it's cool to have my village on a book http://www.naufragio.it/il-tempo-di-leggere/libri/donc.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.