A wealthy early modern London merchant asked his agent to send him '2 or 3 apes' from Africa, but didn't write the 'r'. The order was interpreted as 203 apes, the first cargo of 80 of which arrived with the promise of more to come.
Fact of the Day
Quote of the Day
"No-one loves armed missionaries
"
~ Robespierre, 1792
On This Day
1461 Edward of York won a decisive victory over the Lancastrian forces of Henry VI at the Battle of Towton, leaving the way open for his coronation as King Edward IV.
1912 Captain Scott made his final diary entry from the Antarctic.
1936 Adolf Hitler received 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal military reoccupation of the Rhineland.
1974 NASA's Mariner 10 became the first spacecraft to fly by the planet Mercury.
1979 The US Committee on Assassinations Report concluded that the assassination of John F. Kennedy was the result of a conspiracy.
1981 Around 7,000 people ran the first ever London Marathon.