Across the pond in the United States tanks were being produced at a staggering rate but were much more inferior in their design and abilities when put on the same field with the German Panzers. The Americans made up for their lack of firepower and speed by producing tanks that were the ultimate in style and comfort. For this, the United States war machine asked for help from cousins Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J. Shoemaker the inventors of the recliner and the founders of La-Z-Boy. They were given the task of designing the interiors of most American-made tanks, some of which were also produced for the French military.

The cousins focused their efforts on the Sherman tank design as that was the workhorse of the American tanks. Naturally the tank’s seating was of great concern so as to provide superior comfort for the tank drivers, navigators, and gunners. Most seating was made of a 12-gauge steel recline mechanism, stretching out to 85″ when fully reclined.  Suede coverings, dual cupholders and a primitive mini-fridge completed the control area where most of the personnel spent their time in combat. The personnel rarely complained of lower-back pain and some were able to enjoy the massage chairs featured in later tank models.

Proud owners of a La-Z-Boy recliner.

Panzer production and re-engineering dramatically fell by 1943 as America was in full stride in their tank production. The overwhelming number of American tanks overtook the failing Panzers and contributed to the fall of Berlin in 1944. However, it was the Barcalounger-equipped Russian tanks that first enjoyed the occupation of Berlin – a feat that Barcalounger reminds La-Z-Boy of quite often at recliner conventions.

Good looking and talented, Apollo was a parenting nightmare for those with daughters.

Apollo’s birthplace is unknown as is the origins of his musical journey. Few details of his real-life experiences have survived; his cult-like following earned him supernatural powers, eventually placing him into Greek and Roman mythology alongside gods such as Zeus. The documents our researchers at The History Bluff have obtained do reveal though that his lyre concerts were some of the most well-attended events of the era. Songs like, “In the Ghetto,” “All Shook Up,” and “Blue Suede Toga” drove the massive crowds into a wild delirium. Stunning vocals often faded into complex solo lyre riffs by Apollo and were sometimes accompanied by his good friend Pan on the flute.

Success and wealth summed up Apollo’s life. He was given starring roles in low-budget plays that did well only because he was the featured player. As he grew older, his popularity waned. He became fat and wore gaudy, bejeweled fig leaves; he was losing his fan base quickly. After a three-year hiatus, Apollo took to the stage again in his ‘Comeback Special’ – a live performance of his greatest hits. He soon topped the charts once again and enjoyed a renewed popularity. By this time, however, his friends and family were beginning to notice changes in his behavior and health. He was hopelessly addicted to hemlock.

Apollo's smooth, rolling, and irresistibly provocative lyre music was unrivaled, even by Pan the Flute Man.

Historians are unsure of the date but many accounts confirm that Apollo was found unresponsive on the floor of the public bath he frequented. His addiction to hemlock had gone too far and the greatest musician in Greek history – and mythology – was gone.

Lawrence of Arabia (left) and Leonard Woolley take a break from the excruciating pain brought on by the boyish game they learned from the Ottomans.

It was Lawrence’s knowledge of the Ottoman Empire that gave him the chance to work with Arab irregular troops extensively during WWI. While the classic 1962 movie ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ focuses solely on Lawrence’s work during the war, his life before the war is what is most enlightening to us. At the age of twenty-one in 1909, Lawrence ventured into Ottoman Syria where he was first introduced to the painful art of groin punching. He roomed with several young men and the game became a way to pass time and form a common bond with one another. The game is said to have been started by a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire – Mehmed II – in 1460.

During WWI Lawrence learned that this game was much more than just the Ottoman’s pastime. As a leader for the Arab irregular troops who were revolting against the Ottomans, Lawrence was captured and punched mercilessly for hours on end. When he was released, the abuse had consumed him. He finished his duties to his country honorably and returned home – bringing with him the beatings that he had gone through. During his years of service and afterward, he is confirmed to have groin punched Prince Faisal of Syria, British Archaeologist Leonard Woolley, American journalist Lowell Thomas, General Gouraud of France, and General John Pershing of the United States. His peers considered him to be the champion of the game.

As a piece of unrelated biographical information, T.E. Lawrence never fathered children.

On May 27, 1851 President Millard Fillmore made the boldest move of his auspicious presidency after coming into the office as a result of President Zachary Taylor’s untimely death. While presiding over the Senate, President Fillmore introduced to the Senate the Moravia High School varsity basketball team who had recently won the New York State high school basketball championship; they were made honorary pages for the day. While not a total surprise, this move was largely unexpected by the team and changed the tone of the entire day’s session.

"Holding thy dog close to thy bosom creates in him an anxiety of separation when thou leavest thine abode."

“To train thy dog to be seated, hold out thine hand with a morsel of sustenance above his nose. Move thine hand toward his tail as you say “Seat thine own self.” After thou hast accomplished this seventy times seven, he will begin to obey thine commandments. Selah.”

“To train thy dog to come hither, call out thy dog’s name and beckon unto it. (As it is written, “Isaiah, come hither.”) Bestow sustenance upon thy dog that has come from afar upon thy command. Selah.”

"If thine dog is unseemly such as this, send it back to the puppy farm from whence it came."

Mother on Maternity Leave Memorial in Norfolk, VA

A surprising find is that even the fiercest Native American tribes allowed their women maternity leave and honored the leave of white women. In Western North Carolina, the Catawba Indians never attacked a settlement in which a new mother on maternity leave resided. The settlement that is now Asheville, NC was weak in terms of military might but never faced Indian attack because of their ordinance that issued out pregnancy schedules that all married women had to abide by. Pregnancies were timed to overlap each other, so maternity leaves were a part of life in the settlement and would thus fend off Indian attack. Nearby settlements attempted the same technique but few Indian tribes allowed the four-month maternity leave granted by the generous Catawba tribe. With shorter maternity leaves granted by the Indians, other settlements were much more prone to attack.

As time went on the Europeans began to push back the Indian tribes, forcing the Indians to become stricter with their maternity leave policy. In some parts of the country, Indians were only allowing white women three days to recover physiologically and psychologically before the fighting and scalping would resume. During those days of maternity leave, however, the white soldiers pressed on, completely disregarding the maternity leave that should have been granted to the Indian women. As you know, the Indians were practically defeated and their say-so on the issue of maternity leave was taken away. The average time for a pioneer woman to be on leave eventually settled on around 3 months.

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, Sara Kinesowahski never got a maternity leave. Rather, she collected buffalo chips until the end of her days.

As we close out this short article, we’d like to leave you with a little tid-bit that you can impress your mother with. Did you know that Sacagawea opted to not take maternity leave in order to guide Lewis and Clark? Not to worry though, she was able to sell her 240 hours of maternity leave back to her employer at 75% of her pay rate.

Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Billy Clanton were quiet neighbors both before - and after - the gunfight.

“They always stayed to themselves,” a resident of their Tombstone subdivision said. “They would leave early in the morning to get to work and would come back mid-afternoon. I’d see them working out in their yard, and they would wave. After a while they would go into their house. Seemed like nice guys.”

Another resident said, “Frank was always so good with our kids. He wouldn’t say much, but he’d always throw back their baseball if it went over the fence. He gave our youngest a baseball bat just a few days before all of this happened. Can’t believe something like this would happen to Frank. Makes you think twice about doing nice things for people if that’s how good people are going to be treated.”

When asked if they had any knowledge of the McLaury brothers and Billy Clanton being involved in cattle rustling and robbery, neighbors were doubtful. A local businessman said, “Tom and Frank wouldn’t do that sort of thing. They would always pay for the licorice that they took out of the candy jar. I use an honor system with that jar, and they never once abused it. No. They were not cattle rustlers.”

For more information about the newly-discovered documents, click here.

For an accurate, comprehensive recap of the famous gunfight, we’ve included a short documentary for your viewing pleasure:

The four-leaf clover - the focal point of the 4-H logo - was the Nazi symbol for "Der Fuhrer."

When one begins to poke and prod around the 4-H manuals and goals, the influence of the Third Reich becomes obvious. The 4-H club has adopted Hitler’s motto of Arian dominance: “To make the best better” as well as their philosophies of indoctrinating children to support the sovereign government by working in the fields and learning basic survival skills. However, 4-H doesn’t participate in the type of military training that was so prevalent in the 1930’s and 1940’s during the height of international unrest.

After the Second World War, the Hitler Youth was disbanded, but the 4-H remained untouched because it had operated independently from the Hitler Youth on Allied soil.

Moshe Nuhtan was a successful entrepreneur and prolific trader.

Nuhtan lived in Syria under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1500’s. Few documents have survived the years in order to show us exactly how Nuhtan discovered the fig pastry roll. However, we can make an educated guess from the surviving records that his introduction was likely through one of the thousands of trades he made in his thirty years as a trader. After spending more than half of his life trading, Moshe decided to farm figs and produce fig roll pastries, which had always been a Syrian import – never an export. Within five years he perfected the fig pastry roll and became known in the area as ‘Fig.’ The fig pastry rolls made by ‘Fig’ Nuhtan quickly became an international success.

In all, he spent the last twenty-three years of his life on his fig farm farming figs as fig farmers did in those days. On April 6, 1563 Moshe died in a tragic fig farming accident, but his legacy would live on. Friends and family left their fields to make sure that the world would be able to experience Nuhtan’s fig pastry rolls. Today his empire continues to be a worldwide success. His line of fig roll pastries still bears his name – Fig Newton.