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In times of crisis, the Soviet Union turned to something unexpected to calm the masses
At times of political instability and crisis, Soviet authorities turned to Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet to inspire calm and patriotic fervour. Today, it is a means of standing up against the regime
Surely the most famous ballet in the world is Swan Lake, by Russian composer Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. And if there’s an argument for another ballet being more popular, then chances are it will be one of his other contributions, such as The Sleeping Beauty (1889) or The Nutcracker (1892). Swan Lake tells the doomed love story of Prince Siegfried and Odette, a beautiful princess cursed to transform into a swan during the day after the evil Baron Von Rothbart put a spell on her. The only way she can be freed is for a person to declare their undying love for her and remain faithful. Before Siegfried can break the spell, however, he is tricked by Rothbart into choosing his daughter, Odile, disguised as Odette, as his bride. The real Odette, knowing that Siegfried’s vow of love has been broken, throws herself into the lake to drown. Siegfried follows her into death. That is the most common denouement: over the years and countless versions, there have been a myriad alternative endings, including happy ones where the lovers break the spell and survive. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/03/GettyImages-502501157-86908f2-e1774448435219.jpg" width="1500" height="1002" alt="A black-and-white photograph shows a ballerina in a tutu dancing en pointe while a male partner supports her arm, with a line of similarly dressed dancers posed in the background" title="Maya Plisetskaya, prima ballerina of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, in the lead role of Swan Lake (Photo via Getty)" /> Despite its renown today, Swan Lake had an inauspicious start. Upon its premiere in 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, it was critically panned for being overly complicated both in its score and choreography. The dancers themselves supposedly said they could not dance to the music. It would be a revival, with major changes and additions, in 1895, a couple of years after Tchaikovsky’s death, that established Swan Lake’s reputation. To this day, it is the 1895 version that forms the basis for most stagings of the ballet, rather than the original 1877. Read more | Why did the Soviet Union adopt the hammer and sickle, and how did it become a symbol of communist revolution? How Swan Lake became a Soviet saviour The early 20th century saw a renewed Swan Lake grow in popularity around the world. It essentially became a Russian export, and the Russians fiercely protected it as an icon of their culture. Such was its status that under the Soviet Union, the authorities turned to Swan Lake as a calming influence at times of crisis. After the death of the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1982, state television replaced the scheduled programming with a recording of the ballet on a loop, while the fractious process of selecting a successor was done behind closed doors. The same thing happened with the deaths of the following premiers, Yuri Andropov in 1984 and Konstantin Chernenko in 1985. In 1991, when communist hardliners launched a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, who was instituting widespread reforms that would eventually help bring about the dissolution of the Soviet Union, television stations once again broadcast Swan Lake rather than show the chaotic scenes. By then, Russians knew that to see Swan Lake on their screens was to know that there was political instability in the country. Read more | When and why did the Soviet Union fall? Your history guide to the USSR Swan Lake as a symbol of protest In the 21st century, Swan Lake the ballet has taken on new meaning, transformed from a tool of the state into a symbol of protest. In particular, images from the ballet have been adopted as a coded means of opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the regime of Vladimir Putin. The four figures of the Dance of the Cygnets have appeared in graffiti on the walls of Russian cities. And when the independent news channel TV Rain was forced off the air for its coverage of the war, the last thing it broadcast – much like the Soviet authorities did at times of political crisis – was a clip of Swan Lake.
From the morally bankrupt to the staggeringly inept, Jonny Wilkes guides us through the lives of 16 rulers who wrote their names into the history books for all the wrong reasons
The past has no shortage of disastrous kings, queens, and other rulers; such a list could easily have been filled with the worst Roman emperors alone. Some have been homicidal, like Nero or Genghis Khan; simply incompetent, like Edward II; completely untrustworthy, like Charles I; or amiable but inadequate, like Louis XVI of France. But who are truly the worst, and why? Jonny Wilkes makes the case against 16 rulers from history… <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/GettyImages-520718487-44a3fc9-e1776420577392.jpg" width="1498" height="1000" alt="A medieval battle scene shows armoured soldiers fighting with spears and shields, while two mounted knights dominate the centre and right. The figures wear ornate gold-and-black armour, and richly decorated horses move through the fray. Stone buildings and a towered structure rise in the background." title="King Tarquin and his family were expelled from Rome in 509 BC, paving the way for the creation of the Roman Republic (Image by Getty Images)" /> 1. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus King of Rome, 534–509 BC Before Rome had emperors, it had a line of kings going back to the city’s mythical founder, Romulus. The last, however, presided over a reign of terror so bad that the people gave up on the monarchy altogether, heralding the dawn of the Republic. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (commonly known as ‘Tarquin the Proud’) had seized the throne by planning the assassination of his own father-in-law, then once in power he killed senators on a whim and imprisoned or executed anyone suspected of disloyalty. His undoing came when his son raped a noblewoman, which caused such outrage that a revolt broke out that saw the tyrannical king overthrown and exiled. In his doomed attempts to regain the throne, he persuaded neighbouring cities to attack Rome, seemingly unfazed by the damage this would do to his erstwhile kingdom. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/GettyImages-1439484597-HR-9ecf251-e1776420717721.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="An illustration shows a person in a fur garment and sandals lifting a club to strike a bear that rears up on its hind legs with claws extended. They stand in an enclosed arena-like space." title="A 19th-century image depicts Commodus fighting a bear. The emperor is best known today as the main antagonist in the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator (Image by Getty Images)" /> 2. Commodus Roman emperor, 177–92 AD There are a number of contenders to the title of ‘most despicable emperor of Rome’, so we could just as easily be discussing the cruel and murderous rules of, say, Nero and Caligula. The bloodthirsty, vainglorious spendthrift, Commodus, however, went from inheriting an empire enjoying a long period of peace and prosperity, the Pax Romana, to leaving it broke and in turmoil. If not executing anyone he suspected of plotting against him, he was leaving the job of ruling the empire to a series of corrupt, cruel and incompetent favourites. He much preferred to fight as a gladiator, relishing in slaughtering a menagerie of animals in the arena. No wonder, then, that Commodus was chosen as the villain in Ridley Scott’s swords-and-sandals masterpiece, Gladiator. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/4King-JohnGettyImages-804458704-88379ce-e1776420847382.jpg" width="1498" height="1000" alt="A medieval illustration shows a crowned figure in red robes signing a document at a table covered with an ornate cloth, while knights, clerics, and noblemen stand around under a canopy. A grassy landscape with tents and figures appears behind them." title="A fanciful illustration depicts King John signing the Magna Carta at Runnymede. In reality, the charter was authenticated with his royal seal (Image by Getty Images)" /> 3. John King of England, 1199–1216 Seriously, how could the arch-villain of Robin Hood not make an appearance? Beyond the tale of the fabled outlaw, John severely damaged the authority of the English monarchy. As a prince, he angered the nobles of Ireland and attempted to steal his brother Richard I’s crown, only ending up as king after Richard died without a legitimate heir. Notably, he also managed to outmanoeuvre a rival claim from his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, whom he is later believed to have had murdered. Within a few years in power, John had lost Normandy – the foundation of his family’s Angevin empire on the continent – then he emptied the kingdom’s coffers trying to win it back. His oppressively high taxes, his clashes with the church and his cruel and conniving personality all led to a revolt of England’s barons. Under threat of civil war, John was forced to seal Magna Carta, a historic document that limited royal power. He then proceeded to ignore it. The barons rose up again and John’s reign ended, dying of dysentery, as he fought to keep hold of his kingdom. Read more | How King John helped bring about a political miracle in medieval England <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/GettyImages-929217154-a82abdb-e1776421043333.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="An emperor in elaborate robes and a crown sits composed on a throne between patterned pillars, while attendants in similar ceremonial clothing move hurriedly across the foreground. Smoke or swirling shapes fill the space, and broken pottery pieces lie near the throne, adding to the sense of disruption." title="An illustration depicts Emperor Aizong on his throne during the Mongol siege of Caizhou. The ruler’s death led to his general, Wanyan Chenglin, taking power – albeit very briefly (Image by Getty Images)" /> 4. Wanyan Chenglin Emperor of the Jin dynasty, 1234 On 9 February 1234, with the warriors of the Mongol empire besieging the city of Caizhou, the emperor of the Jin dynasty in China, Aizong, knew that his 10-year reign would be over shortly. That said, he did not want to be the last in his line, so he abdicated and passed the throne to his general, Wanyan Chenglin, before taking his own life. The reluctant new emperor began a reign that would be doomed to last just a matter of hours. He was killed leading his soldiers in a last stand when the Mongols broke through the city walls. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/12Charles-the-BadGettyImages-587495540-00b7ee7-e1776421241476.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A medieval manuscript illustration shows a crowned figure in red robes seated inside a small architectural chamber, gesturing toward several figures in long white robes standing outside. The scene is set against a patterned gold and red background with a decorative border" title="Charles II of Navarre harangues a crowd of angry Parisians. The monarch’s abysmal leadership earned him the name ‘Charles the Bad’ (Image by Getty Images)" /> 5. Charles the Bad King of Navarre, 1349–87 The name gives away why he belongs on this list, doesn’t it? Charles earned ‘the Bad’ for his duplicitous and treacherous behaviour in the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. Although King of Navarre in Spain, he owned a lot of land in northern France, which put him in the middle of the conflict, and his response was to keep flipping sides. Driven solely by ambition, he believed he should be on the French throne, and he plotted and murdered to get it. All the while, Navarre went ignored. What made him truly bad, though, was that his schemes failed utterly. Charles is perhaps best-known today for his grisly end in 1387, when the brandy-soaked sheets he had been wrapped in to cure an illness accidentally caught fire, burning him alive. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/13GettyImages-973900956-e2098c3-e1776421323481.jpg" width="1496" height="1000" alt="A painted portrait shows a person wearing a dark garment with a white collar and a gold chain decorated with jewels and a cross‑shaped pendant. They wear a dark cap, set against a reddish background." title="Henry VI’s disastrous rule led to the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses, during which he lost his throne twice (Image by Getty Images)" /> 6. Henry VI King of England, 1422–61, 1470-71 Ascending the throne of England as an infant and the son of the hero of Agincourt, the young Henry VI was always going to struggle to live up to his dynastic legacy. Not helped by his total lack of leadership, it went even worse than feared: he lost control of France (won by his father Henry V), suffered a mental breakdown, and saw his kingdom plunge into the Wars of the Roses. The Lancastrian cause would be headed not by the king, but his queen, Margaret. Henry’s role amounted to being kicked off the throne by the Yorkist Edward IV, then placed back on it by the ‘kingmaker’, the Earl of Warwick, and finally losing it again after being captured. Read more | The power behind the throne: women in the Wars of the Roses <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/6-Christian-II-GettyImages-1474551628-a0ec6c8-e1776421427762.jpg" width="1497" height="1000" alt="A rustic stone-walled room is lit softly as an older person with grey hair stands behind a carved wooden chair. Another figure in dark Renaissance-style clothing with puffed sleeves and a hat leans on a round table set with a pewter jug, a cup, and a plate holding a small piece of food. A large ceramic jug rests on the floor, and behind them is a bed draped in red and white fabric with shelves holding household objects." title="Christian II spent the last 27 years of his life under lock and key, as shown in this 1871 painting by Carl Bloch (Image by Getty Images)" /> 7. Christian II King of Denmark and Norway, 1513–23 Christian’s reign may seem more insignificant than terrible at first glance, but it signalled the end of the Kalmar Union, which had bound together the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden for well over a century. Having been crowned in the first two of those countries in 1513, he set out to secure the third. It would not be until 1520 that he captured Stockholm, although, hardly magnanimous in victory, his immediate action was to execute 82 nobles. The so-called Stockholm Bloodbath fuelled a Swedish rebellion against Christian and weakened his authority back in Denmark and Norway. He was overthrown and exiled, and then when he launched a desperate bid to win back his thrones by force, he was imprisoned for the rest of his life. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/3Ivan-the-TerribleGettyImages-2182465325-461b373-e1776421509731.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A painted portrait shows a ruler wearing richly decorated robes and a tall, jeweled crown, holding a golden scepter in one hand and an orb topped with a cross in the other. The background is dark, highlighting the elaborate attire." title="No one was safe from Ivan the Terrible – he is even said to have murdered his own son in a fit of rage (Image by Getty Images)" /> 8. Ivan the Terrible Tsar of Russia, 1547–84 As the first tsar, Ivan was in some ways an able ruler since he laid the foundations of the Russian empire. He became known as ‘the Terrible’ for a reason, though. Having hated the nobles from an early age (at 13, he had one fed to a pack of dogs), he wasted no time in purging the upper classes. The domain he inherited clearly was not enough: he instigated numerous, and disastrous, wars of expansion, and even established his own fiefdom within his land where, essentially, anything went. With Ivan prone to paranoia and fits of rages, no one was safe: he ordered a full-on attack on one of his own cities, Novgorod, and beat his daughter-in-law into having a miscarriage, then murdered his son. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/9Rudolf-IIGettyImages-905611540-b04ce2b-e1776421580535.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A formal portrait shows a man in dark, gold‑detailed armour with a white ruffled collar, holding a baton and resting his other hand on a decorated sword. He stands beside a red‑covered table with a feathered hat, against a backdrop of patterned gold‑and‑red drapery." title="Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II depicted c1580. Critics of Rudolf’s rule claim that he spent more time dabbling in the arts than governing his vast domain (Image by Getty Images)" /> 9. Rudolf II Holy Roman Emperor, 1576–1612 Despite being hailed as a generous patron of the arts and sciences, Habsburg emperor Rudolf II utterly failed in his role as the leader of one of Europe’s major powers. Rather than focusing on politics and administration, he instead shut himself away to focus on personal pursuits like alchemy. When he did show some determination – starting a war with the Ottoman empire to unify Christendom – it proved a disaster. His subjects in Hungary revolted and his family made him hand over power to his younger brother. Rudolf’s most damning legacy, however, was that his miserable tenure as emperor has been blamed as one of the causes of the Thirty Years’ War, one of the bloodiest conflicts in history. Read more | What was the Habsburg jaw? <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/8-LouisXVGettyImages-587493726-ce25b64-e1776421720614.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A formal portrait shows a man in a blue velvet coat with gold embroidery, a white waistcoat, lace cuffs, and a blue sash decorated with medals. He stands before red drapery with a cloudy sky in the background." title="King Louis XV ruled France for nearly 59 years – but his time on the throne was marred by countless failures (Image by Getty Images)" /> 10. Louis XV King of France, 1715–74 It could certainly be argued that Louis XV’s status as a poor king of France was overshadowed by his successor, Louis XVI, since he was the one who lost his head in the French Revolution. Yet Louis XV’s reign sowed the seeds of the people’s discontent that would lead to such a violent rejection of the monarchy. In short, he was a deeply ineffectual ruler, let alone the all-powerful absolutist king that France had become accustomed to under Louis XIV. Reports of corruption and handing over influence to his mistresses hurt the crown’s authority, while his wars and extravagant spending depleted the coffers. France became a less powerful nation under his rule, and smaller too: he gave up New France in the Americas after the disastrous Seven Years’ War. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/5Ferdinand-VIIGettyImages-1288509729-08b1863-e1776421796923.jpg" width="1498" height="1000" alt="A detailed 19th‑century ceremonial scene depicts royals and high‑ranking officials in elaborate uniforms and gowns assembled by a waterfront. Boats and sailors fill the foreground, while clergy, soldiers, and attendants stand nearby. A grand architectural building rises in the background." title="A painting shows Ferdinand VII greeting the French Duke of Angoulême, whose 1823 invasion of Spain – ordered by fellow Bourbon Louis XVIII – restored Ferdinand’s absolutist authority after three years of constitutional rule (Image by Getty Images)" /> 11. Ferdinand VII King of Spain, 1808, 1813–33 Shortly after taking the throne in 1808, Ferdinand handed over his kingdom – and himself – to Napoleon Bonaparte. Six years of captivity in France later, he returned with a need to prove his absolutist credentials and so ditched Spain’s liberal constitution that had been written in his absence. This led to multiple uprisings, notably the revolt of 1820, which ushered in three years during which the king was forced to accept a constitutional regime. While more selfish than monstrous, Ferdinand’s legacy and place on this list were confirmed by two things: he oversaw the loss of nearly all of Spain’s colonial territories in the Americas and, following his death, his petty bid to exclude his brother from the succession resulted in a long civil war. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/11Ranavalona-IGettyImages-1414087523-76615ce-e1776421903297.jpg" width="1496" height="1000" alt="A portrait shows a person in a long pink gown with ruffled trim and a red, gold‑edged cape, standing outdoors with a jeweled crown on their head. They hold a white handkerchief, with trees and distant hills behind them." title="It is said that Queen Ranavalona wanted to create a pair of giant scissors to cut her enemies in half (Image by Getty Images)" /> 12. Ranavalona I Queen of Imerina, 1828–61 To try and hold back the wave of European colonisation in Africa, Queen Ranavalona I, of modern-day Madagascar, would go to any lengths. She wanted to purge all foreign influence, expelling missionaries, persecuting Christians and restricting trade. She even tried to have a giant pair of scissors made so that she could literally chop foreigners in half. The ones who suffered the most, however, were her people: to preserve her land’s self-sufficiency and way of life, as she saw it, Ranavalona used forced labour for her royal projects and fear to maintain order. Many executions took the form of the tangena ordeal, a witch-hunt-style trial where the accused was made to ingest poison and if they showed any adverse effects, they were deemed guilty. It is claimed that as much as 50 per cent of the population perished during her rule. Read more | “Africans have been starved of historical figures from their own lands that they can look up to”: Paula Akpan on female African leaders <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/10Leopold-IIGettyImages-1340093773-009a5d7-e1776421971106.jpg" width="1497" height="1000" alt="A political cartoon depicts a person trapped in the coils of a large red snake whose head is drawn as a crowned man. Another figure stands in the background near vegetation and a hut." title="A satirical cartoon from Punch magazine depicts King Leopold II as a snake, viciously attacking a Congolese rubber worker (Image by Getty Images)" /> 13. Leopold II King of the Belgians, 1865–1909 Leopold II may not have been a terrible king in Belgium itself, but with the Congo Free State, he revealed just how much of a monster he could be. In 1885, he created his own state in central Africa, having convinced European powers that he intended to improve the lives of the people living there. In reality, this privately owned kingdom allowed Leopold to exploit the Congolese people so that he could make money from its ivory and natural rubber reserves. Under his system of forced labour, any workers who failed to meet their quotas would be punished with mutilation. Leopold’s preferred method was chopping off hands and feet. Millions died from the brutality and rampant diseases. This was an age where European empires carved up and exploited the African continent, so the fact that international outrage finally forced Leopold to hand over the Congo Free State illustrates the appalling extent of the atrocities. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/7Khalid-ibn-Barghash-fb0d656.jpg" width="551" height="775" alt="A black‑and‑white photograph shows a person seated on an ornate chair, wearing a turban, a long decorated robe, and sandals, with a curved dagger at the waist. A patterned carpet and cushioned bench appear behind them." title="The Anglo-Zanzibar War – which lasted for just 38 minutes – put Khalid ibn Barghash’s three-day rule to an end" /> 14. Khalid ibn Barghash Sultan of Zanzibar, 1896 Not only did Khalid ibn Barghash rule for just three days, but he was ousted in the shortest war in history. So, in truth, there is no knowing whether he would have been a bad ruler: there wasn’t enough time. In 1896, the sultan of Zanzibar died, which put the British in a tough position. They controlled the islands off the east African coast as it served as a strategic trade post for the Indian Ocean. Against British wishes, Khalid, who may well have killed his predecessor, assumed the role of sultan and fortified the palace with around 3,000 supporters. The British sent warships, though, and initiated a brief bombardment. The Anglo-Zanzibar War lasted around 38 minutes, and Khalid fled into exile. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/17Nicholas-IIGettyImages-542910549-cbbc229-e1776422122833.jpg" width="1498" height="1000" alt="A historical black‑and‑white photograph depicts two officers in peaked caps, boots, and decorated uniforms standing on a grassy field and speaking to one another. Behind them, other officers gather in small groups, and a horse‑drawn carriage or artillery piece sits near the tree line." title="Tsar Nicholas II (right) addresses a Russian officer during the First World War. The Romanov ruler was overthrown in 1917 and murdered alongside his family the following year (Image by Getty Images)" /> 15. Nicholas II Tsar of Russia, 1894–1917 The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia for more than 300 years – and it all ended during the reign of Nicholas II. Not suited to wielding autocratic power over a huge empire, he made a catalogue of errors and refused to adapt beyond his rigid belief that he had the divinely ordained right to rule. In 1905 alone, Russia lost a war with Japan and broke out in revolution, yet Nicholas only made cursory changes and tried to move on. His court became dominated by the strange and ambitious mystic, Rasputin, his nobles and politicians abandoned him, and his decision to take command of the armies in the First World War meant that he was held personally responsible for every defeat and death. Revolution erupted again in 1917, forcing his abdication. While imprisoned by the revolutionaries, Nicholas and his entire family were murdered. It was a bloody and definitive end to the tsars, as Russia became a communist regime. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/15Edward-VIIIGettyImages-514689872-8d0ca51-e1776422238781.jpg" width="1497" height="1000" alt="A black‑and‑white photograph shows three people standing side by side outdoors: a man in a military uniform with insignia, a man in a long overcoat and tie, and a person in a dark coat and hat. A building with shuttered windows appear behind them." title="The Duke and Duchess of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson) pictured with Adolf Hitler, 1937. The couple’s meeting with the Führer proved highly controversial (Image by Getty Images)" /> 16. Edward VIII King of England, 1936 Edward became king on 20 January 1936, on the death of his father George V. Before the year was out, he had abdicated in disgrace. His brief reign had entirely been focused on his wish to marry an American named Wallis Simpson, but she had been divorced once and was seeking a second, making her wholly unacceptable to the royal family, the political establishment and the church. Yet his reputation as a bad monarch could have been even worse had he stayed: Edward has long been accused of being a Nazi sympathiser, who toured Hitler’s Germany almost two years before the Second World War.
Oh, Mary! makes a monster of Mary Todd Lincoln – but has history been too harsh?
Mary Todd Lincoln has been much maligned for her erratic behaviour ever since she stepped foot into the White House, and stage play Oh, Mary! leans into that, portraying her as a drunk, cabaret-obsessed drama queen. But the story of the real First Lady is one of enduring tragedy after tragedy
The legacy of US President Abraham Lincoln is beyond reproach: he emancipated the slaves and saved the Union in the American Civil War. That’s enough to enshrine him as one of the best to have ever served in the Oval Office. When it came to his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, however, the history books have been less kind. The First Lady is remembered as a tragic figure with a troubled mental state, which worsened throughout her life as she endured a series of devastating personal losses, including Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. Prone to depression, headaches and tempers, she battled inner demons within and censure without. Her own son had her committed to an insane asylum. While that does not sound like a story filled with laughs, Mary Todd Lincoln has inspired the darkly comic and deeply silly stage play Oh, Mary!, currently playing on Broadway in New York City and in London’s West End. *Warning: spoilers for the stage play ahead * Leaving historical accuracy far behind, it gleefully reframes her as a miserable alcoholic longing to escape her closeted homosexual presidential husband and become a cabaret star. Who was the real Mary Todd Lincoln? Mary Todd Lincoln was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who served from 1861 to 1865. Following his assassination, she would live for another 17 years, although she was consumed by her grief and deteriorating mental health. Her sad end was the more poignant given that, in her youth, Mary had the makings for a successful role in the political landscape of Washington, DC, thanks to an upbringing that fostered her education, intelligence and social standing. Born on 13 December 1818, she was the fourth child of a wealthy and well-connected businessman, Robert Smith Todd, and Eliza Ann Parker Todd, daughter of a prominent family. Mary lost her mother at the age of six and her father quickly remarried. With a total of 16 children, there was little affection in the Todd household. Yet Mary received an excellent education: her hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, was known as the ‘Athens of the West’ as it had grown into an intellectual and cultural stronghold for progressive thought. She had six years of studies, followed by four more at an elite institution called Madame Mentelle’s School for Young Ladies, where she excelled in numerous subjects, especially French. Read more | Was Abraham Lincoln the greatest US president? How did Mary Todd meet Abraham Lincoln? In 1839, Mary moved to Springfield, Illinois, to live with her sister Elizabeth. As her sister’s husband was the son of a former governor of Illinois, Mary immediately became accustomed to socialising with politicians. One rising star of the Democratic Party, Stephen A Douglas, tried to court her. The man who caught her eye, though, was a country lawyer named Abraham Lincoln. With a dirt-poor upbringing and few prospects beyond a career in politics, he hardly made a fitting match with the accomplished, attractive and ambitious Mary. Yet their shared passions and intellectual pursuits brought them together and the two soon formed a close bond. Although Mary’s family did not approve of Lincoln, the pair married at Elizabeth’s home on 4 November 1842. Over the next 11 years, living in Springfield, they had four sons – Robert, Edward, Willie and Tad – but it was not the happiest of marriages. Lincoln spent long periods of time away from home, either campaigning for office or travelling as a circuit lawyer. Then, in 1850, their son Edward died from tuberculosis at the age of three. Coming less than a year after her father had passed away, a traumatised Mary fell into depression. It would not be the last time. Yet all the while, she proved a crucial partner of her husband’s burgeoning political career, hosting events with influential people and acting as a behind-the-scenes counsel. With her support, he rose to be a presidential candidate for the anti-slavery Republican Party in the 1860 election – where, incidentally, one of his opponents would be none other than Douglas, the man who had unsuccessfully courted Mary. Following Lincoln’s victory, the family moved to Washington, DC, and Mary prepared for her role as First Lady. Was Abraham Lincoln gay? Despite his marriage to Mary, the question of Lincoln’s sexuality has been widely debated with a growing school of thought claiming that he was gay or bisexual. Oh, Mary!’s Lincoln is very much married to Mary for appearances only. In his youth, he was, according to his stepmother, “not very fond of girls,” and had intensely close relationships with several man, particularly Joshua Speed, a partner in a Springfield general store. Before his marriage, Lincoln shared a bed with Speed for a number of years, and they wrote intimate letters to each other. During his presidency, he was said to have shared a bed with his bodyguard, David Derickson. Yet there is no definitive evidence of Lincoln’s sexuality. Such claims have been refuted with the argument that, in the 19th century, it was far from uncommon for men to share a bed in a non-sexual way. His relationships with men like Speed were a clear sign of intimacy, but not necessarily sexual attraction. The debate, therefore, continues. Mary Todd Lincoln as First Lady By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration in March 1861, seven southern states had seceded from the Union and the American Civil War was about to break out. This posed an immediate problem for Mary. As she was born to a slave owner in Kentucky, a state which now straddled the Union North and Confederate South, questions were raised about her loyalty. Indeed, she had a brother and three half-brothers had fought for the South; two of her half-brothers had died for it. Mary, however, opposed slavery and was committed to her husband’s cause. To that end, she visited hospitals and battlefields, supported the Contraband Relief Association – which provided food, clothing, shelter and medical care to freed slaves – and set about sprucing up the White House in order to present a stable, modern government. Those renovations came under attack from the press, who criticised her wild spending habits on the lavish redecorations. Around this time, in another moment of visible excess, she took to stockpiling expensive, glamorous gowns made by her personal dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley, who had been formerly enslaved but had forged a reputation as a successful seamstress. Vilified and unpopular, Mary then suffered the tragic loss of another son when Willie, aged 11, died of typhoid fever in 1862. Falling into despair, she did not leave her room for months and so missed the funeral, which was held in the East Room of the White House. Meanwhile, the physical ailments that peppered her adult life worsened, including headaches, mood swings and almost manic fits of extravagant spending. In the years since, Mary’s health has fuelled countless attempts at diagnosis, ranging from bipolar disorder to an autoimmune disease called pernicious anaemia. After her losses, a desperate Mary turned to spiritualism and even held seances in the hopes of reconnecting with her lost children. More loss followed just three years later when, on 14 April 1865 – just as the outlook appeared brighter with the end of the war – Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Mary was sitting next to him in Ford’s Theatre when he was shot in the back of the head. Read more | Could modern medicine have saved Abraham Lincoln? What happened to Mary Todd Lincoln after Abraham’s death? With her mental health deteriorating in the aftermath of Abraham’s assassination, Mary fled the US – where grief and bad press plagued her – and travelled in Europe for several years. She grew increasingly paranoid about money, despite continuing her excessive spending, and lobbied for a widow’s pension from Congress, which was granted in 1870. The following year, however, she had to endure yet another death: her son Tad, shortly after turning 18. Now in a deep depression, she returned to the US, where her last surviving son, Robert, became extremely concerned about her erratic behaviour. He called for a trial on her sanity that resulted in Mary being institutionalised in 1875, confined to a sanatorium for several months. Even after being released and a second trial declaring her to be sane, the public humiliation was all but complete. After a second escape to Europe, she spent her last years in failing health and living in Springfield once again. On 16 July 1882, aged 63, Mary died of a stroke at her sister’s home, the same building where she had married Abraham almost 40 years earlier. She was buried alongside her husband and three sons in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.
Famous last words: what did Winston Churchill, Walt Disney and Marie Antoinette say on their deathbeds?
The parting comments of some of history's most famous figures have been recorded for posterity. Here, Jonny Wilkes reveals a selection of the most noteworthy examples – from dying presidents to condemned prisoners
<img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Oscar-WildeGettyImages-2207162542-7ce61a2-e1775118534122.jpg" width="1500" height="1003" alt="A colourised print of Oscar Wilde, 1882. His unique sense of humour lasted until his death (Image by Getty Images)" title="A colourised print of Oscar Wilde, 1882. His unique sense of humour lasted until his death (Image by Getty Images)" /> 1. “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go” Oscar Wilde The Irish author and playwright – best known for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) – is an enduring source of witty, pithy adages, such as “I can resist everything except temptation” and “always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much”. Oscar Wilde kept that unique brand of humour until the end: on his deathbed, in a Paris hotel room, he reportedly quipped about the dingy wallpaper. Evidently, the wallpaper won the duel, since 46-year-old Wilde passed away of meningitis shortly afterwards, on 30 November 1900. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/ChurchillGettyImages-106756722-ecd2b88-e1775118778678.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="An elderly person lies on a stretcher and raises two fingers in a V‑sign while uniformed officers and suited men stand around them" title="Winston Churchill giving the ‘V’ sign as he’s transported to hospital, 1962. Three years later, he would succumb to complications from his eighth stroke (Image by Getty Images)" /> 2. “I’m bored with it all” Winston Churchill Winston Churchill suffered his eighth stroke on 15 January 1965, after a decade and a half of failing health. All the cigars, booze and rich meals had caught up with him. He had been the prime minister who led Britain through the Second World War with impassioned oratory and declarations of “We shall never surrender”, but, if his last words are anything to go by, his battle was fought. With his son-in-law Christopher Soames by his side, Churchill muttered, “I’m bored with it all,” before slipping into a coma. Nine days later, on 24 January, he died at the age of 90. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Jean-Philippe-Rameau-GettyImages-113442113-ebfa171-e1775118867229.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="“A seated figure in 18th‑century dress holds a violin, looking toward the viewer against a dark background." title="A c1728 painting of Jean-Philippe Rameau, who described music as “the language of the heart” (Image by Getty Images)" /> 3. “What the devil do you mean to sing to me, priest? You are out of tune!” Jean-Philippe Rameau Having described music as “the language of the heart”, the French composer and music theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau was a major force of the Baroque period of the 18th century, and remained active until his dying day, 12 September 1764. Indeed, the last contribution he made to music was a critique of the quality of religious singing being performed in his room. Perhaps he was already hearing the choirs of angels, and so earthly melodies no longer enthralled him the way that they had during his long career. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/William-Henry-SewardGettyImages-3229805-a8b20b7-e1775118995911.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A man in 19th‑century formal dress sits at a desk covered with books and papers, with more sheets scattered on the floor" title="William Henry Seward, c1870. As Lincoln’s secretary of state, he narrowly escaped death in 1865 thanks to a jaw splint (Image by Getty Images)" /> 4. “Nothing, only ‘love one another’” William Henry Seward The death of Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of state was also intended on that fateful night in 1865. At the same time that the US president was shot, one of John Wilkes Booth’s fellow conspirators stabbed Seward in the neck and face multiple times. In a bizarre twist of fortune, it was a splint on his jaw, the result of a stagecoach accident several days earlier, that saved his life. His death actually came on 10 October 1872. Sensing the end, his family gathered around and asked if he had any last things to say. His response was simply to “love one another”. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Marie-AntoinetteGettyImages-533483497-62f200a-e1775119058184.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A woman in a white gown stands with her hands bound as soldiers in uniform surround her, while a crowd reacts nearby in a tense outdoor scene." title="A 1794 painting depicts Marie Antoinette being taken to her execution the previous year. She is better-known for the phrase “let them eat cake” – which she never said (Image by Getty Images)" /> 5. “Pardon me, sir. I did not do it on purpose” Marie Antoinette King Louis XVI lost his head in the French Revolution and his queen, Marie Antoinette, would follow him to the guillotine. She had become so hated among her people as the epitome of extravagance (that said, she never uttered “let them eat cake”) that all efforts were made to make her execution as humiliating as possible. On 16 October 1793, she was forced to dress in front of her guards, had her hair chopped off and hands bound behind her back, and was taken through the streets on the back of a cart, jeered all the way. Yet Antoinette maintained her composure, even apologising politely when she accidentally stepped on the executioner’s foot. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/HitchcockGettyImages-108962593-0c6f17d-e1775119404822.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A person’s face is lit from below in a black‑and‑white portrait, framed by two upright hands on either side" title="Alfred Hitchcock frames a shot, 1964. The ‘master of suspense’ was a meticulous director, but even he didn’t know what would happen after death (Image by Getty Images)" /> 6. “One never knows the ending. One has to die to know exactly what happens after death, although Catholics have their hopes” Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock is rightly celebrated as one of the most important filmmakers in the history of cinema, directing dozens of iconic movies like Rear Window, Vertigo and Psycho. Dubbed the ‘master of suspense’, he meticulously crafted every scene and knew exactly where the plot was going. His Hitchcockian style and immense talent for storytelling could not be called upon, however, when it came to the grand denouement of his life, as his last words illustrate. He died from kidney failure, aged 80, on 29 April 1980, relying not on plot but his Catholic hopes. Read more | Ninety years of horror: nine films that reflect society’s changing anxieties <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/John-SedgwickGettyImages-50801826-1c34bd4-e1775119480133.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="Union soldiers engage in battle as a mounted figure lifts a hat, surrounded by riflemen, flags, artillery, and fallen men" title="Union General John Sedgwick tempted fate when he claimed that Confederate sharpshooters “couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance”; he was fatally shot shortly after (Image by Getty Images)" /> 7. “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance” John Sedgwick On the morning of 9 May 1864, John Sedgwick set about inspecting the line at the battle of Spotsylvania Court House. A general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, he had been wounded at Antietam in 1862 but did not share his men’s concerns about Confederate sharpshooters that began to make their presence known. He scolded his staff, stating that the enemy “couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance” – right before being felled by a bullet under his left eye. 8. “How’s this for your headline: French Fries!” James Donald French How did murderer James Donald French react as he was taken to the electric chair on 10 August 1966? He made a pun for the press. Far from fearing death, the 30-year-old American had been longing for it for years. Following his first murder in 1958, he requested execution and was disappointed to receive a life sentence. So, in 1961, he strangled his cellmate and again demanded the death penalty. It took three separate trials, and French’s constant pleas not to accept any appeals, before he finally got his wish and went out with a gag. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Che-Guevara2WK4HM7-9dfede5-e1775119748933.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A black‑and‑white portrait shows a person wearing a beret with a star emblem and a military‑style jacket, gazing slightly upward." title="Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, pictured in 1960. Shot dead by a CIA-backed soldier, Guevara became an icon of revolution (Image by Alamy)" /> 9. “I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man” Che Guevara The man from all those posters and T-shirts, Che Guevara became a globally recognised name for his role in putting Fidel Castro in power in Cuba. But it was in a doomed insurgency in Bolivia that the Marxist revolutionary had his final fight. Captured by CIA-backed soldiers, he was held in a mud schoolhouse deep in the jungle when the decision was made to have him executed. When, on 9 October 1967, a soldier entered his rudimentary cell, Guevara barked out his final words before being shot. He may have been only a man, but his face became a ubiquitous and enduring icon of revolution. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Emily-DickinsonM989TW-5731e61-e1775119856837.jpg" width="620" height="413" alt="American poet Emily Dickinson, c1846. Before her own passing in 1886, she had endured the deaths of many close friends and family members (Image by Alamy)" title="American poet Emily Dickinson, c1846. Before her own passing in 1886, she had endured the deaths of many close friends and family members (Image by Alamy)" /> 10. “I must go in, for the fog is rising” Emily Dickinson By the time that Emily Dickinson – little known in her lifetime but now regarded as the influential and ever-popular American poet of the 19th century – died, it is fair to say that her spirit had been broken. In the preceding years, she endured numerous deaths of family and friends, most traumatically her young, favourite nephew, and her health collapsed. “The Crisis of the sorrow of so many years is all that tires me,” she wrote in a letter. Dickinson passed away at 55 on 15 May 1886, shortly after penning one last verse that ended, “I must go in, for the fog is rising”. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Lawrence-of-RomeGettyImages-2188110193-2f9fd45-e1775120079143.jpg" width="1498" height="1000" alt="A medieval manuscript painting shows a haloed figure lying on a patterned bed while several people stand around, and angels descend from above" title="The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence by Pacino di Bonaguida depicts the brutal execution of Lawrence of Rome, during which he allegedly uttered his comical last words (Image by Getty Images)" /> 11. “Turn me over. I’m done on this side” Lawrence of Rome Lawrence served as one of the seven deacons of Rome in the third century; this was not a good time to be a Christian as, in AD 258, Emperor Valerian ordered that the pope and clergy be put to death. According to the legend, Lawrence’s method of execution was being burned alive on a gridiron, similar to cooking meat on a barbecue. Lawrence saw the funny side of this image, it seems, since during his martyrdom he supposedly joked that his tormentors should turn him over to ensure he cooked fully. These last words may be apocryphal, but Lawrence is still honoured as patron saint of comedians. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Walt-DisneyGettyImages-2192286936-450aa4b-e1775120152808.jpg" width="1495" height="1000" alt="A man in a dark suit stands beside a large Mickey Mouse figure behind a wooden desk with a globe and a rotary telephone" title="Walt Disney poses for a portrait with Mickey Mouse, c1955. Working right up until the end, it seems Disney wanted to plan teen star Kurt Russell’s next acting project before his death (Image by Getty Images)" /> 12. “Kurt Russell” Walt Disney After Walt Disney’s death from lung cancer on 15 December 1966, his body was not cryogenically frozen, as the urban myth goes. Yet the death of Mickey Mouse’s creator comes with another oddity: the mystery of his final written note. While the meanings of “Ron Miller”, “Way Down Cellar” and “CIA – Mobley” remain unknown, Disney also wrote the name Kurt Russell (misspelled as “Kirt”). The teen actor had signed a 10-year contract with Disney, and it seems that the ailing businessman wanted to plot out the young star’s next project before the end. Even without it, though, Kurt Russell became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Read more | Cartoon century: a history of 100 years of Disney <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/John-AdamsGettyImages-513681337-ac501d0-e1775120307259.jpg" width="1495" height="1000" alt="Three men in 18th‑century clothing gather around a table covered with papers and books, reading and discussing documents in a sunlit room." title="A c1921 depiction of the writing of the Declaration of Independence, 1776. On his deathbed, John Adams wrongly believed Thomas Jefferson was still alive (Image by Getty Images)" /> 13. “Thomas Jefferson survives” John Adams On 4 July 1826, exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, a 90-year-old John Adams lay dying. Three decades earlier, he had been elected as the second president of the United States, and his final thoughts were with the man who succeeded him. Adams’ last reported words were “Thomas Jefferson survives”. While the two men had fallen out over how their new country should be governed, they renewed their friendship in their later years, so maybe Adams was hopeful at the end that one of the Founding Fathers remained. Unfortunately, he was wrong: Jefferson, aged 83, had actually died just a few hours before Adams. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Joe-DiMaggioGettyImages-517367946-1a23a02-e1775120392952.jpg" width="1498" height="1000" alt="A black‑and‑white photo shows two people sitting together, smiling and talking, with a bookshelf full of volumes behind them." title="Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio had a tumultuous and short marriage – but DiMaggio remained devoted to the movie star until his dying day (Image by Getty Images)" /> 14. “I’ll finally get to see Marilyn” Joe DiMaggio The retired baseball great Joe DiMaggio may have been married to the glamourous movie star Marilyn Monroe for less than a year, but he remained devoted to her for the rest of his life. He took the lead in arranging the funeral after Monroe was found dead in 1962, and for the next 20 years he sent roses to her grave every week. DiMaggio never remarried and as he lay dying on 8 March 1999, aged 84, he clung on to one hope: that he and Monroe would finally be reunited. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Jane-AustenGettyImages-3248276-0b6a9ca-e1775120465354.jpg" width="1497" height="1000" alt="An engraving of a young woman in a light blue dress with a ruffled collar and a ruffled bonnet" title="An engraving of Jane Austen, c1790. Plagued by illness for a long time, Austen allegedly welcomed death when it came (Image by Getty Images)" /> 15. “Nothing but death” Jane Austen The beloved author of Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion and Emma died at the age of 41 on 18 July 1817. The cause remains a matter of debate, although it is known that she suffered with pains and illnesses for at least a year, which may explain her last sentiments, expressed by her sister Cassandra in a letter to Austen’s niece, Fanny. “When I asked her if there was anything she wanted, her answer was she wanted nothing but death,” it read. These were probably not her final words, however, as Cassandra also refers to Austen saying, “God grant me patience, pray for me, oh, pray for me.” 16. “I did not get my SpaghettiOs, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this” Thomas J Grasso With his execution by lethal injection scheduled for 20 March 1995, convicted murderer Thomas J Grasso put in a rather elaborate request for his final meal. It included two dozen steamed mussels, two dozen steamed clams, six barbecued spareribs, a Burger King double cheeseburger, a can of SpaghettiOs with meatballs, half a pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and strawberries. He clearly was not fully satisfied, since he wanted his last statement to be a complaint to the chef that he received spaghetti instead of the canned version he asked for. 17. “More weight” Giles Corey During the Salem Witch Trials, hundreds were accused of witchcraft in the small Massachusetts village, resulting in 19 hangings, at least five deaths in prison, and one man – a farmer in his 80s named Giles Corey – being pressed to death. Having refused to enter a plea, he was stripped and laid on the floor with a wooden board across his body, on which heavy stones were gradually put on top. The torture lasted days and was expected to end in confession; instead, Corey kept crying out for “more weight”. He finally succumbed on 19 September 1692. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Horatio-NelsonGettyImages-629450219-92f15ba-e1775120767821.jpg" width="1498" height="1000" alt="A wounded officer lies on the floor of a ship’s cabin as several men in naval uniforms gather around him in lantern light" title="The fatal wounding of Admiral Nelson, depicted by Arthur William Devis, c1807. Nelson’s body was preserved in brandy for the journey back to England (Image by Getty Images)" /> 18. “Thanks be to God. I have but lived this day and now I die content” Horatio Nelson It is a well-worn story that when Lord Nelson was shot at the battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, he asked of his friend, and flag captain of HMS Victory, “Kiss me, Hardy”. They were not the great admiral’s last words, though. Taken belowdecks, Nelson continued to issue orders and lived long enough to receive word that several French ships had surrendered. Only then did he say, “Thanks be to God. I have but lived this day and now I die content.” After the battle, his body was placed in a cask of brandy to keep it preserved for its voyage back to England. Read more | “A monster of egotism”: Dominic Sandbrook reveals the secret to Admiral Nelson’s unstoppable success <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Hannie-SchaftPDFJCA-672d548-e1775120840316.jpg" width="1500" height="1003" alt="A black‑and‑white portrait shows a person with medium‑length wavy hair wearing a dark top, posed against a plain dark background" title="Defiant until the end, Dutch resistance member Hannie Schaft claimed she shot better than her executioner (Image by Alamy)" /> 19. “I shoot better” Hannie Schaft During the Second World War, a young woman named Jannetje Johanna Schaft signed up to fight for the Dutch resistance. To them, she became ‘Hannie’, but to the Nazis, who came to fear her marksmanship, she was ‘the girl with red hair’. After carrying out numerous assassinations, Schaft was finally captured in 1945 and executed just three weeks before the end of the war. Although, according to her legend, she did not go down easily: the first shot only grazed her, leading Schaft to yell out, “I shoot better!” The executioner did not make the same mistake again. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Lawrence-OatesGettyImages-964820416-bc1e26a-e1775120989211.jpg" width="1498" height="1000" alt="Four explorers in heavy cold‑weather gear stand around a small tent on a snow‑covered landscape, with a flagpole rising from the tent" title="The Terra Nova expedition team find Roald Amundsen’s tent, signifying their failure to reach the South Pole first. All five explorers would die on the trek back (Image by Getty Images)" /> 20. “I am just going outside and may be some time” Lawrence Oates Captain Robert Falcon Scott and four other men – Dr Edward Wilson, Captain Lawrence Oates, Lieutenant Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers and Petty Officer Edgar Evans – had set out to be the very first to reach the South Pole, but on reaching it in January 1912 they discovered that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had just beaten them. Defeated and demoralised, they began the 800-mile trek back to base camp. None of them survived. Oates, suffering from frostbite and gangrene, made the ultimate sacrifice by leaving the tent in a blizzard with the now-immortalised words, “I am just going outside and may be some time.” His body was never found. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Henry-Ward-BeecherGettyImages-929102448-704c81c-e1775121078941.jpg" width="1495" height="1000" alt="A sepia‑toned studio portrait shows one person seated holding a hat and umbrella, with another standing beside them in a dress and bonnet" title="Henry Ward Beecher and his sister Harriet, 1885. The most famous preacher in the United States philosophically considered what awaited him after death (Image by Getty Images)" /> 21. “Now comes the mystery” Henry Ward Beecher In life, Henry Ward Beecher was the most famous preacher in the United States: a passionate minister in Congregational Protestantism, a gifted orator, and a social reformer calling for women’s suffrage and the abolition of slavery. His works had a profound influence on American Christianity in the 19th century and beyond. As he faced the end of his mortal life, having suffered a stroke in early March 1887, his last words were filled with the philosophical curiosity and hopefulness that permeated much of his preaching, as he pondered what awaited him: “Now comes the mystery.”
This musical instrument was made by a US Founding Father – and it 'drove people mad'
Have you ever sat around a dinner table or in a pub and rubbed your finger along the rim of a glass to make that eerie ringing noise? The great American inventor made a musical instrument out of the concept, and it was so successful that it was used by Mozart and Beethoven
“Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction.” That was quite the claim for the American polymath and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, whose long list of inventions also includes the lightning rod, an innovative type of stove, and bifocal spectacles. Franklin developed the armonica – named for the Italian word ‘armonia’, meaning ‘harmony’ – as a musical instrument that was capable of duplicating the high-pitched, almost ethereal, ringing noise made by rubbing fingers along the top of wine glasses. What was Franklin’s armonica? Invented around 1761, the armonica comprised 37 glass bowls of graduated sizes and thicknesses that were lined up in an overlapping horizontal stack on a rotating spindle. The player turned them all at once with a foot pedal, while rubbing their fingers against the rims of the desired bowls to make them ‘sing’. The beauty of the instrument was that the bowls did not need liquid inside, since they had been made (by London-based glassblower Charles James) to precise specification, so that each produced a different note. The rims were painted certain colours so that the player knew which bowl produced which note. It was possible to play multiple bowls at once, making chords possible. “Its tones are incomparably sweet beyond those of any other [instrument]; that they may be swelled and softened at pleasure by stronger or weaker pressures of the finger, and continued to any length,” said Franklin. For the rest of his life, he always travelled with the instrument to play at his leisure. Why was Franklin’s glass armonica so popular? Around the mid-18th century, musical performances with sets of wine glasses had become popular in England. Franklin was living there at the time, and attended one such performance by his friend, the natural philosopher Edward Delaval. In the years after its premiere in 1762, the armonica equally became a favourite of numerous musicians and composers across Europe. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his 1791 piece, Adagio & Rondo, K 619, specifically for the instrument. Other notable names to incorporate an armonica in their compositions were Ludwig van Beethoven, Gaetano Donizetti, Camille Saint-Saëns and Richard Strauss. Its use has continued into the modern day, heard in music by the likes of movie composer James Horner and the Icelandic singer Björk. Read more | 19 key figures of the American Revolution, from royals to revolutionaries Did Franklin’s glass armonica make people ill? Yet the armonica’s influence did have consequences that Franklin could not have anticipated. Questions began to be raised over whether its eerie sounds affected people’s health. There was a widespread belief that the high-pitch humming could bring about madness. One German periodical insisted that those with an illness or nervous disorder should not play the armonica, as it “excessively stimulates the nerves, plunges the player into a nagging depression and hence into a dark and melancholy mood, that is an apt method for slow self-annihilation”. On the other hand, the 18th-century German physician Franz Mesmer believed the sounds could assist in his therapeutic treatments of the invisible force in every human body, which he dubbed “animal magnetism”. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/03/GettyImages-89866307-60fcf01-e1774446627906.jpg" width="1500" height="1002" alt="An engraved scene of an 18th-century parlor. On the left right, a man stands with an outstretched arm; on the left, a woman is fainting, where several people react dramatically around a fainting woman, while a man on the right gestures with an outstretched hand." title="Franz Mesmer performing a magnetism session in 18th-century Paris (Photo via Apic/Getty Images)" /> Akin to hypnotism – Mesmer’s name is where the word ‘mesmeric’ comes from – his treatment used the armonica to create a suggestible, near-spiritual atmosphere for his patients. Mesmer became something of a celebrity, holding mass treatments for 20 or so people from high society. Mozart had actually first seen the armonica in action during a 1773 visit to Mesmer’s home in Vienna, Austria. But there was no harmonious end for Mesmer: having moved to France, he would end up being investigated by a royal commission appointed by King Louis XVI, which found that Mesmerism had no scientific or medical basis. Ironically enough, one of the members of that commission was the then US ambassador: Benjamin Franklin.
Think your job is bad? These 17 occupations from the past were much, much worse
From digging up corpses to collecting faeces, Jonny Wilkes delves into some of the dirtiest – and most dangerous – ways that our ancestors earned a living
1. Gong farmer Medieval era Before flushing toilets and proper sewers, there were cesspits: big holes in the ground where all the human waste ended up. When these filled up, it fell to the gong farmers to empty them and take away the excrement for disposal, or to sell as fertiliser on the fields. They earned a decent wage, but the job was considered so revolting – paddling in poo using only shovels and buckets, and breathing in the foulest of stenches – that they were forced to do it at night under the cover of darkness. Gong farmers risked disease and, in the case of poor Richard the Raker, even death by scatological accident. In 1326, he fell through the rotten boards of a privy (possibly while using the convenience himself) and drowned in the stinky pool below. 2. Matchgirl Victorian era There are a lot of contenders for the title of ‘grisliest job in Victorian Britain’, but matchgirl has a strong claim. Done by young girls, it involved working 12 to 14 hours a day with minimal breaks, meagre pay and the likelihood of fines for any perceived wrongdoing (including altering a machine to prevent getting their hands cut). Most seriously, matchgirls worked with white phosphorus, a highly toxic chemical that caused terrible physical ailments, the worst of which was ‘phossy jaw’. In short, this caused the jawbone to rot entirely, causing teeth to fall out, large abscesses to form on the head and possibly brain damage. Sufferers were left disfigured and in acute pain. The working conditions got so bad that, in 1888, the matchgirls of Bryant & May in London went on strike, which eventually brought about the end of white phosphorus in the industry. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/02/22SBJPTX-4e0af31-e1771425220743.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A black and white illustration of a woman. She has her head slightly bowed, and her hair is in a bun. Her mouth is wide, with the skin around the lips has disintegrated and shows some rotten teeth" title="A medical drawing from the 1840s shows a matchstick worker suffering from the effects of ‘phossy jaw’, caused by constant exposure to white phosphorus (Image by Alamy)" /> 3. Hurriers and trappers Medieval to modern eras Working down a coal mine has always been brutally tough, with long hours underground, exhausting physical labour, breathing in coal dust, and the risk of cave-ins. Spare a thought, then, for hurriers. These were women or children sent into the mines to pull the carts laden with coal. With a leather strap around their waist or shoulders, hauling the cargo was back-breaking work and the tunnels got so hot that many chose to work naked. Meanwhile, other children – some as young as five – worked as trappers, waiting in the complete darkness for hours just to open the trap doors as hurriers passed. Read more | The ancient Mesopotamian civilisation’s weirdest job? Meet the veterinary exorcist 4. Groom of the Stool Tudor to Victorian eras The Groom of the Stool proves that not all bad jobs in history were done by the poorest and lowliest in society. Deemed a prestigious role performed by noblemen looking to make their name at court, it involved helping the monarch with their daily evacuations. It’s still unclear as to whether this meant actually cleaning up afterwards, but it certainly included carrying a portable commode around and keeping an eye on the royal diet (at both ends of the digestive cycle). It was an honour to be at the side of the monarch, no matter which throne they sat on, and the position came with perks. With all that one-on-one time with the king or queen, they could wield a lot of influence and pick up titles. One of George III’s grooms, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, became prime minister. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/02/4CommodeStoolcirca1650-c313df9-e1771425329227.jpg" width="1000" height="1700" alt="A photograph of a cube stool decorated with red velvet lining and a hole cut out of the top. It has a lid standing up at the back" title="King William III’s ‘close stool’ at Hampton Court Palace. Believe it or not, but carrying one of these commodes would have been seen as a huge privilege" /> 5. Lime burner Since antiquity For millennia, lime has been a useful material in construction as it can make plaster, mortar and whitewash, and is an important ingredient in glassmaking. Making lime, however, could be extremely hazardous. Lime burners heated limestone in a kiln at around 900°C (1652°F) for several days, which released high levels of carbon dioxide, to make quicklime. Given that this highly caustic substance sparked and even exploded when in contact with moisture, it was somewhat unfortunate that the next stage of the lime burners’ job was to mix it with water. Quicklime caused horrific burns if it got on the skin, and any in the eyes would result in blindness. 6. Wool fuller Since antiquity Making wool was less dangerous than making lime – but it involved more urine. To get it ready for the textile business, sheared wool first had to be cleaned of grease and softened, which was done by fullers stomping on it in a vat for hours. To really make it shiny white, though, the vat had to be filled with ammonia – particularly the type found in stale wee. The odour must have been oppressive. That said, maybe ancient fullers wouldn’t have minded, since urine was also used to clean teeth. It clearly worked, too: wool fullers were around from the Romans to the Industrial Revolution. Read more | Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z 7. Petardier Renaissance era A petard was a short-lived weapon designed to bust into a besieged castle. Just a metal container filled with gunpowder, it could be fixed to a wall or gate and blow inwards to form a handy hole for the attackers to get through. Easier said than done, of course: the petardiers had to carry the heavy bomb into position (while defenders were doing their best to stop them), and run away before the big explosion. To make matters more dangerous, petards were highly unreliable. The name comes from the French word ‘to fart’, and there was no telling when one could let off. Now you know why it was short lived. 8. Leech collector Regency era Although blood-sucking worms do not sound like the ideal workplace colleagues, leech collectors did their utmost to form a close bond with them. Leeches had long been used in medicine – and still are today, in some cases – but the medical fascination hit a peak in the 19th century. With demand at an all-time high, collectors – mostly women – would wade into leech-heavy ponds, bogs and marshes and allow their legs to get covered in the things. Ironically enough, this put them at risk of infectious diseases. It was not only the collectors at risk here, either: so many leeches were caught that the species used in medicine almost went extinct in some places. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/02/8GettyImages-537586865-f6d8e08-e1771425725791.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A coloured engraving of three women working by a shallow stream in a rural landscape. One woman stands in the water washing clothes, another stands on the bank holding a stick and looking into the distance, and a third walks through the water carrying a bucket. Trees, a fence, and a distant church steeple sit in the background." title="A coloured engraving depicts a trio of leech finders somewhere in rural Yorkshire. Those involved in the trade could suffer blood loss as they sought out specimens (Image by Getty Images)" /> 9. Tosher Victorian era Surely, there are fewer jobs that better illustrate how hard it could be for the poor of Victorian London than that of the tosher. These people spent their days deep underground, inside sewers, and scavenged for anything valuable or worth selling. A haul could include coins that had washed into the drains and the occasional bit of silverware or jewellery, but mostly it was scraps of metal and material. Even when it was made illegal to enter the sewers without permission, gangs of toshers continued at night to sieve out what treasures they could from the excreta. All the while, there was the chance of catching a disease, getting lost, or being swept away by the (truly disgusting) water. Read more | What did Victorians do with their poo? The battle over the 19th-century excrement explosion 10. Powder monkey Age of Sail Picture this: you’ve been abducted from a port town and pressganged to serve on a Royal Navy ship, spending years at sea and facing death every time an enemy vessel comes over the horizon. Now picture that happening when you’re a child. Warships needed ‘powder monkeys’, or young boys no older than 14 who transported gunpowder from the magazine to the cannon crews in the heat of battle. They had to be small enough to squeeze between the adults, artillery and, hopefully, avoid enemy fire. In truth, there was no safe place on a ship, and powder monkeys were essentially on the frontlines of a war zone. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/02/102Y7JPAM-07b9754-e1771425896496.jpg" width="1500" height="1121" alt="An illustration of five men in black and red uniforms standing around a large black cannon, which is angled out of a window. On the far left is a younger boy, also in uniform, looking stressed with his hands up as the cannon goes off" title="Powder monkeys didn’t have time to monkey around: keeping a ship’s cannons firing was tiring – and extremely dangerous – work (Image by Alamy)" /> 11. Spit boy Tudor era Preparing a Tudor banquet required hundreds of people bustling for long hours in vast kitchens, with cooks at the top of hierarchy and spit boys at the bottom. The job of the latter was simple enough: to keep the spits turning over the fire and make sure the meat was cooked evenly. The difficult bit, however, was being next to a roaring blaze all day, often perched within the hearth itself. If the fire was hot enough to cook meat, imagine what it would have done to a spit boy’s skin? Eventually, the job was taken out of human hands as it became common to get dogs, running in a wheel, to turn the spits instead. 12. Chimney sweep Victorian era While the so-called master sweeps were dancing on rooftops (if Mary Poppins is to be believed), their apprentices, known as climbing boys, were in the chimneys having a lousy time. With chimneys too narrow for adults, young children were sent up to clean the flues. Six was apparently a good age to start. Their diminutive size did not prevent them from getting stuck, however, and it was far from guaranteed that help would come for them. Those who did not suffocate to death would at least get burned, since the fires below were not necessarily put out first, and they likely suffered from serious health problems in later life thanks to all the noxious fumes they breathed in. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/02/12GettyImages-2667291-ff6157f-e1771426036359.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A black and white photograph of a man dressed in dirty clothing, carrying a large broom with a round bristled head. To the right, there is a very small boy leaning against the wall" title="An 1877 photograph shows a London chimney sweep and his ‘climbing boy’. Children risked suffocation as they scrambled up filthy flues (Image by Getty Images)" /> 13. Plague bearer Restoration era When the Great Plague ravaged London from 1665–66, around a fifth of the city’s population perished. Traditional burial practices had to be abandoned, and in their place, plague bearers spent the nights walking the streets, announcing their arrival with the call of “Bring out your dead!” and taking the bodies to mass graves. They were powerless to stop catching the disease, despite some of the ‘cures’ being touted at the time, including drinking crushed emeralds or rubbing the bottoms of live chickens on their skin. Even if they stayed healthy, no one wanted to be near them. As such, they often ended up living in the graveyards alongside the dead. 14. Resurrectionist Regency era Medical understanding made huge strides in the 19th century, and a big part of that was increasing knowledge of human anatomy gained through dissection. Since only executed criminals could be scientifically cut up, however, there was a supply shortage at medical schools. That was until a lucrative bodysnatching trade sprouted up among those unscrupulous enough to desecrate recently dug graves. These people were known as resurrectionists. It became such a problem that families began laying their loved ones to rest with added protections, such as coffins encased in metal cages. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/02/14GettyImages-517453470-6c250a5-e1771426240587.jpg" width="1500" height="1003" alt="A black and white illustration showing a four men in a cemetery. On the left, two men are pulling on a rope which is tied around the neck of a female corpse, which they are pulling out of a grave. On the back right, a man in a long black coat and har is looking back over his shoulder, into the distance. On the front right, a man is turned away from the viewer, holding a lantern and also looking into the distance" title="Body snatchers – or resurrectionists – haul a corpse from a grave. Growing demand from medical schools led to an illicit trade in human remains (Image by Getty Images)" /> 15. Sin eater Early modern era How does a Christian in early modern Europe give themselves the best chance of getting to Heaven after death? Well, there’s the life of good deeds and worship, of course, but there was something their families could do, too: hire a sin eater. Usually a destitute outcast who would do anything for a couple of pennies or a meal, a sin eater would eat some bread placed on the deceased’s chest and so take on all their sins. In that way, the job itself was not that bad – but the consequences could be eternal. Read more | “Literally whipped”: the boys who took the beatings meant for royal bottoms 16. Whipping boy Medieval era A challenge facing the tutors of a prince, or even a young king, was how to deal with them when they had been naughty. Corporal punishment was off limits – or, at least, it could not be used directly. Instead, it has been claimed (although evidence is admittedly sketchy) that they came up with the idea of the whipping boy. This was another boy who went through schooling with the royal student and received any necessary reprimand. In return, they could form a friendship with their regal classmate in the hopes that they would be rewarded in later life with titles and honours. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/02/16D888E0-cc93184-e1771426372807.jpg" width="1500" height="1080" alt="A black and white image showing two young boys with their elderly guardian. One boy is standing in front of the old woman, with her hand on his shoulder. They are both looking towards the other young boy as the woman hits him with a broom-like object" title="A 19th-century image depicts King Edward VI and his ‘whipping boy’. Whether or not the role truly existed is a matter of debate (Image by Alamy)" /> 17. Pure finder Victorian era There is no denying that a common theme throughout this list is poo, and here’s one more. Don’t be misled by their name: pure finders got their hands dirty. They collected as much dog muck from the streets as they could, often foregoing gloves, to sell it to the tanning industry. Faeces were a vital component in the softening of hides to turn them into leather – ‘pure’ referred to its purifying qualities – so there was money to be made as a finder. Yet the tanners themselves deserve a mention on this list too. As well as dog poo, they had to handle animal hides and dangerous chemicals all day.
Think you know everything about the history of Thanksgiving? Here’s 21 facts that will prove you wrong
From tales of pumpkin-pie panics to the story of the president who turned his dinner into a pet, Jonny Wilkes uncovers the surprising history behind Thanksgiving: America’s turkey-tastic holiday
There are only two accounts of the first Thanksgiving The story of the first Thanksgiving has been highly mythologised in American history. In 1621, the so-called Pilgrims who travelled on the Mayflower and formed the settlement of Plymouth, in Massachusetts, came together with the local indigenous peoples, the Wampanoag, for a feast to celebrate a good harvest and the growing friendship of settler and Native American in the New World. That is the version long told in schools. In truth, the Pilgrims threw themselves a harvest festival and around 90 of the Wampanoag showed up. Without their help, especially a man named Squanto, the European settlers would have likely perished in their brutal first winter. The only sources for the three-day feast are sparse mentions in writings by two of the Pilgrims, Edward Winslow and William Bradford. Neither actually used the word ‘thanksgiving’, however, and since they gave few details of what happened, the mythologising took over. They may not have eaten turkey at the first Thanksgiving For many Americans, no modern Thanksgiving meal is complete without a turkey as the centrepiece of the table. It’s unclear, however, whether this tradition began in 1621. The Pilgrims cooked up a selection of fowl – which may have included turkey, but could just as easily been duck and goose – while the Wampanoag killed a number of deer, meaning venison was on the menu. They might have had seafood, too, including eels, clams, mussels and lobster. Yes, William Bradford mentioned a “great store of wild Turkies” in the region, but the bird did not become a staple of the Thanksgiving meal until the 19th century. The first Thanksgiving may have happened earlier than 1621 While the 1621 feast became the foundation for the Thanksgiving holiday, perhaps Americans should celebrate a different year. Other acts of thanksgiving, based in the tradition of Christian harvest festivals, took place earlier in the short-lived Popham Colony in Maine and Jamestown in Virginia, both founded in 1607. Two years before the Pilgrims and Wampanoag, the Berkeley Hundred settlement, also in Virginia, held a celebration and decreed that the same day should be “perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God”. The true first Thanksgiving, however, was not English, but Spanish. On 8 September 1565, in what is now St Augustine, Florida, hundreds of Spaniards held a religious ceremony and shared a meal with the local people to mark their safe arrival. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/3C5BDJ6-54ff763-e1764176698213.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A painting depicts a large crowd of men kneeling on the ground, holding up spears. In front of them, a priest stands in cream and yellow robes and holds a cross" title="A painting depicts Spanish settlers arriving in what is now the city of St Augustine, Florida, in 1565. Their meal with the local indigenous population has been described as the first true Thanksgiving (Image by Alamy)" /> Americans eat around 46 million turkeys every year A major reason why turkey became the meat of choice for Thanksgiving is that the birds are both abundant and large (meaning a lot of meat), and it’s a good thing, too. There’s a reason the holiday is also referred to as Turkey Day. With apologies to the non-meat eaters out there, it is estimated that around 46 million birds are killed for the holiday every year in the US alone, according to the Department of Agriculture. That’s one turkey for every seven or eight Americans. The fastest time to carve a turkey is under four minutes Without wanting to dismay all the Americans who take immense pride in serving up the meal every Thanksgiving, the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to carve a turkey is currently held by a British person. The UK does eat its fair share of turkeys at Christmas, after all. In 2009, Paul Kelly, a turkey farmer in Essex, managed the feat in just three minutes and 19.47 seconds. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/4GettyImages-530209391-de2c182-e1764176657592.jpg" width="1500" height="1002" alt="An illustration of a colourful turkey. It has a red and blue spotted head, with yellow and dark orange feathers across it's front, and blue wings, with a red and black tail" title="A mid-19th century illustration of a turkey. An apocryphal quote attributed to Founding Father Alexander Hamilton states that no “citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day” (Image by Getty Images)" /> The author of Mary Had a Little Lamb is known as the ‘Mother of Thanksgiving’ Sarah Josepha Hale was a writer, the first American woman to be editor of a magazine and, in 1830, she published the nursery rhyme, Mary Had a Little Lamb (originally titled Mary's Lamb). One of her biggest passions, though, would always be Thanksgiving. Born in 1788 in New England, she grew up with the local celebrations and customs that took place every year, and wanted Thanksgiving to become a national holiday. For years, she embarked on this campaign, writing editorials for her magazine, Godey’s Lady’s Book, which had a peak circulation of 150,000, as well as countless letters to presidents asking for their help. Finally getting somewhere with Abraham Lincoln, she is now heralded as the ‘Mother of Thanksgiving’. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/6GettyImages-3245390-8ee41b9-e1764176761138.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A black and white illustration of a woman sitting in a high backed chair. She is wearing a dark dress with a white lace collar and has ringlets in her hair" title="Sarah Josepha Hale is best known as the ‘Mother of Thanksgiving’ – and for writing a much-loved nursery rhyme (Image by Getty Images)" /> In 1705, a town postponed Thanksgiving because of pumpkin pie Until Sarah Josepha Hale’s campaign, it was up to each town and state to determine how to mark Thanksgiving, with most of the events taking place only in the US northeast. For the people of Colchester, Connecticut, the celebrations must include pumpkin pie. The dessert had become a symbol of the bounty of the New World. In 1705, however, they faced a problem: bad weather prevented supplies from reaching them, including the molasses that they needed to make their pies. Rather than have a Thanksgiving without them, the townsfolk elected to postpone the festivities for a week until the molasses could be delivered. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/7GettyImages-509616436-453ca45-e1764177624580.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A photograph of a bright orange pumpkin pie with small dollops of cream on the top of each slice" title="Can you really have Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? Well, one town in Connecticut decided to postpone their festivities when they were unable to source the correct ingredients in 1705 (Image by Getty Images)" /> Thomas Jefferson was opposed to Thanksgiving (sort of) In 1789, George Washington issued a presidential proclamation naming Thursday 26 November as a “day of public thanksgiving and prayer”. This did not make the holiday official, as each president had to issue their own proclamations every year. While John Adams followed Washington’s example, the third president, Thomas Jefferson, did not. He did not oppose families coming together for a nice meal – in fact, he encouraged it as governor of Virgina – but he felt that the religious significance of Thanksgiving meant the president could not endorse it. Otherwise, he would undermine the separation of church and state as established by the first amendment of the Constitution, which he had helped get written. Benjamin Franklin preferred turkey to bald eagles The bald eagle has been a national emblem since being chosen to adorn the Great Seal of the United States in 1782. However, the decision did not meet the approval of the great polymath and Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin. He thought the bald eagle had “bad moral character”, “generally poor”, “often very lousy” and a “rank coward”, as he wrote in a letter to his daughter. The turkey, on the other hand, was a “much more respectable bird and withal a true, original native of America,” in his opinion. Read more | Benjamin Franklin's greatest inventions Franklin was effusive in his praise, describing the turkey as “though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.” The cornucopia has ancient origins A horn-shaped basket overflowing with the fruits of the harvest, the cornucopia is a symbol of abundance. As such, it has come to be associated with Thanksgiving and is a common feature of the decorations. The origins of the horn of plenty have nothing to do with the Pilgrims or Wampanoag in 1621, or with Sarah Josepha Hale and Lincoln: it goes back much further. According to ancient Greek mythology, the god Zeus was raised by Amalthea, either an enchanted goat or a water nymph with an enchanted goat. Either way, one day the baby deity broke off one of the horns and it began pouring forth fruits, seeds and nuts. To the Romans, however, Hercules created the horn by snapping it off a river god. Thanksgiving became a national holiday during the American Civil War Sarah Josepha Hale tried for years to get Thanksgiving recognised as a national holiday, but it was with the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 that the circumstances finally came together. In 1863, she wrote to President Abraham Lincoln arguing that Thanksgiving could heal the divided and hurting country, and he agreed. Less than a week later, he issued a proclamation declaring a holiday on the last Thursday of November – and so Thanksgiving has been celebrated ever since, with a few exceptions. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/11GettyImages-515449646-0a00406-e1764176933734.jpg" width="1501" height="1002" alt="a black and white photograph of a large group of soldiers standing around a tall man in a long coat and top hat. Behind them is a series of large tents" title="Abraham Lincoln meets Union troops near Sharpsburg, Maryland, in October 1862. A year later, the Civil War president issued a proclamation declaring Thanksgiving to be a national holiday (Image by Getty Images)" /> A small Pacific island has celebrated Thanksgiving since the 1800s Thanksgiving is not celebrated only in the US: Canada marks it in October, while festivities can be seen in countries around the world. A contender for the most unlikely place has to be Norfolk Island, a tiny Australian territory in the Pacific Ocean home to just over 2,000 people. Yes, Thanksgiving comes on a Wednesday, not Thursday, and there are a lot of local dishes alongside the pumpkin pie, but the holiday is firmly rooted in American traditions. It began in the 1800s when American sailors and whalers made regular stops there. One American, Isaac Robinson, settled on Norfolk Island and made a big deal of celebrating Thanksgiving. After he died, the islanders just kept it going. The inaugural Turkey Trot had only six runners Every year on or around Thanksgiving, around a million people put on their running shoes – and maybe a turkey costume – and take part in their local Turkey Trot, one of many races held all over the US. If nothing else, the run will help counter all the calories about to be consumed. The Turkey Trot began in Buffalo, New York, in 1896, on a much smaller scale. Just six runners started the five-mile course, with four finishing. One pulled out after two miles, while another had to stop when his “late breakfast refused to keep in its proper place”. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/13GettyImages-1444263993-f9f153a-e1764176982360.jpg" width="1500" height="1002" alt="A photograph of several people running along a road, each with a number pinned to their front. In the front of the image is a man running dressed as a turkey" title="Thousands of Americans attempt to offset their Thanksgiving calorie intake by taking part in a Turkey Trot – such as this annual event in Dana Point, California, photographed in 2022 (Image by Getty Images)" /> The first Macy’s Parade featured live animals, not balloons Another constant of Thanksgiving television is the Macy’s Parade. Best known today for the storeys-high balloons in the shapes of beloved characters, when the department store first planned a parade through the streets of New York in 1924, the main attraction was a bit livelier – literally. They borrowed animals from Central Park Zoo, including elephants, tigers, bears, camels and monkeys. Some 10,000 people attended the Macy’s Christmas Parade, so-called as it launched shopping season for Christmas, preferably at Macy’s at Herald Square, rather than celebrated Thanksgiving. Read more | The history of Christmas, plus 10 festive facts you might not know Snoopy has the most appearances in the Macy’s Parade The famous Macy’s Parade balloons made their debut in 1927, with the honour of the first character going to Felix the Cat. It is a dog, however, who has been flown through the streets of Manhattan on Thanksgiving more than any other. Since 1968, Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s loyal companion from the beloved Peanuts comics by Charles M Schulz, has clocked up more than 40 appearances with eight different balloons. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/152DB0047-3e97b86-e1764177046383.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A photograph of a large balloon depicting Snoopy the dog. He is all white with black nose and ears, and has a yellow bird on his head" title="Snoopy has long been a fixture of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, notching up more than 40 appearances. This particular incarnation of the beagle, photographed in 2013, featured his bird friend Woodstock perched on his head (Image by Alamy)" /> Calvin Coolidge was sent a raccoon for his Thanksgiving meal In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge received an unusual present from one of his supporters: a live raccoon, along with a note suggesting that it would make a delicious Thanksgiving meal. Rather than send the animal to the oven, though, Coolidge decided to keep it as a pet. Named Rebecca, she had free rein of the White House and its grounds, and at the end of his presidency Coolidge and his wife, Grace, sent the raccoon into retirement at a zoo in Washington, DC. Read more | 10 famous people in history and their bizarre pets <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/16FFWH1F-8ddae15-e1764177100383.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A black and white photograph of a woman in a dress and large hat, holding a raccoon in her arms" title="President Calvin Coolidge’s wife, Grace, seen with the couple’s pet raccoon in 1927. The procyonid – which was given the name Rebecca – was originally intended to have been eaten as part of Thanksgiving dinner (Image by Alamy)" /> The Detroit Lions always play Thanksgiving football American football is as much a part of Thanksgiving as turkey, with millions tuning in to the blockbuster matches that afternoon. It’s a big day for the sport, but especially for fans of the Detroit Lions since they play every year. This custom goes back to 1934. When radio executive George Richards bought an Ohio-based team and moved them to Detroit, Michigan, he had the idea to drum up excitement by putting on a game on Thanksgiving, when everyone was off work. It was inspired: the game between the Lions and the champion Chicago Bears sold out, and became an instant annual tradition. In 1966, the Dallas Cowboys got in on the act and now they have their own game too. There were two Thanksgivings in 1939, 1940 and 1941 President Franklin D Roosevelt made a bold decision in 1939 to go against precedent and move Thanksgiving up a week. The issue was that the traditional date for the holiday fell on the last day of November that year, leading retailers to warn FDR about the economic damage a late Thanksgiving would have on Christmas shopping. Not everyone was happy with the date change, dubbed ‘Franksgiving’, with Time magazine even comparing FDR to Adolf Hitler. With many states ignoring it and celebrating on the usual day, the US had two Thanksgivings. Read more | “We analysed Hitler’s DNA – and what we discovered made us gasp” Despite the criticism, the president doubled down and did the same thing the following year. Congress got involved in late 1941, passing a resolution to set the date for Thanksgiving once and for all – but not before that year's festivities had already been impacted too. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/18GettyImages-535083952-ee1697d-e1764177144853.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A black and white photograph of a smiling couple sitting next to each other at a dining table. The man is carving a turkey while the woman looks on" title="Franklin D Roosevelt carves a turkey during his first Thanksgiving as president, 1933. Six years later, his decision to move the date of the holiday would spark national controversy (Image by Getty Images)" /> The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbers Perhaps this should not be all that surprising: with large groups gathering under a single roof to eat a huge meal, clogging up the kitchen drainage and – ahem – bathroom pipes, the pressure on America’s plumbing peaks at Thanksgiving. The day after the celebrations, therefore, proves to be an extremely busy time for plumbers. One national company claims they see a 50 per cent increase in calls from the average Friday. While everyone else is calling it ‘Black Friday’, the plumbers of America have come to refer to it as ‘Brown Friday’. Presidents have the power to pardon turkeys Every Thanksgiving, the president performs one of their stranger duties: the pardon of one or two turkeys. Freed from the dinner table, they are sent for a long life on a farm or petting zoo (or, in some cases, Disneyland). The custom officially began with George HW Bush in 1989, although its roots go back further. When a turkey was sent to the White House for the Thanksgiving meal, JFK, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter all chose to let them live. Ronald Reagan did the same, although he went so far as to use the word “pardon”. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/19-WIKIPresidentRonaldReaganreceivesthe40thWhiteHouseThanksgivingTurkey1987-68d3e64-e1764177226575.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A group of people stand around a white turkey as it tries to take flight" title="Ronald Reagan pardons Charlie the turkey in 1987. As well as having to deal with a very flappy bird, the president also had to field questions from the press regarding the Iran-Contra affair" /> The same day also marks the National Day of Mourning For many Americans, Thanksgiving is not a cause for celebration, but a stark reminder of the oppression of the Native American population. The image of the first Thanksgiving – where European settler and indigenous people sat side-by-side in peace – is a myth that glosses over the centuries of brutality and persecution that followed. The last Thursday in November, therefore, is a time of protest. It began in 1970 when Wamsutta Frank James, an elder of the Aquinnah Wampanoag, was refused the chance to give a speech he had written for the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower, which spoke of the painful legacy of colonisation and governmental subjugation. Instead, he led a group of protesters in Plymouth and declared the first National Day of Mourning. Today, the United American Indians of New England (UAINE) organise a march and rally to honour their ancestors and educate the public about why Thanksgiving should be about more than giving thanks.
One family was an ever-present force in European affairs from the Middle Ages to the modern era, but, as Jonny Wilkes explores, the Habsburgs’ desperate bid to keep power within the family gave them a distinctive physical callsign, as well as dynastic longevity…
For centuries, the Habsburgs were one of the most prominent royal dynasties in Europe. They ruled as kings of Germany, from the 13th century, and as archdukes of Austria from the mid-14th century. They sat on the throne of the Holy Roman Empire from the 15th to 19th centuries. Their house dominated swathes of the continent with Habsburg rulers in a host of countries, most notably Spain. But there was something else that became prominent about the Habsburgs: their jawline. What was the Habsburg jaw? Many members of the dynasty had the same physical trait of a protruding bottom jaw – a mandibular prognathism, medically speaking. The jutting chin could be so pronounced that the flattering portrait artists of the day could not manage to hide them. The condition even prevented some members of the dynasty from eating or speaking properly. Read more | The Habsburgs: the dynasty that wouldn’t die The ‘Habsburg jaw’ was a biological result from generations of inbreeding. In a bid to keep their power, the Habsburgs kept everything within the family. They relied on ‘consanguine’ marriages that partnered close relatives, such as first cousins, or uncles with their nieces. View Green Video on the source website Why did the Habsburgs intermarry so much? It’s true that close-family marriages weren’t exactly unusual among the royal houses of Europe, but the Habsburgs were the champions of consanguinity. Of the 11 marriages during the reign of the Spanish Habsburgs, from 1516 to 1700, only two were not incestuous. “The arrangement made good political sense, guaranteeing that the two lines would support each other militarily,” writes historian Martyn Rady, “which paid dividends in the Thirty Years’ War (the bloody religious conflict fought across central Europe from 1618–48). “Biologically, however, it was a disaster. As first and second-cousin and uncle-niece marriages became the norm, madness and deformity followed.” In 1517, Italian diplomat Antonio di Beatis described the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V as having “a long, cadaverous face and a lopsided mouth (which drops open when he is not on his guard) with a dropping lower lip”. In 2019, a scientific study confirmed the link between inbreeding and the Habsburg jaw. By analysing dozens of portraits for signs of mandibular prognathism and maxillary deficiency (where the bones of the upper jaw do not develop properly, causing the upper lip to appear sunken), the results showed that the more evidence of inbreeding, the worse the jaw. Who had the worst Habsburg jaw? The five family members with the ‘worst’ Habsburg jaws, as far as that study was concerned, were the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1508), his daughter Margaret of Austria, Charles I of Spain, his nephew’s great-grandson, and the King Charles II of Spain (1665–1700). Charles II suffered from a host of conditions and disorders, among them epilepsy, as a result of 16 generations of inbreeding. His grandmother and aunt were the same person, while his mother was also his father’s niece. Such was his physical deterioration, as well as his mental decline, that his autopsy recorded that his body: “did not contain a single drop of blood; his heart was the size of a peppercorn; his lungs corroded; his intestines rotten and gangrenous; he had a single testicle, black as coal, and his head was full of water.” As for Charles’s Habsburg jaw, it was so pronounced that his upper and lower rows of teeth did not meet all. He could not chew his food, which served to exacerbate his health issues as he had multiple stomach concerns, and he had an oversized tongue that meant he could not speak clearly. One British envoy in the 17th century later documented the king’s eating habits, reporting that Charles II “swallows all he eats whole”. How 'inbred' were the Habsburgs? The 2019 study calculated an ‘inbreeding coefficient’ in order to analyse the Habsburgs. The typical ‘F value’ of this coefficient is 0.0625, which is indicative of a child with parents who were first cousins. Philip I, the founder of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain, had an F value of 0.025; Charles II, his great-great-great-grandson, had an F value more than 10 times that, at 0.254. “The Habsburg dynasty was one of the most influential in Europe,” said the lead researcher, Professor Román Vilas from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, “but became renowned for inbreeding, which was its eventual downfall.” Did Marie Antoinette have a Habsburg Jaw? Marie Antoinette was a descendent of the Habsburg line. She was the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. Maria was in the Habsburg line of succession, ruling between 1740–80. She did not have the same prominent Habsburg jaw of some those in her family tree – though she did have a protruding lower lip, thought by some to be a version of the genetic pattern. Does the Habsburg chin still exist? Many of the descendants of the royal German-Austrian Habsburg family are still alive today – though the chin is no longer a feature of the family. Charles II would be the last Spanish Habsburg king. He became known as ‘El Hechizado’ (‘the bewitched’) and was doomed to end the line with his death, with no heir, at the age of 38. Martyn Rady writes how it “was followed by a war of succession across Europe.” Read more | What if Charles II of Spain had produced an heir? “Although the central European branch of the Habsburgs hoped to capture the dead king’s inheritance,” writes Rady, “its rulers failed to keep hold of Spain, which passed to the French Bourbons.” More from us HistoryExtra members can explore more weird and wonderful history with exclusive content from our archives Weird and wonderful history quiz Medieval magic at work: 7 spells and charms our ancestors used “Ninety years of horror: nine films that reflect society’s changing anxieties Not a HistoryExtra member? Explore our latest membership offers
Why do ‘wicked’ witches wear pointed hats? The real history explained
There have been many examples of pointed hats in history, but it remains unclear how any of them became a must-wear for the witches
We’re off to see… the Wicked Witch of the West, as she returns to the silver screen in Wicked: For Good, the second part of the fantasy epic based on the popular stage musical. But where would Elphaba be without her trademark look, including the iconic black, pointed and wide-brimmed hat? Along with a cat, broomstick and black robes, the pointed hat is a required feature of any depiction of the typical ‘evil witch’, and has been for centuries. How it became the headgear of choice, however, remains the subject of numerous theories – as there is no single hat to point the way to the archetypal witch. The myth of the alewives Before getting to the major theories, there is one that can be debunked. The internet is well-populated with the claim that the image of the witch began with alewives, medieval women who brewed ale in their homes and sold it locally. Dominating the brewing industry for a time, these women could achieve a degree of financial independence. In an era where any woman who baulked social norms was suspicious, this autonomy would have been enough to single them out, putting them at risk of being accused of witchcraft. In addition, the fact that they stood over bubbling cauldrons while brewing and wearing pointed hats to be easily spotted at markets, it is clear why some have argued that alewives were the inspiration for the image of the witch. Except, there is just zero historical evidence to back this up. The highly symbolic history of the pointed witch hat Instead, theories have taken in pointy hats from throughout history, some with highly symbolic meaning. The Phrygian cap of antiquity, for instance, came to represent liberty and freedom in the American and French Revolutions of the 18th century, while the ancient Romans presented freed slaves with a special pointed felt cap, called a pileus. In medieval Europe, the hennin came into fashion: an extremely tall cone with flowing material hanging out of the top. Yet while it certainly has a resemblance to the witch’s hat, it was the preserve of noblewomen rather than the typically poor and disenfranchised targets that most often provoked accusations of witchcraft. Persecution and prejudice Other pointed hats became symbols of persecution, which could be a more promising place to look. The Fourth Lateran Council, a meeting of church leaders convoked by the pope in 1215, decreed that all Jews had to distinguish themselves by wearing distinctive clothing. In some regions, this included a tall, conical hat called the pileum cornutum. That one was usually yellow or white, though. Quiz | Would you have been accused of witchcraft? A more likely origin can be found in the persecution of the Religious Society of Friends, a Christian movement founded in the mid-17th century. Better known as the Quakers, they rejected the established doctrines of the church, refused to conform with many social norms, and they believed in equality for all. Two upshots of this were that the Quakers would not take off their hats in the accepted display of respect and they permitted women to preach, which caused consternation in England and colonial America. Quaker women became a source of ridicule and condemnation, and their hats – which got pointier over time – came to be associated with the evils of society. Watch now | What is a witch? Don't miss episode 1 in our Academy on the history of witchcraft While none of these theories are conclusive, a pattern does emerge of pointy hats being worn by minority groups. So, as the witch hunts took hold in Europe, it is possible to see a rationale to equip the typical image of a witch with a hat that has a history of identifying someone as a troublesome ‘other’. By the 18th century, the witches seen in woodcuts firmly established the pointed hat as part of the uniform. In the 1720 book, The History of Witches and Wizards, for instance, a behatted witch can be seen flying on a broomstick – alongside a demon, no less – enshrining the conical pointed hat in the spooky, fantastical tradition.
Who was the real James Garfield, ‘the man from Ohio’ and doomed president of Death by Lightning?
The 20th President of the United States had the potential to be one of the greats, according to many – until his assassination less than a year into the job. As a new drama comes to Netflix about what set him and his killer on their tragic collision, here’s why it’s time to better remember James Garfield
In the history of the presidents of the United States, James Garfield is too easily overlooked. It’s not hard to see why: his time in the presidential spotlight had been brief, emerging late as a surprise candidate for the 1880 election and serving only 200 days in office. He is perhaps best known as one of the four US presidents to be assassinated, alongside Abraham Lincoln (1865), William McKinley (1901) and John F Kennedy (1963). But while he does not rank as one of the ‘greats’, Garfield is the great ‘what if’ of American politics. A brilliant mind, commanding yet humble, and driven by principle, he fought against corruption and for the modernisation of the country. If he had lived, who knows what he might have accomplished. Now Garfield is back in in the spotlight again in 2025 Netflix limited series Death by Lightning starring Michael Shannon as the doomed president and Matthew Macfadyen as his killer, Charles Guiteau. How and why was US President James Garfield assassinated? On 2 July 1881, President James Garfield travelled to the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington DC, on his way to speak at his college reunion before heading off on a family holiday. Only a couple of members of his cabinet accompanied him; even after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination 16 years earlier, it was not common practice for a president to have a security detail. As he entered the waiting room, a man named Charles Guiteau approached from behind, and fired his British Bulldog revolver twice. The first shot grazed Garfield’s arm – causing him to cry out, “My God, what is this?” – and the second hit his back, becoming lodged near his pancreas. While Garfield was rushed away for medical care, police seized the gunman. Guiteau, almost certainly suffering from a severe mental condition, had a lifetime’s worth of failed enterprises and disappointed ambitions that stretched well beyond his ability. The latest had been a role in politics. He had supported Garfield in the election and believed that he was due reward, though although in reality this amounted to writing a single speech, delivering it to a small group of people and distributing some printed copies. Read more | 50 assassinations that changed the world Yet despite this rudimentary support, Guiteau believed that his efforts had been utterly pivotal in Garfield’s victory, so much so that he expected to be rewarded with a position in the administration. For months, he tried to secure a consulship in Vienna or Paris. When neither materialised, a devastated Guiteau decided that Garfield had to die. In fact, he thought God told him that Garfield’s “removal” was necessary for the sake of the country. Having bought the pistol, he stalked the president for weeks – until his opportunity came in that train station waiting room. Although it took time, and some woefully mishandled treatment by his doctors, the attack ultimately claimed Garfield’s life. Who was the real James Garfield? James Abram Garfield was born on 19 November 1831 into a life of poverty. Raised in a log cabin in rural Ohio, his father Abram died young, leaving James, his brother and his two sisters to be cared for by their penniless yet headstrong mother, Eliza, while she managed their scrap of land. A young Garfield had several attributes in his favour, though: he was extremely bright, hardworking, and impatient to better himself. Starting in his teens, he worked odd jobs to put him through his education at Geauga Seminary, Western Reserve Eclectic Institute and then Williams College, Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1856. He went back to the Eclectic Institute as a professor, but by the age of 26 he had become its president. Excelling in numerous subjects, Garfield had a mind that could write Latin with one hand and ancient Greek with the other (and at the same time), and then, in later life, author his own proof of the Pythagorean theorem as a hobby. Read more | The 5 most notorious presidents in US history While at school, he met Lucretia Rudolph and, after a long courtship, they married in 1858. Their early years were strained, exacerbated by the loss of their first daughter and the revelation that Garfield had an affair with another woman while away during his service during the American Civil War. But Lucretia – affectionately known as Crete – forgave him and the couple grew devoted to each other. They had another six children, one more not surviving infancy, and Crete remained a constant counsel in her husband’s career. Not content as a teacher, Garfield become an attorney, got ordained as a minister and went into politics, joining the new, anti-slavery Republican Party and being elected to the Ohio state senate in 1859. Then, with the start of the American Civil War in 1861, his sights turned to the military. What did James Garfield do in the American Civil War? A staunch abolitionist, Garfield eagerly signed up for the Union cause. As well as raising funds for volunteer regiments in the legislature, he recruited men to the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served as its colonel. With the war initially going badly, Garfield gave the Union something to cheer with his against-the-odds victory at the battle of Middle Creek in early 1862. He saw further action at the battles of Shiloh (1862) and Chickamauga (1863), rising to the rank of major general. By then, he had also been elected to the House of Representatives. President Lincoln himself convinced Garfield to resign his commission, saying that he had enough generals for the battlefield, but needed more good men in Congress. How long was James Garfield in Congress? Beginning in his early 30s, Garfield served nine terms and 17 years as a congressman, during which he distinguished himself as a charismatic orator and pragmatic statesman. Affable and willing to talk to both sides of the aisle, he chaired several powerful committees and became a key figure in fiscal matters, particularly known for his advocacy of the gold standard and free trade. Following the abolition of slavery, he fought for the rights of African Americans during the period of Reconstruction. In particular, he called for freed slaves to have the vote, believing that an educated, engaged Black population was the quickest way to equality. By the late 1870s, Garfield had become the leading Republican in the House, while simultaneously taking cases as a lawyer. In 1880, he was elected to the Senate, but before he could take his seat, higher office came calling. How did James Garfield become president? A newly elected senator, Garfield went to the Republican National Convention, held in Chicago in June 1880, to endorse his fellow Ohioan and secretary of the Treasury, John Sherman, for president. The other candidates were former president Ulysses S Grant, seeking a third term, and James Blaine, a senator from Maine. Selecting the party’s candidate would not be straightforward. The Republican Party was divided into factions over the ‘spoils system’, a long-established convention of patronage whereby government jobs would be filled by one’s supporters and cronies. The Stalwarts faction wanted it preserved, not least because their leader, the powerful New York senator Roscoe Conkling, controlled the patronage of the New York Customs House, which was at that time one of the most lucrative ports in the world. Conkling backed Grant. The Half-Breeds faction, headed by Blaine, wanted major reform to create a civil service based on merit. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/LIGHTNING102Unit03806RC-ab782f8-e1762445619564.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="Lucretia Garfield (Betty Gilpin) and James Garfield (Michael Shannon) in Netflix drama Death by Lightning" title="Lucretia Garfield (Betty Gilpin) and James Garfield (Michael Shannon) in Netflix drama Death by Lightning (Photo via Larry Horricks/Netflix)" /> Neither side budged. Several days and 35 ballots passed without one man securing the nomination. It became clear that a compromise candidate was needed – and more and more heads turned towards Garfield. Ostensibly against Garfield’s own wishes, he won the 36th ballot and reluctantly joined the presidential race, with Stalwart Chester Arthur added to the ticket as vice presidential candidate. His Democratic opponent was Winfield Scott Hancock, a fellow Union Army veteran. At this time, it was improper for a candidate to go out campaigning personally, so Garfield came up with a novel solution. He stayed at his home in Mentor, Ohio, and the press, voters and lobbyists came to him. Hundreds if not thousands heard him give speeches from his front porch, in which he made the most of his rags-to-riches story. In the end, he defeated Hancock, although narrowly – the margin was fewer than 10,000 votes, out of more than nine million cast. Was James Garfield a good president? The truth is that we will never know, but there is reason to think he could have been more than good. Garfield’s first act was to put together a conciliatory cabinet, including Blaine as Secretary of State, and then he set about purging the Post Office of corruption. The major success of his tenure in the White House came against Conkling. Instead of picking the man Conkling wanted as Collector of the Port of New York, according to the spoils system, Garfield chose a Half-Breed, William H Robertson. Both New York senators – Conkling and his preferred candidate – resigned in protest, certain that they would be instantly re-elected in a show of support from the city of New York, but the gambit backfired. Conkling lost his seat, and Garfield made a resounding statement asserting presidential authority. While a blow to the spoils system, Garfield still had to contend with huge numbers of office seekers, people who thought they were owed for their support. Among them was one Charles Guiteau. What was James Garfield’s relationship like with his vice president, Chester Arthur? At the time of Garfield’s nomination, it was hoped that divisions within the Republican Party could be reconciled by selecting Chester A Arthur, a Stalwart, as the vice-presidential candidate. This inevitably led to a tense relationship between the two in highest office. This came to a head especially during Garfield’s feud with Conkling. Arthur was firmly in Conkling’s pocket: indeed, he lived with him at the time of the convention. But after Garfield’s death, it would be Arthur – a product of the spoils system – who pushed through legislation for civil service reform. When did James Garfield die? The shots fired by Guiteau did not immediately kill Garfield. In fact, he lived for another 11 weeks, receiving treatment at the White House from a host of doctors. Far from aiding his recovery, these medics made matters worse. Their attempts to extract the bullet in the president’s back were carried out with no consideration of germs or sterilisation, meaning that Garfield picked up fevers and infections, including sepsis. Unable to eat, he lost a huge amount of weight and became increasingly weak. Time and time again, his wound was opened. Even Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, was brought in to test his new metal detector in the hope of locating the bullet. Was the gunshot not fatal? Ever since, there has been a school of thought among medical experts that, if doctors had just left Garfield alone, he may have recovered. Instead, his health worsened. His doctors eventually decided to take Garfield away from the oppressive summer heat of Washington and transport him to Elberon, New Jersey, to benefit from the sea air. Extra rail track was laid in a night just to make his journey more comfortable. There, 80 days after being shot, Garfield finally succumbed on 19 September 1881, aged 49. Guiteau, who had spent the whole time in jail, could now be put on trial for murder. Despite his defence of insanity – and declaration “I did not kill the president. The doctors did that. I merely shot him” – he was found guilty and executed by hanging in June 1882. What did James Garfield’s assassination mean for American politics? Before his death, Garfield’s health became a media spectacle with every medical update printed in the papers. As such, the news of his death was met with an immense outpouring of grief. More than 100,000 people saw him lying in state in the Capitol Building, while 150,000 observed his funeral in Cleveland, Ohio. For years afterwards, his widow Lucretia preserved his records and papers, and stored them in an archive built on her property. This is now recognised as the first presidential library. Most significantly, Chester Arthur, once sworn in as the 21st president, signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883, which ended the spoils system. He meant it as a memorial to Garfield, and it remains a legacy to a presidency that could have achieved much more, if not for an assassin’s bullet. 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