Secrets You Never Knew About America’s Founding Fathers

America’s history is a brief yet rich one. Relative to the rest of the world, we are still just a little baby of a country. We often forget that our founding fathers were humans just like the rest of us — they just happened to have lived some 300 odd years before we did, and, you know, wrote the Declaration of Independence. But these American heroes had their flaws and their secrets, too.

These secrets about the founding fathers are both surprising and eye-opening. There are myths about these men that we’ve all gone along believing our whole lives without a second thought. But in some cases, we may have been entirely wrong!

Thomas Jefferson Was A Terrible Public Speaker

The author of the Declaration of Independence and our third president only ever gave two speeches, one at each of his inaugurations. While he was elegant with words on paper, he didn’t like speaking out loud, much less in front of large crowds. The speeches he did give were delivered very quietly, too.

Thomas Jefferson was also addicted to learning. Born April 13 (April 2 on the pre-Gregorian calendar), 1743 at his father’s Shadwell plantation in Virginia, Jefferson was one of 10 children (eight of whom survived to adulthood). While he attended the College of William and Mary, he was said to have studied for 15 hours daily on top of violin practice. The hard work paid off: Jefferson moved into law studies before becoming a lawyer in 1767. Two years later, he became a member of Virginia’s House of Burgesses, the Virginia legislature. His autodidact ways continued throughout his life: Jefferson could speak four languages (English, Italian, French, Latin) and read two more (Greek and Spanish).

John Adams And Jefferson Were Rivals

John Adams and Jefferson were the only two signers of the Declaration to become president, but they also hated each other’s guts. Before Jefferson passed away on July 4, 1826, he had finally made amends with John Adams, the president who preceded him in office and for whom Jefferson served as vice president. The two men, once on the same side, had grown to resent the other’s approach to diplomacy and politics, with Jefferson lamenting Adams’s preference for centralized and meddlesome government—though according to Jefferson, the major issue was the so-called “Midnight Judges,” appointments that Jefferson felt “were from among [his] most ardent political enemies.”

Strangely, Adams passed away the same day as Jefferson, just five hours later. The date, July 4, was also the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being adopted.

George Washington Didn’t Have Wooden Teeth

This is a fun fact that lots of people like to pull out of their back pocket, but it isn’t even true. George Washington’s teeth were actually made of bone, hippopotamus ivory, human teeth, brass screws, lead, and gold metal wiring. That’s quite the mouthful right there. And his hair was all real but it looks white because he powdered it.

He was a very moral and virtuous man, and he watched carefully everything he did. But he certainly doesn’t fit into our conception of a Christian evangelical or somebody who read his Bible every day. He was not an atheist on the one hand, but on the other hand, he was not a devout Christian. But what about he story of him kneeling in the snow at Valley Forge to pray? “That’s a story that was made up by [early Washington biographer] Parson Weems.” Oh, and Parson Weems, who wrote a myth-filled biography of Washington shortly after he died, made up the cherry tree story. The Mount Vernon Digital Encyclopedia identifies that book, The Life of Washington, as “the point of origin for many long-held myths about Washington.”

Adams Was “Out Of His Senses”

Well, at least according to Benjamin Franklin. And it seems the feeling was mutual. The two were at the French court of Versailles together as ambassadors when Adams wrote that a statue in the court would make a better ambassador than Franklin. Harsh!

Adams thought Franklin uncouth, vulgar, pretentious…and those were his good qualities. Their poor relationship got off to a rocky start in the fall of 1776. Franklin and Adams had to share a room and a bed in Brunswick where Adams and Franklin went to parley with Adm. Lord Richard Howe over a possible end to hostilities. Adams wanted to sleep with the window closed. Franklin wanted it open. Adams thought it would cause him illness. Franklin thought it would cause good health. After much argument, Franklin prevailed.

Adams grew to dislike Franklin more in Paris. Franklin wore plain clothes for effect. Adams disapproved of his garb. Franklin was a particular favorite of French women. Adams could not understand why this was the case. Adams thought Franklin behaved disreputably and immorally. He did not see how Franklin was using his conduct to obtain contacts and access. What Adams could not understand was how Franklin used these idiosyncrasies to advance the nation.

Paul Revere Wasn’t The Only Midnight Rider

A 16-year-old girl named Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles, twice Revere’s distance, when the British took Danbury, CT. She may have even staved off a band of highway robbers on the way. On April 26, 1777, at age 16, Ludington, the daughter of a colonel in the Colonial militia, Henry Ludington, is said to have made an all-night horseback ride 40 miles (64 km) to rally militia forces in neighboring towns after the burning of Danbury, Connecticut by British forces.

Relatively unknown through the 1870s, Ludington became widely recognized around the time of World War II, after historic road markers were placed in locations she was speculated to have visited on her ride. Memorial statues honor her, and books have been written about her. She was honored on a United States Bicentennial postage stamp that was released on March 25, 1975, which depicts her on a horse.

Benedict Arnold Had Help With His Famous Betrayal

Arnold’s wife, Peggy Shippen, was half his age when they met. She’d previously had a fling with a British spy, John André, and introduced her old lover to her new husband. Together, the three of them plotted to give West Point to the British, which would have squashed America’s independence entirely.

Rumors Swirled Around Washington’s Lack Of Children

Many historians have speculated that perhaps George Washington struggled with infertility, as he had no children of his own. Experts say that tuberculosis often causes this extremely common condition in men. Throughout his life, Washington suffered from a laundry list of ailments: diphtheria, tuberculosis, smallpox, dysentery, malaria, quinsy (tonsillitis), carbuncle, pneumonia, and epiglottitis—to name a few.

“Classic studies of soldiers with tuberculous pleurisy during World War II demonstrated that two-thirds developed chronic organ tuberculosis within five years of their initial infection. Infection of the epididymis or testes is seen in 20 percent of these individuals and frequently results in infertility.”

James Madison Used A Secret Code

Madison—like any good politician—was terrified by the idea that someone might intercept one of his private letters. Along with Jefferson and many mutual allies, Madison used complicated encryptions when relaying delicate info. “Having now the use of my cypher,” he informed Jefferson in 1784 after mastering a new system, “I can write without restraint.”

Said to be shy and reserved, Madison apparently had a counterbalance in wife Dolley, who entertained the whole of Washington. At the time, the city was not exactly a hotbed of partying, and her lavish affairs helped endear congressional members to the idea of Madison as president. To date, Madison remains our smallest president at 5 feet, 4 inches and 100 pounds.

Both of James Madison’s vice presidents died in office. George Clinton kicked the bucket in 1812. His short-lived replacement was former Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry, who’d redistricted that state to tip the political scales in his favor—a process we now call “Gerrymandering.” Gerry also died in office, and is the only signer of the Declaration of Independence to be buried in Washington, D.C.

He also had a sharp sense of humor. Politics is a pretty serious career, but that didn’t take away Madison’s sense of humor. Among friends, he was known for his quick wit, quippy banter, and well-timed personal anecdotes.

Skeletons Were Buried Under Franklin’s London Home

No, he didn’t murder the people. There was a human anatomy class being run from his basement, which was a very tricky subject at the time. The bones from 15 different bodies were found when, in 1998, work was being done on the historic home.

While all of the Founding Fathers are renowned for pushing the idea of liberty and independent choice, Benjamin Franklin apparently came to the idea a little late. In 1725, when he was just 19 years old, Franklin self-published a pamphlet titled ‘A Dissertation Upon Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain,’ which argued that humans didn’t actually have free will and weren’t responsible for their behavior. Maturity prevailed, however, and Franklin later burned almost every copy of the booklet he could find.

Ben Franklin’s eccentricity wasn’t limited to that strange philosophy. He once had a plan to rearrange the English alphabet by eliminating the letters C, J, Q, W, X, and Y, declaring them redundant. It didn’t katch on.

If you’re reading this while watching a sunrise, you might have Ben Franklin to thank. A more reasonable Franklin contribution: bifocals, which he invented in order to both see from a distance and read text up close without having to switch lenses.

What Shall We Make Today?

Strawberry Yogurt Pie

Ingredients

¼ cup boiling water

1 box (.3-ounce size) sugar free strawberry Jello mix

2 containers (6-ounce size) light strawberry yogurt

8 ounces Cool Whip, thawed (lite or fat free can also be used)

1 9-Inch Graham Cracker Crust

Preparation

In a medium bowl dissolve the Jello mix in the boiling water then set it aside to cool slightly.

Stir in yogurt until combined. Fold in the Cool Whip. Spread into the prepared pie crust. Top with sliced strawberries if desired.

Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours until set. Enjoy!

*My mom made this and it’s delicious. She used regular everything—not sugar free or lite. She said you can also pair other Jello flavors and yogurt—like peach—if you like.

Happy Birthday, Melania!

Melania Trump, née Melania Knauss, {original name Melanija Knavs}, was born April 26, 1970, in Novo Mesto, Yugoslavia [now in Slovenia]. She grew up in Sevnica, Yugoslavia, where her father sold cars and her mother worked in the textile industry. She attended the Secondary School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. She then studied Architecture and Design at the University of Ljubljana for one year before leaving to pursue a modeling career. She found success, first in Slovenia and later—under the name Melania Knauss—in Milan and Paris. In 1996 she was brought to New York by Paolo Zampolli’s modeling agency. In the course of her career, she appeared on the covers of several magazines, and in 2000 she modeled for Sports Illustrated’s popular swimsuit edition. Melania is fluent in Slovene and English, and also speaks Italian, French, German and Serbo-Croatian.

Knauss first met Donald Trump in 1998 at a fashion industry party in New York City. He was then married to Marla Maples, whom he was to divorce in 1999. After a long courtship, Trump and Knauss were married on January 22, 2005, at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida. It was his third marriage and her first. In 2006 Melania gave birth to Barron William Trump, her first child and Donald’s fifth. In that year she also became a U.S. citizen. During this time, Melania continued her career. In addition to occasionally modeling, she marketed a line of jewelry sold by the QVC company and developed a line of caviar-based skin care products. Melania strongly believes in women equality and stands for it.

In 2015 Donald announced that he was entering the U.S. presidential race. When he made immigration a central issue, the details of Melania’s own immigration history were scrutinized, including allegations that she worked in the United States before acquiring the appropriate visa. Although Melania did not take a prominent role in the campaign, she spoke at the Republican National Convention in July 2016. Her speech initially drew praise but was later revealed to contain sentences and phrases similar to those spoken by Michelle Obama eight years previously. A speechwriter apologized for the seeming plagiarism.

Melania subsequently maintained a low profile until several weeks before the election, when she defended her husband after a series of women accused him of sexual assault and harassment. On November 8, 2016, Donald was elected president of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton; he took office on January 20, 2017.

Melania initially made few appearances as first lady, and she did not move into the White House until June, after her son finished the school year. In 2018 she launched the Be Best initiative, which focused on children. Its main objectives included ending cyberbullying. In May 2018 she underwent an embolization procedure for a benign kidney condition. During her husband’s reelection campaign in 2020, Melania took a limited role, though she spoke at the Republican National Convention in August. Two months later both she and the president tested positive for COVID-19, but both recovered.

The Controversies

The Photos

When Donald announced his intentions to make a 2016 presidential bid for the White House, the normally private Melania was pushed into the national spotlight along with her past modeling work, some of which was considered racy. One of the first controversial images that began circulating online was her 2000 British GQ spread that had her lying naked on a fur blanket.

Not long after, more controversy followed. On July 30, 2016, the New York Post published nude photos of a then 25-year-old Melania, including one in which she lay in bed with another woman. Many of the photos were published for a men’s French magazine that is no longer in circulation.

Discussing the nude photos, Donald told The Post, “Melania was one of the most successful models and she did many photo shoots, including for covers and major magazines. This was a picture taken for a European magazine prior to my knowing Melania. In Europe, pictures like this are very fashionable and common.”

The Speech

While Donald Trump was campaigning for the 2016 presidential elections, Melania Trump gave a speech on July 18, 2016, at the Republican National Convention. The speech became controversial after it was found to be partly similar to Michelle Obama’s speech given at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. According to the Biography website, a staff writer took responsibility for the mistake:

Shortly thereafter, Melania staff writer Meredith McIver took responsibility for the gaffe, claiming she accidentally included part of Obama’s speech in Melania’s talking points. McIver issued the following statement explaining what transpired:

“In working with Melania on her recent first lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people. A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama. Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech.”

The LanguagesMelania Trump is a multi-linguist with good command over Slovene, English, German, French, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian. {Britannica}According to Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (“Melania and Me”) and Mary Jordan (“The Art of her Deal”), nobody has ever heard her speak anything but English and Slovenian, except for “Bonjour” and a few such basic expressions. {Imdb}

The Degree

She was embroiled in a controversy regarding her degree in architecture and design from the University of Ljubljana. This alleged false claim was mentioned on her official website. After this was highlighted by the media, it was removed.

Imdb made a larger issue with the claim:

On July 29, 2016, USA Today reported that Melania Trump’s personal website was taken offline. Previously, Melania’s bio-statement stated there that she received a “degree in design and architecture at University in Slovenia.” However, a biographer questioned the veracity of that claim by suggesting that Melania never completed her studies. At http://www.archive.org, the WayBack Machine has preserved a 2012 snapshot of Melania’s website, where she printed the now-disputed statement.

The Books

An early attempt to use the first lady platform for public good generated attention for the wrong reasons: In September, Melania sent a package of Dr. Seuss books to one deserving school in each state as part of National Read-a-Book Day. However, the gift was spurned by a Massachusetts elementary school librarian, who decried both the selection of her school and the choice of Dr. Seuss as a “tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature.”

The Unnamed Family Friend Revealing Secrets

The following month, the secretive first lady was profiled in Vanity Fair. According to the article, it was Melania who pushed a waffling Donald into announcing his candidacy for president, knowing that he would regret the missed opportunity if he didn’t. On the flip side, she supposedly never expected to find herself in the White House. “This isn’t something she wanted and it isn’t something he ever thought he’d win,” said one longtime friend of the couple. “She didn’t want this come hell or high water. I don’t think she thought it was going to happen.”

(I cannot believe she “pushed” him into something she didn’t want and never thought he would win.)

Personal Quotes

[on the accusations against her husband] I believe my husband. This was all organized by the opposition. Did they ever check the background of these women? They don’t have any facts. (…) That never happened. [Oct.2016]

My husband is real. He’s raw. He tells it like it is. [Oct.2016]

Don’t feel sorry for me. I can handle everything. [Oct.2016]

[about the attacks on her husband] The opposition doesn’t want to talk about WikiLeaks and the Emails and Benghazi and all the rest of the stuff – they don’t want to talk about it. So, they said: ‘Let’s do something to hurt his campaign’. [Oct.2016]

[defending her husband’s attacks on the Clintons] They’re asking for it. They started it. They started from the beginning of the campaign, putting my pictures from the modeling days [into the newspapers]. That was my modeling days and I’m proud of what I did. I worked very hard. [Oct.2016]

[on the media bias against Donald Trump] When did we hear or read any great stories about my husband – or about me? The true stuff. The facts. The real stuff. We never read the New York Times. They are bashing, bashing, bashing. [Oct.2016]

Sources: Biography, Brittanica, Imdb

In my opinion, Melania has only gotten more beautiful as time has passed. Her look is softer somehow and she is by far the most gorgeous First Lady we’ve ever had.

Sweet Peas

The colorful and fragrant sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) is a favorite plant for informal cottage gardens and is easy to grow. It is most often seen trained up trellises or fences, but sweet peas grow beautifully in pots where it spills over the sides. They are climbing plants that bear profuse clusters of spring and early summer flowers in a wide variety of colors, including red, pink, blue, white, and lavender. Sweet pea flowers resemble fringed butterflies, while their sturdy stems appear to be folded. Plant your sweet peas in late winter or early spring. Sweet peas provide beautiful color in garden spaces, but beware because they are toxic to humans and pets.

About Sweet Pea Flowers

Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), is a climbing annual member of the legume genus. Originating in the southwest of Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean, sweet pea has been cultivated for use in gardens since the 17th century.3 It reached its modern form under the work of Scottish nurseryman Henry Eckford, who developed dozens of cultivars during the late 1800s.

Sweet Pea Care

Sweet peas lend a cottage feel to gardens. For many of us, fast-growing sweet peas are an instant nostalgic reminder of the beautiful, rambunctious old-fashioned gardens. These vintage varieties were selected for their vibrant colors and intense fragrance. Modern sweet pea cultivars come in almost every color except yellow, but not all of the newer sweet pea varieties are fragrant. The mature size will depend on the variety you choose to grow, but expect the vines to stretch to at least 6 to 8 feet tall. They are often grown on bamboo tripods, but typically they are grown along a trellis or fence for support.

Planting and Soil

Plant sweet pea in the late winter and early spring. Sow three seeds together about a foot between groups of seeds. Plant sweet pea seeds about 1 inch down in the soil. For better blooms, work compost into the soil about six weeks before planting the seeds. Compost will also improve poor soil.

Sweet peas prefer rich but well-drained soil. A slightly alkaline soil pH (about 7.5) is ideal.

Light

Sweet peas thrive in full sun, although in warmer climates they do well in a location that receives a bit of shade in the heat of the afternoon.

Water

Sweet peas need weekly watering, to keep the soil moist during the growing season. Check the soil by placing your finger an inch into the soil. If it’s moist, there’s no need to water the plant but if it’s dry, it’s time to give the plant a drink.

Temperature and Humidity

Because sweet peas originated in the Mediterranean, they can handle a rare chill but do best if they’re planted after the last frost and in warmer temperatures in USDA zones 3-8. Sweet pea seedlings can tolerate a light frost, but the plants dislike extremely hot temperatures. Plant early to enjoy the blooms before they wither in the heat.

Fertilizer

During the growing season, apply fertilizer for sweet peas monthly. Choose a fertilizer high in potassium, such as a tomato fertilizer. Adding a bit of blood meal to the soil is thought to help keep the stems long and suitable for cutting.

Types of Sweet Peas

‘Old fashioned’:Sweet peas labeled old fashioned should be very fragrant.

Spencer cultivars:These are especially hardy vines with striking coloring, but not all of them are particularly fragrant.

‘Bijou Group’: This is a sweetly scented dwarf variety suitable for containers.

Pruning

To increase branching, which produces more flowering stems, pinch the growing tips back 1 inch when the plant reaches 4 inches tall.3 The more you cut the flowers, the more blooms you should get, so don’t hesitate to bring some bouquets indoors. Deadhead the spent flowers to encourage continued blooming. For Lathyrus odoratus annuals, you do not need to do anything to the plant when sweet peas have finished flowering.

How to Grow Sweet Pea From Seed

Sweet peas are usually direct sown. To assist germination, seeds should be scarified by nicking and/or soaking in water for several hours to soften the seed coating.4

Seed can be started outdoors, as soon as the ground has warmed to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit and is not too wet. In the South, you may have better luck seeding sweet peas in the fall to grow into winter.

You can get a jump start on the season by starting seed indoors, about four to five weeks before your last frost date. They will be easier to transplant if you start them in peat pots. When you are ready to transplant, pinch any flowers or buds off that may have formed, which will encourage root development. They like cool soil, so a thick layer of mulch around the plants may help sweet peas thrive.

When the plants reach about 4 inches tall in the garden, pinch the seedlings to encourage strong side shoots.3 Sweet pea vines have tendrils and will attach themselves to almost any type of support that has meshing or strings.

The Helix Staircase of the Loretto Chapel

In the center of Sante Fe, NM stands a former Roman Catholic Church, known as the Loretto chapel, that was constructed in the popular Gothic Revival style by French architect Antoine Mouly. To Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy’s dismay, Mouly didn’t live to see the chapel completed. The renowned architect passed away when the chapel was nearly done, leaving the chapel unfinished.

Despite the beauty and craftsmanship of the chapel, it lacked a critical component, a staircase. As the story goes, the chapel was completed in 1878, but there was no way to get to the choir loft, which is 20 feet off the ground. The Sisters believed this to be a test of faith and set out to find a new carpenter to finish the work promptly.

Legend of the Loretto Chapel Staircase Miracle

According to legend, which has since been made into a movie called “The Staircase” (1998), the nuns didn’t want the staircase to be big because it would take up too much space, so they went to get advice from the local carpenters.

Unfortunately, they met with many carpenters, none of whom could provide a solution that worked for the Sisters. Some said it couldn’t be done, while others quoted an outrageous price. The only option was to use a ladder, which was deemed inappropriate due to the sister’s attire.

In 1880, the Sisters started praying to the patron saint of carpenters, St. Joseph. They asked for a solution to their dilemma and prayed for over a week. According to the historical account, on the 9th day, a man arrived on his mule with some tools. He revealed to the Sisters that he was a carpenter by trade, and they eagerly invited him in.

This carpenter was unlike any who had come before him, and shortly after viewing the problem, he admitted that putting a staircase in was possible, even ones that wouldn’t take up too much space or be an eyesore.

But he asked to be alone in the chapel for three months and, with only simple tools including a saw, T-square, and a hammer, he built the ‘miraculous’ staircase. It is a spiral staircase making two complete 360 degrees rotations but without using a central pole and without using any nails, only wooden pegs.

The bannister of the staircase is perfectly curved, a remarkable accomplishment considering the basic tools that were used. The shape of the helix is not a stable weight-supporting structure, and without the middle column it shouldn’t be able to withstand the weight of people using the staircase.

When the man finished the staircase, he left without asking for a cent. The nuns tried to find him but they could not. They did not know who he was or where he got the wood. Ten years later the railing was added to the staircase by Phillip August Heasch for safety reasons.

The order decided to honor the carpenter’s deed with a banquet, but when it was time to feast, they could not find him. He had disappeared without a trace; he did not identify himself during his time there or ask for payment. Because his identity remains a secret, the Sisters believed him to be St. Joseph, answering their prayers. The number of steps is of religious significance because it was Jesus’ age during his crucifixion. This realization only further convinced the Sisters and fueled the story that St. Joseph had come to their rescue.

With the staircase finished, the chapel was finally complete, but the mystery of its construction was impossible to ignore, and many pondered how the carpenter accomplished the job. The manager of the privately owned chapel (1991-2006), Richard Lindsley, took a piece of wood from the staircase and sent it for analysis. When the results came back, they showed that it was spruce, but of an unknown subspecies. This specific wood was very strong with dense and square molecules – which is something that you usually find in trees that grow very slowly in very cold places like Alaska.

However, there was no such wood in the area and no local trees grow in the Alpine tundra in the surrounding area. The closest place that he would find this density in trees was in Alaska, but of course back then transport was not the same as it is now and wood was not transported over such long distances.

Were the Stairs Created by a Man from a French Secret Society?

Santa Fe New Mexican offers an alternative explanation for the amazing staircase. It’s said that when historian Mary J. Straw Cook researched the stairs for a book she was writing, she “found information in an 1881 nun’s daybook that a man named Rochas was paid for wood.” Francois-Jean Rochas, an alleged “member of a French secret society of highly skilled craftsmen and artisans called the Compagnons, which had existed since the Middle Ages” has been named as the skilled woodworker who apparently “came to the U.S. with the purpose of building the staircase with wood shipped from France.”

When a group of stair-building professionals convened at the Loretto Chapel a few years ago to see the staircase they were shocked at the beauty, design, and engineering of the stairs. A couple of their comments on the workmanship after analyzing the stairs are:

“We all like to think we create creative stair designs and nice curved staircases, but to think how they did it that long ago and still attain the same quality is breathtaking” and

Later, Cook found a newspaper article mentioning Mr. Rochas and that he was a skilled woodworker who built the staircase. Rochas was a member of a secret French society of skilled artisans known as the Compagnons and had come to the U.S. to design the Santa Fe staircase specifically; the wood came from France.

Even with all the advances in technology and engineering, no one can determine how the staircase was built. The stairs are a beautiful and mysterious element of the Loretto Chapel, regardless of the facts around its construction.

Tigers…They’re GRRRRREAT

I found an interesting article about tigers on the FactSite!

The Latin name for the tiger is ‘Panthera tigris‘.

They can live up to 26 years in captivity and in the wild.

Tigers prefer to inhabit forests, grasslands and mangrove swamps.

There are six distinctive tigers: Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, Siberian, South China and Sumatran.

White tigers are caused by recessive genes and inbreeding.

There are as few as 30 Golden Tigers in captivity.

There are three extinct breeds: Bali, Caspian and Javan.

They can measure up to 11ft, including tail.

They can weigh up to 670lbs.

The stripes that a tiger has are as unique as human fingerprints.

Tigers are generally solitary creatures, but are seen as highly social able.

They have a great fondness for water and are very strong swimmers.

Tigers feast on many animals, depending on their territory. These include: antelope, boar, buffalo, camel, fish and horse.

Interestingly, a tiger can go two weeks without feeding.

They can gorge up to 75lbs of flesh in one sitting.

A tiger’s method of killing prey is to stalk it, before ambushing and overpowering it, before biting.

Human behavior can make the tiger feel threatened and attack humans. These are known as ‘man eaters’.

They can make horizontal leaps of up to 33ft.

Usually, in a litter of cubs, there are up to three, but as many as six can be born.

After fourteen days, the cubs will open their eyes.

A cub can take up to two-and-a-half years to separate from its mother.

Tigers are heavily endangered.

They are hunted for fur, meat, medicine and sport.

Save China’s Tigers is a conservation group, which is extremely successful at breeding and reintroducing tigers to the wild.

The Bengal tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh and India.

They are one of the Chinese Zodiac animals, depicting wood.

In Asian folklore, the weretiger is seen as a horrific and terrifying creature, replacing the werewolf.

Shere Khan was a deadly tiger in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1894).

The breakfast cereal Frosted Flakes is sponsored by Tony the Tiger, who claims, “They’re grrrreat!”

Siegfried and Roy, the magical entertainers, closed their show after a confused seven year old tiger bit Roy’s neck and attempted to treat him like a cub.

SOURCE: The Fact Site

37 Amazing Things You Didn’t Know About Your Own Body (Part 2)

Human nails grow faster today than they used to.

If you feel like you have to trim your nails more than you used to, it’s not just your imagination. A 2010 study out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill comparing the growth of fingernails and toenails to two previous studies from 70 and 50 years earlier found that growth had increased by almost a quarter over the decades. For example, the big toe nail was found to grow by more than 2mm per month, compared to 1.65mm per month in the 1930s. The reason, according to researchers? The proliferation of protein-rich diets.

Your body position affects your memory.

That bad posture isn’t just giving you a backache—a 2012 article published in Biofeedback found that sitting and looking downward makes it easier to recall negative memories, while sitting upright and looking upward makes it easier to recall positive, empowering memories.

Humans “glow”—you just can’t see it.

When we talk about someone having a “glow” about them, that’s often literally true. Research has found that the human body does, in fact, emit visible light, but since it’s about 1,000 times less intense than the levels the human eye can spot, it’s not “visible” in practice. The results of a 2009 study published in PLOS One reveal that this body glow rises and falls throughout the day, with the least glow coming off of the humans they tested at about 10 a.m., and the highest at about 4 p.m. (perhaps because they were about to wrap up work for the day).

A blink is a micro nap.

You probably thought that a blink was just something you did to keep your eyes moist or keep dust out of them. That is a very valuable service, of course, but we actually blink way more than needed for that alone—about 15 to 20 times per minute.

In fact, according to a 2012 study conducted by researchers at Washington University, blinking can help sharpen attention and provide our bodies time to recharge.

Big eyes cause nearsightedness.

Big eyes may be considered beautiful by some, but they can cause nearsightedness. Also known as myopia, this condition that causes distant objects to look blurry is caused by light not properly reaching the retina. If your eyeball grows too long, light is focused too soon before it hits the retina—so when it does hit the retina, the image is blurry.

It’s impossible to tickle yourself.

Your cerebellum—the area in the back of your brain that monitors movement—predicts the sensation you will feel when you attempt to tickle yourself, countering the response that the tickle would otherwise elicit in other parts of your brain. Two distinct parts of the human brain are responsible for giving you that ticklish feeling: The somatosensory cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex. As Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, a research fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, explained to Scientific American, “We found that both these regions are less active during self-tickling than they are during tickling performed by someone else, which helps to explain why it doesn’t feel tickly and pleasant when you tickle yourself.”

Stomach acid dissolves razor blades.

You probably shouldn’t be swallowing these things, but you might be surprised to learn that your stomach could do some serious damage on razor blades if you did. Researchers out of Meridia Huron Hospital tested the effects of gastric juice on metal objects and found that over 24 hours, the stomach acid reduced razor blades to 63 percent of their original weight (pennies and batteries, however, were barely affected).

Your intestine is four times as long as you are.

Among the many things you probably didn’t know about your body is that your small intestine is about 18 to 23 feet long, meaning that, if you uncoiled it, it would stretch to almost four times your height.

Your gut has a “second brain.”

We’ve all felt that “butterflies in the stomach” sensation (say, before a first date or major presentation). There’s good reason for this: There’s a network of neurons that lines the gut, which some scientists have taken to referring to as our “second brain.” The gut doesn’t just handle digestion, but comes with its own reflexes and senses, and is intricately and inextricably interwoven with your nervous system. So, yeah, trust your gut.

Sneezes can travel up to 20 feet.

You may think you’re safe when the guy all the way across the subway car sneezes, but you could be in the line of fire without even realizing it. A video study conducted by researchers at MIT found that sneezes travel much farther than previously believed—as far as 20 feet.

Earwax is good for you.

To be clear, you don’t want to eat earwax! But that icky stuff serves the important purpose of lubricating, cleaning, and protecting your ears from infection. It’s as much as 50 percent fat, coating the ear and catching dust and debris—keeping your ears healthy, even if it looks gross.

Taste buds dull with age.

Wine may taste better as it ages, but as we age, it’s harder for us to appreciate it. Just as hearing and vision tend to deplete as the years go by, your sense of taste does the same. As you get older, your taste buds regenerate more slowly after injury or if you take certain medications. And bad news for the ladies: Women generally experience a decrease in their taste sensitivity beginning in their 50s, while men don’t experience that until their 60s.

You have a one-of-a-kind tongue print.

Just as your fingerprint is uniquely yours, so too is your tongue print, according to a 2016 study by the Thai Moogambigai Dental College. Biometric scans can be done to compare the individual shape (long or short, wide or narrow) and texture (ridges, wrinkles, and marks), with specific details tracked and mapped by a “tongue image-acquiring device.” Of course, while this thing you didn’t know about your body might be interesting, it probably is not very useful to forensic investigators.

Humans are the only animals that weep.

While many animals produce tears as lubricants for their eyes, humans are the only ones who cry as an emotional response. Thomas Dixon, PhD, director of the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary, University of London, suggested that tears serve a social purpose for humans and that, “Even for those who think they really are just weeping for nobody apart from themselves, it’s still a sort of performance. You’re showing yourself things have really got bad, or whatever it might be.”

Your liver can almost completely regrow.

The liver is resilient. Even if reduced by as much as 75 percent, it can grow back to normal size. This happens through the rapid replication of liver cells, with the thing reaching its original size (or very close to it) within about a month, according to the University of Iowa.

Humans have more than five senses.

While we have sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing, humans also have “proprioception” (sense of space) and “nociception” (sense of pain). There’s also “equilibrioception” (sense of balance), “thermoception” (sense of temperature in and around the body), “temporal perception” (sense of time), and more, depending on who you ask.

Source: Best Life website

37 Amazing Things You Didn’t Know About Your Own Body (Part 1)

You’ll have a brand-new skeleton in 10 years.

Your skeletal system’s cells are constantly regenerating and, on average, the bones you have now will have completely regenerated in about a decade’s time. This does start to slow down as you age, however, with regeneration taking longer, causing bones to naturally become thinner.You’re taller in the morning than you are at night.It might seem like a tall tale, but when you wake up in the morning, you’re actually a tiny bit taller than you were when you went to bed. This is due to the pressure put on joints throughout the day.As you go about your activities, this pressure causes the cartilage in your spine to compress—just fractions of an inch, but enough to push everything down. As you relax in your sleep, it eases the pressure on your spinal disks, thus allowing you to return to your full height.Your sweat is actually odorless.If you think sweat stinks, you wouldn’t be alone—but you would be incorrect. Sweat itself doesn’t smell. It’s the interaction with bacteria on your skin that causes body odor. Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. These bacteria occur naturally and just happen to thrive in the sweatiest regions of our body.You have over 60,000 miles of blood vessels.If it sounds overwhelming, that’s because it kind of is. While individual blood vessels are relatively small, the amount found within the average adult body tallies up in some pretty impressive ways. If laid out in a straight line, the entire network would stretch well over 60,000 miles. That’s including all arteries, capillaries, and veins, end-to-end.Like lizards, we also shed our skin.

OK, so it’s not quite as intense as when it happens to a lizard or to a snake but it is just as creepy. According to the American Chemical Society, humans shed their entire outer layer of skin every two to four weeks. That’s about 500 million skin cells a day!

Babies don’t have kneecaps.

You’d think that our kneecaps would be a necessary part of the human body. Not for babies, who aren’t born with them. Instead, their cartilage gradually turns into bone, as ossification begins between the ages of two and six years—and doesn’t fully finish until young adulthood.

Your stomach growls because it’s full of hot air.

Ever wonder why you experience those grumbly, growly sounds when hungry? It all circles back to the digestive system. More specifically, the intestines. These guys go through a series of contractions to help move food and liquid along when eating. But even after all the food is digested, the intestines continue to move air through the digestive tract. That’s what causes “borborygmus,” the scientific name assigned to those funny little rumbles.

Your bones are stronger than steel.

While many of us experience a broken bone at some point in life, the fact is that bone is an incredibly tough substance. So strong, in fact, that, as Discover puts it, “ounce for ounce, our bones are stronger than steel.” A bone has a greater pressure tolerance and bearing strength than a rod of steel of the same width. The strongest bone in the body is the femur, which can support 30 times the body weight of an average person.

Throughout your life, you will produce enough saliva to fill up two pools.

The average human produces over 20,000 liters of saliva throughout their lifetime. That’s enough to eventually fill up two swimming pools full of spit. If you think that sounds like a long time, just remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day, either.

Your feet contain a quarter of your bones.

Human feet contain 52 bones (26 for each foot). That’s nearly a quarter of all the bones in your whole body! Each also contains 33 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

The smallest bone in your body is in your ear.

No named bone in your body is smaller (or lighter) than the stapes, a bone in the middle ear that’s actually shaped like a stirrup. It’s complete with a base and an oval window, which is covered with a membrane that measures sound vibrations.

You lose almost one-third of your bones as you age.

As it turns out, there are quite a few things you didn’t know about your body—including how many bones you have. According to the doctors over at the Cleveland Clinic, you’re born with about 300 bones, but as you grow, some fuse together as cartilage ossifies, eventually leaving you with 206 bones by the time you stop growing (once you’ve reached young adulthood).

There are no muscles in your fingers.

Your fingers do countless important things throughout the day, from opening jars to opening doors. But don’t chalk up those feats of strength to your fingers. Any movement that happens in your fingers is due to tendons and bones, with a lot of help from the muscles in the palms of your hands and at the base of each individual digit.

Half your hand strength is in your pinkie.

The pinkie seems unassuming, but it’s crucial for your hand strength—helping the thumb to pinch and giving more power to the ring, middle, and index fingers.

Laurie Rogers, hand therapist at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, told The New York Times that losing your pinkie would mean, “You’d lose 50 percent of your hand strength, easily.”

Your tongue is the only muscle that doesn’t join two bones.

Every muscle in the human body connects to bones at both ends, allowing it to pull and create motion, with one notable exception: your tongue. On one end, it’s connected to your hyoid bone—part of your neck—but nothing else on the other side.

Your rear is your largest muscle.

While there is some debate about which of your muscles is the strongest, your gluteus maximus happens to be your largest, according to the Library of Congress. These muscles help keep your body upright, move your hips and thighs, and work against gravity when you’re walking uphill or upstairs. The fact that they make your jeans look great is just a bonus.

We’re as hairy per square inch as chimpanzees.

It turns out we’re just as hairy as chimps. According to a 2011 paper published in the International Journal of Trichology, we have the same number of hairs as chimps, even if the hair itself is much finer, making it harder to see and creating a lower volume of hair overall.

Roller coasters can “toss” your organs.

You know that sinking feeling you get when on a roller coaster? Turns out, it might be a little something more than the adrenalin. According to experts, these rides can achieve speeds fast enough to actually toss your internal organs around. We’re talking brain, heart, eyes, blood vessels, and more. Don’t worry, the acceleration isn’t enough to do any harm (unless you have a preexisting condition). It’s just enough to leave you feeling a little queasy.

Hair can “taste.”

Here’s a fun human body fact: Your nasal passages and lungs are lined with fine hairs, or cilia, that detect and sweep out impurities. How do they detect it? By sensing the bitter tastes of the things passing through them (such as, say, nicotine). When these hairs taste something bitter, they increase their rate of movement, attempting to sweep out the bad stuff, according to a 2009 study published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Hair knows when you sleep.

Your hair helps the environment.

Dirty hair can be good for the atmosphere: According to a 2008 study published in Atmospheric Environment, hair absorbs the air pollutant ozone. Scalp oils were found to be a major contributor to this, so if you want to do your part to help your local air quality, skip the shampoo!

“420” WEED DAY

There have been many misconceptions, fallacies, falsehoods, and media inaccuracies about the beginnings of ‘420’, and even about The Waldos. Rogues and fogged burnouts turn up across the internet claiming they started ‘420’, fictionally making up dates that precede The Waldos’ creation date with their revisionist history. Unfortunately, as things grow in popularity, sometimes people “crawl out of the woodwork” to claim they were part of it.

The Waldos, from left, Mark Gravitch, Larry Schwartz, Dave Reddix, Steve Capper and Jeffrey Noel by the statue of Louis Pasteur at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California in 2018. (Photo: Associated Press/Eric Risberg)

The Waldos are the only ones with multiple pieces of physical-evidence proof of the very earliest usage of the term ‘420’. In fact, The Waldos are the only ones in the world with any proof at all. The Waldos story/proof of ‘420’ origination has been investigated, and verified, by numerous credible journalistic news organizations. The Waldos are the real creators of the term 420.

This photo shows dried cannabidiol (CBD) flower buds on February 16, 2022 in Paris. April 20 or “4/20” is the event in the calendar that stoners look forward to every year, becoming a celebration of cannabis culture.

Meet The Waldos

“In the fall of ’71, Waldo Steve was given a treasure map to a patch of weed on the Point Reyes Peninsula. The map was given to him by a friend whose brother was in the U.S. Coast Guard and was growing cannabis. The coastguardsman was paranoid he would get busted so he granted permission to harvest. The Waldos™ all agreed to meet at 4:20 p.m. at the statue of chemist Louis Pasteur on the campus of San Rafael High. They met, got high, and drove out to search for the patch.

In the ensuing school days the Waldos would use the term ‘420 Louie™’ to remind each other of their after school quest. They eventually dropped the ‘Louie’ part and just said ‘420’ to refer to cannabis. Originally ‘420’ was nothing more than the Waldos’ secret slang–their own private joke–however, it was picked up by others and spread from generation to generation, city to city, country to country, across decades, and throughout all media around the globe. The Waldos have published multiple pieces of “evidence” to give credence to their theory, including letters from college and the original “420” flag from the 1970s.

Spreading the Word

Initially “420” began as private joke for their own meetups, but the phrase supposedly caught traction via the group’s connection with the rock band ‘The Grateful Dead,’ also based in Marin County Hills at that time, only blocks away from the high school the Waldos attended. One of the Waldos, Mark Gravitch, had a father who managed real estate for the band, while the brother of Dave Reddix (another Waldos member) managed a Grateful Dead side-band and was close friends with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh.

The Grateful Dead practiced at a rehearsal hall in San Rafael, California and the Waldos used to hang out there at watch, Reddix said. His older brother Patrick spread the “420” phrase with the band through Lesh. “And me, too, because I was hanging out with Lesh and his band [as a roadie] when they were doing a summer tour my brother was managing,” Reddix added.

Capper added: “We’d go with [Gravitch’s] dad, who was a hip dad from the ’60s. There was a place called Winterland and we’d always be backstage running around or onstage and, of course, we’re using those phrases. “When somebody passes a joint or something, ‘Hey, 420.’ So it started spreading through that community.”

Capper said Marin County was “ground zero” for the California counterculture, which saw hippies smoke weed as a form of protest against government policies, such as the Vietnam War. Later, banners calling from 4:20 p.m. meetings on 4/20 were found circulating at gatherings ahead of Grateful Dead concerts.

Today, 4/20 can mean a whole host of different things to weed smokers, as well as the industry. Hundreds of sellers show off their marijuana products at 4/20 rallies each year. For example, the aptly-named California town Weed hosts its own 4/20 festival:

“The City of Weed, California, Threw Huge Blowout to Celebrate 420

Published April 21, 2022, by Chris Moore

“What better place to celebrate the year’s biggest cannabis holiday than a town named Weed? Yesterday, a tiny Northern California city called Weed hosted its fourth annual festival to celebrate 4/20, the official cannabis holiday. The event was held by La Florista Cannabis dispensary, which just happens to be the only weed shop in Weed. Organizers shut down a block of the city’s Main St. for a blowout featuring bands, a DJ, a taco truck, and – you guessed it – legal cannabis. The dispensary offered special “swag bags” for customers, plus promos on flower, pre-rolls, vape carts, edibles, and pretty much every other product they sell.

With all the hype surrounding California’s fabled cannabis industry, one might speculate that the town of Weed might have adopted this name just to cash in. But the town’s unique name actually comes from its founder, a pioneer named Abner Weed. In 1897, Weed bought a 280-acre lumber mill in the area that eventually became the current City of Weed.

Weed was initially quite reluctant to embrace its cannabis namesake. Residents and elected officials initially resisted attempts to capitalize on the town’s potential for pot tourism but did agree to allow La Florista to open in 2018. Since then, Weed has slowly been warming up to weed. Last January, the city council voted to impose a 3% local cannabis sales tax, which city officials predicted would bring them about $100,000 a year.”

https://merryjane.com/news/weed-california-threw-huge-blowout-to-celebrate-420-1

How to Celebrate

Watch a marijuana documentary….Learn more about the history of cannabis and the controversies surrounding it today by watching a marijuana documentary, such as “Grass is Greener, High Country: The Future of Weed,” “The Culture High” and “The Legend of 420.”

Those are all movies that require payment. This one, however, is surprisingly honest, even tho it came via PBS. The FDA (i.e., HHS) consciously CHOSE to block ALL study on the efficacies of MJ for health purposes simply by refusing to take it off the list of dangerous drugs to free up research $$$. They want to control ALL of it!!!! Bayer/Monsanto has been locking up the medical MJ business for a very long time!!!

Try some cannabis recipes

Try a recipe or two from “The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook,” which features more than 50 tasty recipes to get you high.

Listen to a marijuana podcast

Learn more about the ins and outs of the cannabis industry on ‘The Adam Dunn Show,’ ‘Brave New Weed’ and ‘Cannabis Cultivation and Science Podcast.’

Video of the effects of CBD on Parkinsons and Epilepsy:

Parkinson’s Sufferer Shows The Incredible Effect Marijuana Has On His Tremors

A Little Girl With Epilepsy Tries Cannabis Oil

Toddler’s seizures treated with medical marijuana

“20 Medical Studies That Show Cannabis Can Be A Potential Cure for Cancer”

EXCERPT: “Let’s take a look at the science behind cannabis and cancer. Although cannabis has been proven to be an effective treatment for a wide range of ailments, this article will focus mainly on its effects on cancer.

Cannabinoids, which refer to any of a group of related compounds that include cannabinol and the active constituents of cannabis, may very well be one of the best disease- and cancer-fighting treatments out there. They activate cannabinoid receptors in the body, and the body itself produces compounds called endocannabinoids that play a role in many processes within the body that help to create a healthy environment.

Cannabinoids are also involved in immune system generation and re-generation. The body regenerates best when it’s saturated with phyto-cannabinoids.”

This disappeared and I had to use the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210921210659/https://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/08/23/20-medical-studies-that-prove-cannabis-can-cure-cancer/

WACO

The Waco Siege began in early 1993, when a government raid on a compound in Axtell, Texas, led to a 51-day standoff between federal agents and members of a millennial Christian sect called the Branch Davidians. The siege ended dramatically on April 19, 1993, when fires consumed the compound, leaving some 75 people dead, including 25 children.

David Koresh

On February 28, 1993, some 80 agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) raided a religious compound at Mount Carmel, near Waco, Texas, after receiving reports that the Branch Davidians and their leader, David Koresh, were violating federal firearms regulations.

After four ATF agents and six Davidians were killed in the gun battle that followed, a cease-fire was arranged, and nearly 900 law enforcement officials eventually surrounded the compound, including hostage negotiators and rescue teams from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Reporters soon arrived on the scene as well, and the 51-day siege that followed would play out on TV screens and in newspaper headlines around the world. Despite some early negotiating successes—the Davidians sent about 2 dozen children out in exchange for food and other supplies—numerous children remained among those inside, many of them Koresh’s children with various women.

Branch Davidians

In the 1930s, a disgruntled member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church named Victor Houteff had broken away and founded the Davidian movement. After Houteff’s death, Ben Roden led an offshoot of the movement known as the Branch Davidians, who took control of Houteff’s original settlement at Mount Carmel, near Waco, by 1962.

Believing the Bible is literally the word of God, the Branch Davidians looked to it for clues about the end of the world and Christ’s Second Coming, as told in the Book of Revelation.

Roden died in 1978, leaving his wife, Lois, as head prophetess of the sect. In 1981, a 22-year-old convert named Vernon Wayne Howell arrived at Mount Carmel; he became involved with Lois Roden, and after her death clashed with her son, George, over control.

In a gun battle in late 1987, George Roden was shot in the head and chest, and Howell and seven followers went on trial for attempted murder. The seven other men were acquitted, and Howell’s case ended in a mistrial.

By 1990, having asserted control over the Branch Davidians, Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh. (“Koresh” is the Hebrew translation of Cyrus, the ancient Persian king who conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Israel.)

Koresh and the FBI

In his negotiations with the FBI during the Waco siege, Koresh claimed he was a messianic figure prophesied in the Bible and that God had given him his surname. He threatened violence against those who would attack him and his family, but asserted that the Davidians weren’t planning a mass suicide.

To the Branch Davidians, Koresh was “the Lamb,” the only one (according to the Book of Revelation) worthy of unlocking the Seven Seals and revealing to the world the entirety of the Bible’s teachings. This identification allowed Koresh to justify some of his controversial (even within the sect) practices, including taking various “spiritual wives,” some reportedly as young as 11 years old.

As time wore on, the negotiators and the Hostage Rescue Team, which handled all the tactical maneuvers, disagreed on how to handle the siege. The latter team, frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations, employed aggressive tactics like playing ear-splitting music or crushing the Davidians’ cars—disrupting often-delicate negotiation efforts.

Fire Engulfs Waco Compound

In mid-April, after religious scholars reached out to Koresh through a radio discussion of the teachings of Revelation, Koresh sent a message through his lawyer announcing he had received word from God and was writing his message on the Seven Seals; he would come out with his followers when he was finished.

The FBI, unconvinced, decided to act to end the siege. Though initially reluctant, Attorney General Janet Reno ended up approving a plan to fire CS gas (a form of tear gas) into the Mount Carmel compound to try and force out the Davidians. Just after 6 a.m. on April 19, 1993, FBI agents used two specially equipped tanks to penetrate the compound and deposit some 400 containers of gas inside.

Soon after the attack ended, around 12 pm, several fires simultaneously broke out around the compound, and gunfire was heard inside. Safety concerns prevented firefighters from entering Mount Carmel immediately, and the flames spread quickly and engulfed the property.

Though nine Davidians were able to escape, investigators later found 76 bodies inside the compound, including 25 children. Some of them, including Koresh, had fatal gunshot wounds, suggesting suicide or murder-suicide.

Legacy of the Waco Siege

From the beginning, the government’s handling of the Waco siege (which played out in the national and international media) was heavily criticized. Reno took responsibility for the botched raid, later admitting there was no evidence of ongoing child abuse within the compound (which had been one of the justifications for ordering the gas attack).

Though the government long maintained that its actions played no role in starting the fires at the Waco compound, in 1999 it was revealed that some of the gas the FBI used was flammable under certain conditions.

Reno subsequently appointed the lawyer and former senator John Danforth to lead an investigation into the siege’s end. In 2000, he concluded that government agents did not start the fires or shoot at the compound.

Despite this conclusion, resentment lingered about the government’s handling of the situation, which partially fueled the growth of homegrown militias in the United States. The Waco siege and the 1992 Ruby Ridge incident in Idaho are often cited by government critics as examples of overreach and intrusion by federal officials.

In April 1995, on the second anniversary of the Waco siege’s end, a militant named Timothy McVeigh used a truck loaded with 4,800 pounds of fuel oil and aluminum nitrate to attack the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. With a total of 168 people killed and some 850 wounded, the Oklahoma City bombing was by far the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States to that date.

Source: History.com