Birth Locations – Page 124 – The Exasperated Historian

192) Francis Bannerman VI

192) Francis Bannerman VI

Owner of Pollepel Island, now more commonly known as Bannerman Island in New York State

Born: 24 March 1851, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom

Died: 26 November 1918, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America

Frank left school at the age of ten.

His scrap collecting business called Bannerman’s collected so much scrap material over the years they purchased the island as a place to store their stuff.

The next year—in 1901—Frank would begin building what would become known as Bannerman’s Castle.

He was also a munitions dealer who was able to procure 90% of the leftovers of the Spanish-American War.

During World War I, Frank was a supporter of the Allies. He donated clothing, armaments, and other supplies. However, people were still suspicious of him and his company. Though he was eventually exonerated on all charges, many believe the stress he went through helped hasten his early demise.

Two years after his death, the powder house on the island exploded, sending chunks of building everywhere. A large section struck the hammock where his wife had been relaxing only minutes before.

In 1967, the island was transferred to the State of New York. In August of 1969, a large fire tore through the island. Once first responders determined no one was trapped on the island, they allowed the fire to run its course. The source has never been determined.

Today the ruins of the castle are a tourist attraction.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.electricscotland.com/history/descendants/chap36.htm

http://www.headfirstadventures.com/2013/09/06/the-castle-on-bannermans-island/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8048322/francis-bannerman

191) Anthony Clifford Allison

191) Anthony Clifford Allison

Geneticist and Medical Scientist who Discovered the Link between Sickle Cell Disease and Malaria

Born: 21 August 1925, East London, South Africa

Died: 20 February 2014, Belmont, California, United States of America

Also Called: Tony Allison

His work showed that someone who has sickle cell disease has a very low chance of contracting malaria. He began his work in Africa in 1953.

His work also encompassed other areas of pharmacology, working in both the UK and Africa. Tony also taught at Stanford for many years.

Sources:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60635-8/fulltext

https://peoplepill.com/people/anthony-clifford-allison/

190) First Lieutenant Joachim Rønneberg

190) Joachim Rønneberg

Commander of Operation Gunnerside during World War II

Born: 30 August 1919, Ålesund, Norway

Died: 21 October 2018, Norway

Norwegian Army Officer and commander of Operation Gunnerside—which helped sabotage Nazi plans for building atomic weapons.

The entire operation was all Norwegian soldiers, ten in all. They were parachuted in in the middle of the February Cold of 1943.

After marching through the wilderness for several days and nights, they made it to a factory where the Germans were working on their atomic bomb. Joachim and the others blew the factory up and escaped back into the night. He later blew up a railway bridge and disrupted supply lines.

He worked as a radio journalist after the war. Joachim married and had three children, all of whom survive him.

In 1965, a Hollywood film that was vaguely based on the true story was released. It was called The Heroes of Telemark and starred Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/obituaries/joachim-ronneberg-dead.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/29/joachim-ronneberg-obituary

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194168533/joachim-holmboe-ronneberg

189) Psamtik I

189) Psamtik I

One of the forgotten Great Pharaohs of Egypt

Birth Date Unknown, Ancient Egypt

Died: 610 BC, Ancient Egypt

Alternate Name: Wahibre Psamtik

Egyptian Pharaoh; the first ruler of the 26th Dynasty—which he founded after he expelled the Assyrians and reunited Egypt as a country.

Psamtik I also helped push out the Kushites, moved his capital to Sais, hired and used a part of a Greek mercenary force as a part of his army, and pushed for a revival of Old Kingdom art and lifestyle.

He was crafty in other ways as well, negotiating to have his daughter Nitocris adopted by the Theban temples of the god Amun. By having Nitocris taken into the temple, Psamtik was able to take control of the huge amounts of wealth the temples owned.

In Egypt today, archaeologists are attempting to reconstruct a statue of Psamtik I that has been fragmented into thousands of pieces.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Psamtik-I

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fragments-pharaoh-statue-deliberately-destroyed-found-egypt-180968789/

188) Dr. Matt Carriker

188) Dr. Matt Carriker

Welcome to the Demolitia

Born: 21 October 1986, Texas, United States of America

YouTuber and Veterinarian known for his three channels: Demolition Ranch (Where he blows things up and proves guns are fun), Vet Ranch (where he works to save precious puppies and kitties and everything in between), and Off The Ranch (Family/Vlog Channel).

Dr. Matt’s latest project has been restoring a giant abandoned mansion he bought.

He’s married to Mere (so don’t tell her about any of this!) and a father to three kids.

I’ve linked all three channels down below and am including a video from each of his channels to the left. Check them out if you don’t already know about him.

Sources:

https://twitter.com/DemolitionRanch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

https://www.youtube.com/user/mlcarriker

https://www.youtube.com/user/DemolitionRanch

https://www.youtube.com/user/VetRanch

187) Tripp Phillips

187) Tripp Phillips

Le-Glue Founder, a non-permanent glue that holds Legos together

Born: c.2007

Tripp came up with the idea for Le-Glue in 2014, after entering the International Torrance Legacy Creative Awards competition. His Le-Glue ended up winning the Toys and Games category that year.

Luckily for Tripp, his dad is a lab scientist. They worked together to invent Le-Glue, which is water soluble and doesn’t damage the Lego Bricks when you use it.

He earned a deal on Shark Tank with Mr. Wonderful himself, and Tripp happens to be one of the youngest patent holders in US History.

As of February 2019, Tripp announced they were averaging $35,000 in sales every month, and that was before Mr. Wonderful’s investment and help had even kicked in.

In a Shark Tank update in 2022, it was announced that Le-Glue had sold more than $120,000 worth of product in lifetime sales and is still available online on both Amazon and their own website.

Sources:

https://le-glue.com/about/

https://www.starterstory.com/stories/how-this-13-year-old-made-it-on-shark-tank-and-did-500k-in-sales

https://sharktankrecap.com/leglue-update-shark-tank-season-10/

186) Corporal Werner Dreschler

186) Werner Max Herschel Dreschler

Murdered at Camp Papago Park for Prisoner of War During World War II

Born: 17 January 1922, Mühlberg, Germany

Died: 12 March 1944, Papago Park POW Camp, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America

375 Americans guarded over 4,000 German Prisoners of War at this camp.

Werner provided information to the Americans about the goings on in the Nazi military and became a traitor to his people. He only talked after the Americans promised him protection.

Instead, the Americans transferred him to Papago Park where he was murdered less than seven hours after arriving at the camp.

Seven men were found guilty and executed for his murder.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located in my Personal Library:

Death at Papago Park POW Camp by Jane Eppinga

Sources:

https://www.arizonahighways.com/blog/infamous-murder-phoenix-pow-camp

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/599208/werner-max_henry-drechsler

185) Priscillian

185) Priscillian

He holds the distinction of being the first Christian Heretic to receive Capital Punishment

Born: c.340, Spain

Died: 385, Belgica, Gaul (Today Trier, Germany)

Spanish Bishop in the earliest centuries of Christianity, in Roman controlled Hispania.

He was the founder of Priscillianism, an unorthodox form of Christianity that persisted into the 6th Century (Much to the church’s dismay).

Priscillian taught matter was evil and the spirit good. He outlawed all sensual pleasure, marriage, and the consumption of wine and meat.

Among his other controversial viewpoints was that women should be allowed to be bishops as well as men.

Very little of his personal life is known. Historians know he was from a wealthy Roman Family, but beyond that, nothing.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Priscillian

http://pilgrimagetoheresy.com/who_was_priscillian

184) Henri Charrière

184) Henri Charrière

The Real Papillon Behind the Famous Movie (That has Now Also Been Remade by Hollywood)

Born: 16 November 1906, Ardèche, France

Died: 29 July 1973, Madrid, Spain

Memoirist who wrote down his memories of his time in the French Guiana Penal Colony Cayenne (or Devil’s Island), in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

While he was convicted of Murder by the French courts, he proclaimed his innocence throughout his entire life. Before his arrest in 1931, he was a safecracker and thief—which he admitted too, but he denied he was a murderer.

His first escape came three years after he arrived at Devil’s Island. He tried to escape eight more times over the years, with his final escape in 1944 being permanently successful.

He died eleven years after the publishing of his book, by which time it had been translated into sixteen languages and sold over five million copies.

In 1970, the French Minister of Justice revoked some of the restrictions on Henri’s record, allowing him to return to France.

In 1972, Henri released a sequel book to Papillon, entitled Banco: The Further Adventures of Papillon.

His memoire has been made and now remade into the Hollywood Films Papillon. The first, in 1973, starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, while the second, released in 2017, starred Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek. I’ve included in this article the trailer to both.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located in My Personal Library:

Papillon by Henri Charrière

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henri-Charriere

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13707225/henri-charri_re

183) James Parks

Freed Slave who is Prominently Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

Born: 1843, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America

Died: 21 August 1929, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America

Also Known As: Jim or Uncle Jim Parks

James is the only person buried there who was born on the grounds of the old plantation. He was buried with full military honors.

He continued to work the grounds as a grave digger after being freed from slavery. Jim continued to work the cemetery until 1925, and helped with the restoration of the exterior of the Custis-Lee Mansion in 1928 by relaying what he remembered of how the building had looked in 1861, the last year the Custis-Lee family had lived on the property.

His eyewitness testimony to the property and Custis-Lee Family survives to this day.

James was married twice and father twenty-two children!

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jparks.htm

https://www.nps.gov/arho/learn/historyculture/parks.htm

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6532/james-parks