Birth Locations – Page 155 – The Exasperated Historian

22) Julian Assange

22) Julian Assange

This post is sure to divide everyone

Born: 3 July 1971, Townsville, Australia

Most known for being the founder of WikiLeaks, as of 2019 Julian is also known for his cat problems and arrest after being kicked out of an embassy he'd been hiding in for many years. So, what's the real story?

Julian first came to international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks published the information leaked by a certain person I will not be naming here because (and this next part is purely my own opinion) they should be in prison, but whatever.

In 2012, Julian was granted asylum by Ecuador and holed himself up in their embassy located in London. He did this to avoid facing trial for sexual assault allegations and extradition to Sweden.

He stayed under the radar for a few years, but in 2016 his name was in the headlines again after WikiLeaks published thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails and correspondence with the Democratic National Convention.

In April of 2019 his asylum was rescinded, and Julian was arrested by United States federal agents for violating the Espionage Act.

Several news outlets began to report in July of 2019 that Amal Clooney, the human rights attorney who is unfortunately more known for being the wife of George Clooney, may have advised Julian on how to avoid arrest in the United Kingdom.

As of June 2023, Julian still has not been extradited to the United States, but the US government is still making moves to bring him stateside to face criminal charges. If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison.

In 2024, Julian Assange plead guilty to obtaining and illegally publishing documents from the United States government. He made his case in court in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands. The islands are technically United States' territory and therefore allowed Julian to make his day in court without entering the continental United States.

His plea deal meant that Julian had to plead guilty to a single felony count--but he was also able to avoid spending any time in the American prison system. However, he did spend twelve years away from his family in total--seven hiding in the embassy and five in UK prisons. During the court hearing, Julian continued to state that he believes the Espionage Act, under which he was found guilty, violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

(Which I personally agree with.)

After the deal was struck, Julian was declared a free man, and he was able to fly home to his native Australia where his wife and family were waiting for him.

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/activist/julian-assange

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9483135/amal-clooney-julian-assange-avoid-arrest-britain/

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/09/julian-assange-dangerously-close-to-us-extradition-after-losing-latest-legal-appeal

https://apnews.com/article/assange-justice-department-plea-wikileaks-saipan-australia-00eb380879ff636cc9b916f82f82ed40

22) Lizette Charbonneau

Statue of Sacagawea holding her son Jean Baptiste

22) Lizette Charbonneau

Sacagawea's Forgotten Daughter

Born: Most likely December 1812 (Though some claim as early as 1810), Fort Manuel, South Dakota, United States of America

Died: After August of 1813 (but probably before 1824--most seem to agree she died around the age of ten from a fever), St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America

Her name has been alternately spelled Lisette.

She was Sacagawea’s Daughter and her brother was Jean Baptiste (aka Pomp or Pompey).

Lizette most likely died before her first birthday, but historical records seem to indicate she survived the attack on Fort Manuel (South Dakota) where her parents had been living. Her mother died earlier than the attack (possibly from Typhoid Fever or complications from the birth of Lizette itself) and her father was listed among the missing, but Lizette was still alive.

In August of 1813, William Clark (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) adopted both Lizette and her brother through a court in Missouri.

She disappears from the historical record after that although for some reason her Google listing says she died in 1832—literally no clue where that idea came from (Even Wikipedia says she died in childhood).

Notes:

The story you read above is the most likely chain of events in Lizette's short life, however the more you research the more you realize no one can seem to agree on anything concretely. Even Sacagawea's death date and burial site are disputed, with some saying she died in December of 1812 (which is the most likely chain of events and has some evidence to back it) and others say she died in 1884 at the age of 100. Whatever happens to be the truth, the short life of Lizette should never be forgotten.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

http://bonniebutterfield.com/sacagawea-death.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/101503130/lisette-charbonneau

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea

21) Anton Yelchin

21) Anton Yelchin

You will always be missed

Born: 11 March 1989, Leningrad, Soviet Union (Present-day St. Petersburg, Russia)

Died: 19 June 2016, Studio City, California, United States of America

He was a brilliant young actor and musician taken from the world much too soon.

Anton is most remembered for his roles in the new Star Trek film series, where he played Pavel Chekhov however he appeared in numerous other films and television series over his career. He even appeared in episodes of House MD and Criminal Minds when he was younger.

Anton was killed in a freak car accident in 2016 at the age of 27, unfortunately making him a member of the infamous 27 Club which also includes the likes of Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.

In August of 2019 a documentary about Anton, titled Love Antosha will be released in theatres.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/entertainment/chris-pine-anton-yelchin-documentary/index.html

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0947338/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/165328151/anton-yelchin

21) Betsy Ross

21) Betsy Ross

According to Legend She Created the First American Flag.

Born: 1 January 1752, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, what is now the United States of America

Died: 30 January 1836, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Original Name: Elizabeth Griscom Ross

Betsy was child number eight of seventeen in her Quaker Family. She received a good education and was sent out to be apprenticed to an upholsterer. Her future husband was also an apprentice—and the son of an Episcopal rector. Betsy married him anyway after eloping in New Jersey.

Her family immediately split from her as was common after Quaker women married outside their religion (see Dolley Madison for example). Less than two years later the couple started their own upholstery business. Her husband was mortally wounded while guarding an ammunition supply during the Revolutionary War.

Betsy returned to the Quakers—the ones pro-Revolution anyway--and in June 1777 she married a sea captain. They would have two daughters (one died in infancy) before her husband was captured and died in prison.

She married again in May 1783 to another sea captain, but she convinced this one to quit his job and work on land. Together she would have five daughters (one of whom died in infancy) with her third husband, bringing her total number of children to seven.

Betsy was widowed again in 1817 but did not remarry.

Because of her connections to American history her body has been moved at least two separate times but finally seems to have found its final resting place.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located in my Personal Library:

Revolutionary Women From Colonists to Suffragettes by Peter Pauper Press Inc

Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts

Legends & Lies: The Patriots by Bill O'Reilly and David Fisher

Sources:

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/betsy-ross

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/904/betsy-ross

20) Tom Sawyer

20) Tom Sawyer

Yes, really that was his name, and no he never convinced the neighborhood kids to whitewash his Aunt Polly's fence

Born: 1 January 1832, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America

Died: 1906, San Francisco, California, United States of America

In 1863, Mark Twain visited San Francisco and met the real-life Tom Sawyer while nursing a bad hangover (in Smithsonian's words).

The real Tom was a voluntary firefighter, customs inspector, special policeman, and "Bona Fide Local Hero."

Before arriving in San Francisco, Sawyer had been a firefighter in New York City and for a time also worked as a steamboat engineer (which caught Mark Twain's attention).

In 1853, Sawyer obtained his hero status after repeatedly returning to his burning ship to rescue passengers and crew after being severely burned himself. He was credited with saving ninety people--twenty-six single-handedly.

From 1863 to 1866 Tom Sawyer and Mark Twain met frequently and had a lot of fun, getting drunk and gambling all their money away.

By this point, Tom had also opened a successful saloon, and continued to work for the San Francisco Customs House. He also continued to volunteer as a firefighter, even after a paid firefighting service was instituted in 1866.

Around 1896, when Tom was about sixty-five, he finally retired from firefighting.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer were published in 1876, and yet Twain would say for the rest of his life that the real Tom Sawyer wasn't an inspiration (mhm sure).

In 1898, an old coworker of Mark Twain's interviewed Tom to see how he felt about Twain's attitude towards the inspiration for the character. You can read a part of that interview in the Smithsonian article I will link below.

Notes:

Smithsonian seems pretty certain that Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer met and spent time together, but according to The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco, historians cannot verify they ever met, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

Sources:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-adventures-of-the-real-tom-sawyer-35894722/?all

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/sawyer.html

20) Virginia Dare

20) Virginia Dare

Literally America's First "White" Baby

Born: 18 August 1587, Roanoke Island, present day North Carolina, United States of America

Died: Nobody Knows

Virginia was the first English child to be born in the New World. She is also credited as the first European child born in the New World, however that assumption rests on the fact that no Norse babies were born in the settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland--which is a whole other story for a different time.

Let's focus on Virginia for this one, shall we?

Unfortunately for her, Virginia was born in the doomed colony of Roanoke. Her mother was Elinor White Dare—the daughter of the colony’s governor John White.

Nine days after Virginia was born her grandfather returned to England for supplies for the newly settled colony. What happened next is one of the biggest mysteries of all time.

Three years after he left, John White returned to find the settlement on Roanoke Island practically the same as he left it—only it was completely abandoned. No one was around and the only sign that anything was amiss were the mysteries letters “CRO” and the word “CROATOAN” carved in a tree and a fence within the colony. Croatoan was the name of a local Native Tribe.

The best explanation anyone can think of today is that some kind of illness or plague hit the Colony in that three year gap and that the survivors were absorbed into the Native Tribe, but the men with John White insisted he either get left behind or return to England with them and so he never got the opportunity to investigate and the mystery was never solved.

Or was it?

In 1937 the first Dare Stone was located along the Carolina Coast—the twenty-one pound rock is carved with a message possibly written by Virginia’s mother Elinor. However, a random guy started making a whole bunch of fake stones (it was the Depression after all and he wanted money) so now the one “true” Dare Stone is discounted by many. Whether or not the stone was actually carved by Elinor remains up to debate, as is the eventual fate of the colonists themselves.

The first permanent English settlement in the New World had failed, and nearly five hundred years later, historians, archaeologists, and history buffs are still puzzled over what little we do know. The mystery is so popular it was even covered in the hit BBC show Doctor Who.

One other thing I'd like to mention briefly; something that irks my nerves and points out why I decided to go with the moniker of "The Exasperated Historian." In 2018, the Washington Post put out an article saying Virginia Dare is now being used as a symbol of White Supremacists...Besides the fact that I have yet to see any proof of this being true, it also gives me a bad taste in my mouth. In all likelihood, Virginia died before ever reaching adulthood. And now, nearly five hundred years later, journalists are propping up and actual child and linking her to horrible individuals for absolutely no reason other than that Virginia was English and Caucasian. How about we just leave children out of headlines as much as possible, both historical and living in the present?

Anyway, to get back on track; if you are interested in learning two not-at-all-plausible explanation for Virginia Dare's fate, you can read about her in two different historical fiction/fantasy young adult series. The first is The Missing by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Virginia is featured in book three--Sabotaged). The next series I would recommend is called The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott. Virginia Dare is a supporting character throughout the series.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked (You'll soon learn after navigating the site that many people whose graves are unknown are featured there)

Located in My Personal Library:

Unsolved Mysteries of American History: An Eye-Opening Journey Through 500 Years of Discoveries, Disappearances, and Baffling Events by Paul Aron

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Virginia-Dare

https://www.brenau.edu/darestones/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/05/24/how-a-child-born-more-than-400-years-ago-became-a-symbol-of-white-nationalism/?utm_term=.9500eb7944bf

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7858199/virginia-dare

19) Don Wildman

19) Don Wildman

If you don't read this in his voice, you haven't watched enough Travel Channel

Born: 21 March 1961, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Best known for being the host of the Travel Channel Series Mysteries at the Museum and Monumental Mysteries.

I chose to highlight him on my list of men because I personally have a love for everyone who wants to make documentaries, and especially those who make them interesting and fun. Don Wildman has not only taught me an invaluable wealth of information in a wide range of subjects but many others as well.

Before Wildman moved to the Travel Channel he worked as a host on the History Channel, most notably on the series Cities of the Underworld.

According to his own personal list of ten things we should know about him, Don was an amazing waiter before his television career took off. He also prefers cats to dogs and spends way too much money on sunglasses.

Sources:

https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/mysteries-at-the-museum/articles/meet-don-wildman

https://www.travelchannel.com/profiles/talent/don-wildman/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-don-wildman

19) Mae C Jemison

19) Mae C Jemison

Yes, you can buy her Lego mini figurine and it’s so cute!!

Born: 17 October 1956, Decatur, Alabama, United States of America

Astronaut known for being the first African American woman to ever go to space.

She is fluent in English, Swahili, Russian, and Japanese.

Mae is the youngest of three children in her family and began to attend Stanford University at the age of sixteen. In 1977 she graduated with degrees in African American Studies and Chemical Engineering and in 1981 she also became a Doctor of Medicine thanks to Cornell University.

She has used her medical training in refugee camps in Cambodia and in the Peace Corps in West Africa.

In 1988 she completed her training as a mission specialist for NASA. Mae went to space in 1992 as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavor. She left NASA a year later to start the Jemison Group Inc which works to improve health care and technology in Africa specifically and other advancing countries around the globe.

Badges Earned:

Located In My Personal Library:

Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky

The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush

The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes, and Female Firsts by Becca Anderson

Sources:

https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/jemison.html

http://jemisonfoundation.org/about/mae-jemison/

18) Ota Benga

18) Ota Benga

Sometimes we don't want to remember the past because of stories like his

Born: 1883 AD, what is today a part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Died: 20 March 1916, Lynchburg, Virginia, United States of America

Ota was taken from his homeland in central Africa and brought to the United States. Once he arrived he was...forced to be a human display in the Bronx Zoo. You have no idea how much I wish I was kidding.

When Ota was two years old, King Dick the II of Belgium (I refuse to write his real name, just trust me when I say Dick doesn't even begin to describe this jerk) took control of the Congo Free State, he did horrific things including slaughtering untold numbers of Congolese. Women were raped and the people were tortured and abused to say the least. And this was all because King Dick wanted the resources in the Congo that are still being mined and smuggled out today (to learn more about the plight of those in the Congo today, I implore you to watch City of Joy on Netflix--I'll link to the trailer).

Back to Ota. When he was a teenager, according to Black Past, he left on an elephant hunt and returned to find his entire band--family and friends--slaughtered by soldiers. He was soon kidnapped by slave traders.

In 1904 he was "freed" by an American missionary who had been sent to collect human pygmies to display in the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition. Again, I wish I could say I was making this up.

Later that year Ota and several other Africans were brought to the United States to be put on display. Ota soon became a popular "attraction" and sensation. He became friends with Geronimo, the Bendonkohe Apache Chief, who was also on display at the time.

Once the exhibition ended Ota was taken back to Africa, but he felt out of place there and returned to the United States in 1906 with the missionary who originally freed him. Ota was originally hired to help with the animals in the Bronx Zoo, but soon after he began to be displayed in the Monkey House.

Luckily a group of prominent African American men saw to it he was quickly taken off display. At the age of twenty-three, Ota was placed in the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum.

After four years in the asylum, the missionary managed to get Ota transferred to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he was given formal schooling in both educational subjects and religious studies. Around that time, Ota also began working at a tobacco factory to save his money so he could return to Africa.

With the outbreak of World War I, passenger travel to Africa was a long way away, and so in 1916 Ota committed suicide around the age of thirty-three.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/benga-ota-1883-1916/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20167712/ota-benga

18) Sally Ride

The First American Woman to Go to Space

Born: 26 May 1851, Encino, California, United States of America

Died: 23 July 2012, La Jolla, California, United States of America

The first American woman to become an astronaut after entering space in 1983 aboard the space shuttle Challenger working as a mission specialist.

Sally beat out a thousand other applicants to join the shuttle program. She earned her PhD in physics in 1978 from Stanford University; that same year she joined the astronaut training program.

Sally went to space again later in 1983 but her third mission was canceled after the Challenger disaster in 1986. She served on the presidential commission responsible for investigating what went wrong with the disaster.

In 1989 she left NASA to work as Director of the California Space Institute at University of California San Diego. Sally was also a physics professor there.

In 2001 she opened and served as president and CEO of Sally Ride Science to help women and girls get to work in STEM fields. Sally would also serve on the board to study the Columbia disaster—the only person to work on both the Challenger and Columbia studies.

She passed away from pancreatic cancer; after her death her sister confirmed that her partner of twenty-seven years was Tam O’Shaughnessy—meaning Sally was also the first known LGBT+ astronaut.

Sally was featured alongside other female NASA employees like Mae C Jemison in the Lego Women of NASA Collection.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Who Knew? Women in History: Questions That Will Make You Think Again by Sarah Herman

The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush

The Only Woman by Immy Humes

Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation by Mindy Johnson

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes, and Female Firsts by Becca Anderson

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/astronaut/sally-ride

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94078737/sally-kristen-ride