Author James Fell
Canadian author James Fell has a master's degree in history, an MBA, and was a health and fitness writer for many years. The Covid pandemic led to Fell changing his priorities, and since history was Fell's first love, he started to write anecdotes on his Facebook page called 'On This Day in History, Shit Went Down.' The Facebook entries led to this book, which is absolutely hilarious, but also disturbing. That's because human history is full of f**king terrible behavior.
That said, Fell doesn't hold back with 'language', so if that bothers you, skip this book. Ditto if you're a fan of Nazis or Donald Trump, because Fell really hates those f**kers.
*****
For each day of the year, from January 1st to December 31st, Fell describes something that happened on that day in the past. These include all manner of entries, including things like: a horse shitting in the house; an elephant being abused and killed; torture of human beings; public executions; slavery; colonization by European countries; genocides; the development of vaccines; the discovery of antibiotics; the Christian crusades; assassinations to ascend various thrones; the stabbing of Julius Caesar; Hitler's atrocities; and much much more.
To give a feel for the book I'll randomly pick 12 dates, one for each month, and give a brief summary of the entry for that date.
👉 January 13, 1968
Country singer Johnny Cash had a bad-boy image and was often drunk and drugged up. Cash's career was tanking when he performed at California's Folsom Prison on January 13, 1968, and put out an album. The album was a hit and turned Cash's life around.
Johnny Cash performing at Folsom Prison
👉 February 22, 1983
A 'notoriously terrible' play called 'Moose Murders' earned that appellation by having its opening and closing on the same night, February 22, 1983. The play is about a family that buys the Wild Moose Lodge in the Adirondacks, plays a murder mystery game during a storm, and people die. There is a moose that eats people, and other terrible plot points. Fell writes, "Apparently, there is ableism in it too, because making fun of people with disabilities is f**king hilarious. Just ask Donald Trump."
Revival of Moose Murders
👉 March 9, 1959
On March 9, 1959, the first ever Barbie doll debuted at the American International Toy Fair in New York. Barbie had impossible proportions, and parents weren't thrilled with the doll, but over a billion have been sold. From being a sexy girl Barbie eventually morphed into a career woman, and she's been a veterinarian, doctor, marine biologist, park ranger, astronaut, judge, presidential candidate, and more.
Barbie Dolls
👉 April 17, 1945
Hannie Schaft, a member of the Dutch Resistance during WWII, would use her beauty to lure a Nazi soldier to a private place. Schaft would then shoot the "Nazi assbucket right in his f**king face." Schaft killed lots of Nazis before she was caught and executed on April 17, 1945.
Hannie Schaft
👉 May 21, 1932
Fell writes, "Today is the anniversary of when a dude with f**ked-up ideas about racial purity, who also cheated on his wife a whole bunch, first flew the Atlantic solo in 1927 " (Charles Lindbergh). The author goes on, "Five years later to the day, a much cooler person did it. Let's focus on her" (Amelia Earhart).
Amelia Earhart
👉 June 2, 1692
On June 2, 1692, Bridget Bishop was the first person condemned to death for practicing witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Five young women testified that Bishop's specter would appear and pinch, choke, or bite them. People examined Bishop's body and found a third nipple, "which is totally a witch thing." Then later the nipple disappeared, "which was even more proof of her guilt because she obviously used witchcraft as a form of seventeenth-century plastic surgery to remove it."
Bridget Bishop
👉 July 11, 1804
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were fierce political rivals, and they dueled on July 11, 1804. Burr's bullet damaged Hamilton's liver and spine, and Hamilton died the next day. After that, "Burr's political career was as dead as Alexander Hamilton."
Aaron Burr
Alexander Hamilton
👉 August 26, 1970
For most of American history, women had few career choices, and in 1970, "there were plenty of states where a woman couldn't have a credit card, make a will, or own property unless she had a husband." On August 26, 1970, 50,000 people, mostly women, gathered for a protest march in New York City.
Women's Protest March
👉 September 28, 1928
The first antibiotic was discovered on September 28, 1928. Scottish physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming noticed that mold on a culture plate killed staphylococcus microbes. Fleming's subsequent experiments proved that "mold juice had the ability to kill a wide range of bacteria."
Alexander Fleming
👉 October 16, 1793
Austrian Marie Antoinette was married at 14 to Louie XVI of France. Fell writes, "Marie was a homesick girl who....spent lavishly on dresses and jewelry and parties....and she lived in a fake gated village built solely for her and her close friends." When the cost became known the French people were furious, and during the French Revolution, Marie was sent to the guillotine on October 16, 1793.
Marie Antoinette
👉 November 4, 2008
Fell writes, "I don't give a shit if you don't like the guy. Comparatively speaking, Barack Obama was f**king awesome, and his election filled many with hope that America wasn't irrevocably f**ked." Obama was elected on November 4, 2008, and Fell observes, "Of course, there was a substantial portion of the American population that was just f**king seething over the Obama victory." Fell goes on, "Republicans made every effort to block Obama's policies no matter what they were. For eight years, the racism festered like an infected wound, becoming a major contributor to the election of the blatantly racist and vocal Obama critic Donald Trump in 2016."
President Barack Obama
👉 December 29, 1890
On December 29, 1890, the 7th Cavalry of the United States massacred the Lakota Indians during the Battle of Wounded Knee. "In previous years the government had seized Lakota lands in what is now South Dakota, and....promised to protect reservations from gold hunters and settlers, but of course, the f**kers reneged on that because they'd proven they were fine with genocide of America's Native populations again and again."
Battle of Wounded Knee
****
I didn't include the funniest laugh out loud passages, which tend to include a lot of cursing and insults (to people who deserve them). In any case, the book is very informative and entertaining. Highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley, James Fell, and Random House for a copy of the book.
Rating: 4.5 stars
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