History wow

When Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor of the French on December 2, 1804, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, famed German composer Ludwig van Beethoven had an interesting response. What was this?

He was so disgusted that he scratched the Corsican’s name off the dedication page of his third symphony.

Source: A History of the World by Andrew Marr.

Image: The famed ‘Sacre de l'empereur Napoleon et le couronnement de l'imperatrice Josephine’ Or, Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the coronation of Empress Josephine by Jacques-Louis David Painted over three years from 1804, it wasn't exhibited until 1808. An incredible 19 feet tall by 32 feet wide, the painting today hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

At the 1919 Treaty of Versailles peace conference in Paris held after World War One, how did US President Woodrow Wilson describe dogged and irascible Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes?

A ‘pestiferous varmint’.

When Wilson sought to downplay Hughes's claim for a better deal for Australia from the conference, on the basis that Australia's population was only some 5 million at the time, Hughes replied, "Mr President, I speak for 60,000 dead Australians".

Source: ‘Paris 1919’, produced by Canadian Broadcasting; General Historical Texts.

Image of Peace conference delegates with Hughes, centre, and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George on his right.

Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President, was a successful Illinois lawyer before entering politics.

What was his view on the key legal principal of habeas corpus?

This is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.

In 1863 Lincoln suspended habeas corpus as a Civil War emergency measure, and was much criticised for this.

Lincoln argued: "More rogues than honest men find shelter under habeas corpus.”

Source: The Civil War by Ken Burns