totally random garbage: Oddly Named Historical Events

Famous historian Arnold Toynbee once called history “one damn thing after another.” Indeed, there sure are a lot of things that have happened in the couple of thousand years of recorded history. It only stands to reason that some of those many events might have been given some less-than-conventional names.

For example, you may well have heard of the following:

Bay of Pigs Invasion
Beer Hall Putsch
Tennis Court Oath
Whiskey Rebellion
Zoot Suit Riots

Here are some more, less-well-known events. Enjoy!

Batman’s Treaty

Parties: Brits & Aborigines
Date: 1835
Location: Australia
Significance: settlement of Melbourne
NOTE: Batman was the last name of one of the settlers

Bread and Cheese Revolt

Parties: peasants vs. nobles
Date: 1491-1492
Location: Netherlands
Significance: put down

Coconut War

Parties: separatists vs. government
Date: 1980
Location: Vanuatu
Significance: rebellion put down

Convention of Moss

Parties: Sweden & Norway
Date: 1814
Location: Moss, Norway (town of 30,700 people just down the fjord from Oslo)
Significance: ceasefire; provided the basis for personal union of the 2 countries that lasted until 1905

In this little building right here!

Defenestration of Prague

Parties: Protestants vs. Catholics
Date: 1618
Location: Czechia
Significance: began the 30 Years War
NOTE: “Defenestration” means throwing someone out of a window (in this case, delegates of the Habsburgs – they survived by landing on a dung heap)

Diet of Worms

Parties: Protestants vs. Catholics
Date: 1521
Location: Worms, Germany (city of 85,000 on the Rhine)
Significance: Martin Luther is branded a heretic
NOTE: A "diet" is just a kind of legislative assembly

Dirty War

Parties: military junta vs. its own citizens
Date: 1974-1983
Location: Argentina
Significance: Up to 30,000 people may have been "disappeared"

Football War

Parties: El Salvador vs. Honduras
Date: 1969
Location: border between the 2 countries
Significance: began with riots at World Cup qualifying match; ended in ceasefire 4 days later

Friso-Drentic War

Parties: Bishop of Utrecht (with Frisian army) vs. province of Drenthe
Date: 1228-1233
Location: Netherlands
Significance: Drenths forced to build monastery; first of many more similar conflicts
NOTE: Spell check wants me to change "Drentic" to "Drastic"

Hook and Cod Wars

Parties: cities vs. nobles
Date: 1350-1490
Location: Netherlands
Significance: who gets to be Count of Holland

Loon War

Parties: William of Frisia vs. sister Ada, Countess of Loon
Date: 1203-1206
Location: Netherlands
Significance: who gets to be Count of Holland (yup, again)

Probably not it

Operation Polo

Parties: India vs. princely state of Hyderabad
Date: 1948
Location: India
Significance: Hyderabad absorbed into India
NOTE: The prince (nizam) was famous for his polo ponies

Pool War

Parties: rebels vs. government
Date: 2016-2017
Location: Rep. of Congo
Significance: rebellion put down
NOTE: The "pool" refers to a wide part of the Congo River, where the events happened

Probably not it

Poor Conrad Rebellion

Parties: peasants vs. duke
Date: 1514
Location: Wurttemberg, Germany
Significance: put down

Leader of the rebellion Peter Gaiss

(Conrad was simply a common peasant name)

Punctation of Olmutz

Parties: Prussia & Austria
Date: 1850
Location: Olomouc, Czechia
Significance: Prussia recognized Austria as the leader of the German Confederation
NOTE” “Punctation” denotes a preliminary treaty

The 2 emperors

Rebellion of Mayor Albert

Parties: burghers vs. duke
Date: 1311-1312
Location: Krakow, Poland
Significance: put down

Second Peace of Thorn

Parties: Teutonic Knights vs. Poles
Date: 1466
Location: Torun, Poland (pop. 197,000)
Significance: ended the Thirteen Years’ War
NOTE: First Peace of Thorn ended the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War, 55 years earlier

The actual treaty

Singing Revolution

Parties: Baltic states vs. Soviet Union
Date: 1987-1991
Location: Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
Significance: independence of Baltic states
NOTE: “Public song festivals became a key element of resistance, as tens of thousands of participants sang national and folk songs in mass gatherings, blending cultural revival with political protest.” [Wikipedia]

Smoked Meat Rebellion

Parties: Indians vs. settlers
Date: 1909
Location: Oklahoma
Significance: put down
NOTE: Sparked by alleged stealing of smoked meat by Indians

Crazy Snake, leader of the rebellion

Subjugation of Jambi

Parties: colonials vs. natives
Date: 1901-1907
Location: Indonesian province
Significance: area brought under colonial control

Not to be confused with genie from Pee-wee Herman Show

Upper Yafa Disturbances

Parties: Brits vs. natives
Date: 1959
Location: Yemen province
Significance: rebellion put down (with no casualties!)

Upper Yafa flag

War of Hum

Parties: Bosnia vs. Serbia
Date: 1326-1329
Location: Bosnia
Significance: annexation of Hum (Zachlumia) by Bosnians

War of Jenkins’ Ear

Parties: Spain & Great Britain
Date: 1739-1748
Location: Caribbean
Significance: related to the War of Austrian Succession, which ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
NOTE: “The name derives from Robert Jenkins, a British sea captain whose ear was allegedly severed in April 1731 by Spanish coast guards searching his ship for contraband.” [Wikipedia]

War of the Cow

Parties: Liege vs. Namur
Date: 1272-1278
Location: France
Significance: started as a dispute over a stolen cow

War of the Golden Stool

Parties: Brits vs. Ashanti
Date: 1900
Location: Ghana
Significance: annexation of Ashanti kingdom
NOTE: The Golden Stool was basically the throne of the kingdom

War of the Insane

Parties: Hmong vs. French
Date: 1918-1921
Location: Indochina
Significance: rebellion against excessive taxation; put down
NOTE: Hmong adopted many magical beliefs, making them appear “insane” to the French

Rebel leader Vue Pa Chay

War of the Sicilian Vespers

Parties: everybody
Date: 1282-1302
Location: Italy
Significance: who gets to rule Sicily
NOTE: Uprising started at evening prayers (i.e., vespers)

War of the Three Sanchos

Parties: Castile (Sancho II) vs. Navarre (Sancho IV) vs. Aragon (Sancho Ramirez)
Date: 1065-1067
Location: Spain
Significance: how the kingdom of Sancho the Great (the 3 Sanchos’ father) would be divided