MONA LISA STOLEN! 😱 & Recovered 2 Years Later! (March 25th History)
Have YOU heard that the world’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, was stolen from the Louvre and missing for over TWO YEARS before being recovered on this day in 1914? STAY TUNED!
On this day in 1914, the Mona Lisa was rediscovered after being missing for over two years! The painting was stolen from the Louvre in Paris on August 21, 1911, by Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia, who simply hid in a closet overnight, removed the painting from its frame in the morning, and walked out with it under his coat. Bizarrely, the theft wasn’t even noticed until the next day! Peruggia kept the masterpiece in his apartment until he tried to sell it to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, claiming he was returning it to its rightful home in Italy. The recovery made headlines worldwide and actually increased the painting’s fame, helping make it the iconic masterpiece we know today!
[SOURCE: History Channel – “Stolen Mona Lisa recovered”]
Today is National Medal of Honor Day! Established by Congress in 1990, this day commemorates the anniversary of the first Medals of Honor presented on March 25, 1863, during the Civil War. The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest military decoration, awarded by the President for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty.” Did you know that almost half of the Medals of Honor awarded since World War II have been presented posthumously? Each medal is a testament to extraordinary courage and selfless sacrifice!
[SOURCE: NationalDayCalendar.com – “National Medal of Honor Day”]
Did you know that on March 25, 1995, WikiWikiWeb, the very first wiki, was established by programmer Ward Cunningham? Named after the Hawaiian word “wiki” meaning “quick,” it was designed as a quick way for programmers to share ideas and collaborate. Cunningham described it as “the simplest online database that could possibly work.” This revolutionary concept of user-editable web pages later inspired Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger to create Wikipedia in 2001. Today, Wikipedia contains over 60 million articles in more than 300 languages! That’s quite an impressive legacy for a humble programming tool with a funny name!
[SOURCE: TodayIFoundOut.com – “The Birth of the Wiki”]
And that’s all for today’s edition of Have YOU heard? PLEASE leave a comment if you learned something astonishing! I’m Troy W. Hudson, the voice over with personality! Until next time, STAY CURIOUS!
Watch, Learn and Enjoy!
Troy W. Hudson
💚🎤 #haveyouheard