"There were long distance locomotive railroads and interurban electric railroads..." (pg. 96)
Interurban Electric Railroads: Railroads which operated a system of interurban trains.
Interurban trains were like a blend of streetcars and trains.
(Kinda looked like trolleys)
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Sandhogs working behind a hydraulic shield excavated..." (pg. 96)
Sandhogs: A slang term given to urban miners/construction workers who would work underground.
These men would be in charge of building subway systems and all that good stuff.
Truly dangerous job.
Hydraulic shield: A sort of tunnel that protected the workers when building a tunnel through
soil that is too soft or loose. The tunnel shield acts as the support for the soil itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Chutes of cheerful morning sun leaned like buttresses..." (pg. 97)
Buttress: An architectural (are-ki-tec-chur-ul) structure that is built against a wall in order to reinforce it.
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"...a wife, an old mother in a babushka, two strapping sons..." (pg. 97)
Babushka: A woman's headscarf tied beneath the chin.
Old Eastern European woman sure loved wearing these scarves.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"without expression on their stolid Slavic faces..." (pg. 97)
Slavic: A group of ethnicities came together to create a panethnicity and were named the Slavic people.
These people mainly reside in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and some parts of Northern Asia.
Like I said, many ethnicities into one.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"He wore a tight-fitting double-breasted linen jacket..." (pg. 98)
Double-breasted jacket: A jacket which is mainly worn buttoned up since it looks fancier when its
two rows of buttons are being shown. One row actually serves as buttons.
The other row is just for show.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"He was incredibly lithe." (pg. 99)
Lithe (adj): thin, felixible, supple
--------------------------------------------------------------
"...when he had been unable to crack the big-time vaudeville circuits..." (pg. 99)
Vaudeville: A type of theatrical act that included several types of entertainment in one show.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"...was to sail for Europe on the Imperator, an immense German vessel with a figurehead..." (pg. 100)
Imperator: This ship actually existed. Pay attention to the figure head though. Under the eagle's talons are the words 'Mein Feld ist die Welt',
which means 'My field is the world'. This phrase can be tied to the future Word War 1.
A war which Germany was heavily involved in.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"..attended he public demonstration of a French-made flying machine, a Voison..." (pg. 101)
Voison biplane: Made by an engineer/manufacturer called Gabriel Voison. First flown by Henri Farman.
The fact that it has two main wings makes it a biplane.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"His German was faulty and Yiddish-inflected..." (pg. 104)
Yiddish: A language that can be traced back to Germany even though it has Jewish origins.
Not to be confused with "gibberish".
--------------------------------------------------------------
"next to the driver was an enlisted man who wore the spiked helmet and held a carbine..." (pg. 104)
Spiked helmet: Called a Pickelhaube (pickel = point; haube = bonnet). Used by German soldiers.
The spike was to be used as a weapon when the soldiers ran out of ammunition. Just kidding.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"At this moment a white Daimler landau with an enclosed carriage..." (pg. 104)
Daimler landau: A really bougie looking carriage/early form of a car. A landaulet was an enclosed
carriage with a top that could be folded down. The first convertibles of the time.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Sitting in the car was the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne." (pg. 105)
Interurban trains were like a blend of streetcars and trains.
(Kinda looked like trolleys)
--------------------------------------------------------------"Sandhogs working behind a hydraulic shield excavated..." (pg. 96)
Sandhogs: A slang term given to urban miners/construction workers who would work underground.
These men would be in charge of building subway systems and all that good stuff.
Truly dangerous job.
Hydraulic shield: A sort of tunnel that protected the workers when building a tunnel through
soil that is too soft or loose. The tunnel shield acts as the support for the soil itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------"Chutes of cheerful morning sun leaned like buttresses..." (pg. 97)
Buttress: An architectural (are-ki-tec-chur-ul) structure that is built against a wall in order to reinforce it.
--------------------------------------------------------------"...a wife, an old mother in a babushka, two strapping sons..." (pg. 97)
Babushka: A woman's headscarf tied beneath the chin.
Old Eastern European woman sure loved wearing these scarves.
--------------------------------------------------------------"without expression on their stolid Slavic faces..." (pg. 97)
Slavic: A group of ethnicities came together to create a panethnicity and were named the Slavic people.
These people mainly reside in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and some parts of Northern Asia.
Like I said, many ethnicities into one.
--------------------------------------------------------------"He wore a tight-fitting double-breasted linen jacket..." (pg. 98)
Double-breasted jacket: A jacket which is mainly worn buttoned up since it looks fancier when its
two rows of buttons are being shown. One row actually serves as buttons.
The other row is just for show.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"He was incredibly lithe." (pg. 99)
Lithe (adj): thin, felixible, supple
--------------------------------------------------------------
"...when he had been unable to crack the big-time vaudeville circuits..." (pg. 99)
Vaudeville: A type of theatrical act that included several types of entertainment in one show.
--------------------------------------------------------------"...was to sail for Europe on the Imperator, an immense German vessel with a figurehead..." (pg. 100)
Imperator: This ship actually existed. Pay attention to the figure head though. Under the eagle's talons are the words 'Mein Feld ist die Welt',
which means 'My field is the world'. This phrase can be tied to the future Word War 1.
A war which Germany was heavily involved in.
--------------------------------------------------------------"..attended he public demonstration of a French-made flying machine, a Voison..." (pg. 101)
Voison biplane: Made by an engineer/manufacturer called Gabriel Voison. First flown by Henri Farman.
The fact that it has two main wings makes it a biplane.
--------------------------------------------------------------"His German was faulty and Yiddish-inflected..." (pg. 104)
Yiddish: A language that can be traced back to Germany even though it has Jewish origins.
Not to be confused with "gibberish".
--------------------------------------------------------------
"next to the driver was an enlisted man who wore the spiked helmet and held a carbine..." (pg. 104)
Spiked helmet: Called a Pickelhaube (pickel = point; haube = bonnet). Used by German soldiers.
The spike was to be used as a weapon when the soldiers ran out of ammunition. Just kidding.
--------------------------------------------------------------"At this moment a white Daimler landau with an enclosed carriage..." (pg. 104)
Daimler landau: A really bougie looking carriage/early form of a car. A landaulet was an enclosed
carriage with a top that could be folded down. The first convertibles of the time.
--------------------------------------------------------------"Sitting in the car was the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne." (pg. 105)
Archduke Franz Ferdinand: The man destined to rule Austria-Hungary (Austria and Hungary were in a monarchic union). The archduke was off visiting Bosnia due to riots and supposed revolutionary activity occurring in the area. There had been talk that Bosnia wanted to break away from the Austrian-Hungarian rule. The archduke, being the heir and all, decided to visit.
He was shot and killed by a man named Gavrilo Princip and this assassination set off a chain of events that eventually began World War 1. And no, Harry Houdini had no knowledge off this.
He was shot and killed by a man named Gavrilo Princip and this assassination set off a chain of events that eventually began World War 1. And no, Harry Houdini had no knowledge off this.
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