Just Curious

Please state the answer in the form of a question... Just Curious is the occassional blog of Andrew Nelson. In an attempt to balance the polemical tone of most of the blogosphere, all entries hope to pose at least one useful question. Many entries simply advance useful memes. Personal entries may abandon the interrogative conceit.

Monday, July 25, 2005

where can I find out about George Bush's hemorrhoids (and Oliver Cromwell's head)?

One of the other interns and I were discussing the height of the President this morning, so I decided to look it up. What I found was far more extensive -- a site with a medical history of not just Bush, but all the presidents, vice-presidents, English monarchs and astronauts. He doesn't seem to think Cromwell died of malaria (this matters for my thesis, I swear). Also provides an interesting anecdote about the Lord Protector's head:

When the monarchy was restored, Cromwell's body was dug up. It was hanged from a tree, then beheaded (it took eight blows). The head was displayed on a high pole of Westminster Hall for 25 years, until it was blown down in a gale. A guard saw it, recognized it, hid it under his cloak, and later sold it. It passed through several owners over the years, and was ultimately willed to Sidney Sussex College of Cambridge University. The college gave it a proper burial in 1960. A plaque at the college states the head is buried "near to this place," but the exact location is a guarded secret. [p. 173]. In the 1930s the head was examined, and the results published in the journal Biometrika.


Warts and all!

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