Medieval Eggnog, the Real D’Artagnan, & 50 years of the Best Historical Films

Did you know that eggnog originated in medieval times? I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Three Musketeers main character was based on a real person...and can you guess the top ranked historical movie in the past 50 years?

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50 years of the best historical films

Before you jump straight to the link to see what 50 films over the past 50 years made the "best of" list...try to guess the top 5.

Yes, Saving Private Ryan is up there...but where is it on the list?

The History Hit team did a great job putting together 50 historically based movies and even included a couple that pleasantly surprised us - even though we covered the same subject (like our video about The Elephant Man).

Now if you live in Texas or Rome you might be able to guess a couple of the top 5 movies...but I don't want to give anything away. Jenn was able to guess 4 out of the top 5. Can you?

The list of 50

The 1980 move The Elephant Man made the list...Jenn actually visited the real life Elephant man's burial site in London!

Other links of interest:

• The Best Historical Film of the Last 50 Years (History Hit...the list mentioned above)

• The Top 100 Historical Films of All Time (Flick Chart)

• 25 Best Historical Movies That Will Make You Learn, Laugh, and Cry

Will the real D’Artagnan please stand up?

In 1993 a young future editor of the Hashtag Historic newsletter watched The Three Musketeers starring massive movie stars and all of the classic adventure storylines. This movie was a huge blockbuster hit and it was all thanks to French novelist Alexandre Dumas who wrote Les Trois Mousquetaires way back in 1844.

That is why I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that Dumas’s classic novel is based on historical events of the 1620s, and D’Artagnan was a real person.

It makes sense that the Musketeers were a real French military unit and D'Artagnan's true name was Charles de Batz de Castelmore. While the real life musketeer in question didn't come from the humble background his fictional character did, he did have a ton of influence on the Musketeers.

Castelmore eventually rose to the highest position within the fabled french military unit, second only to whomever held the monarchy in France.

There have been many movie adaptations of this famous french novel and while none of them made the top 50 list from above, they all inspire the same kind of adventurous spirit that D'Artagnan lived out in the 17th century.

Other links of interest:

• The True Story of D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers

• The many adaptation of Dumas' The Three Musketeers

• Three Musketeers (Good Reads)

History Defined is a great follow on Twitter. I recently saw this video they shared and quickly got lost for a bit touring the various pyramids and pharaoh tombs in Egypt. 🎥

I am going to guess that you have probably heard of Simon Sinek at some point in time. His popular book, Start With Why, has transformed the way that many companies look at their business, employees, and holistic view to work life. His podcast isn't history focused, but the below episode is just amazing. He talks to the owner of one of the top restaurants in the world...and what makes them different.

The reasons have nothing to do with food.🎙

Eggnog: History's original holiday drink?

Historians trace eggnog back to posset, a 14th century hot milk-based drink comprised of spices and wine. Like many things that made people feel "better" in those times, it was both a cozy holiday drink and a cold/flu remedy.

Here are some interesting facts I bet you never knew about this December drink:

• Lady Macbeth drugged the guards’s posset outside King Duncan’s chambers

• President George Washington loved eggnog at the holidays (and passed on his recipe)

• Dwight Eisenhower also had a famously boozy eggnog mix

• The denial of eggnog caused a riot at West Point in 1824

The rest of the eggnog facts list is definitely worth a quick read if you're curious.

Other links of interest:

• 7 Things You Didn't Know About Eggnog

• Eggnog: A Christmas History (video)

• Classic Cocktails in History: Eggnog

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