What are at least 10 facts about Lafayette?

1. His birth name was extremely long.

The future hero of the American Revolution was born Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette in an expansive chateau in Chavaniac, France, on September 6, 1757. “It’s not my fault,” he joked in his autobiography. “I was baptized like a Spaniard, with the name of every conceivable saint who might offer me more protection in battle.”

2. King George III’s brother convinced Lafayette to fight against Great Britain.

3. Lafayette was only 19 years old and without combat experience when he arrived in America.

4. He was shot in the leg during his first battle.

During the Battle of Brandywine, near Philadelphia, on September 11, 1777, Lafayette was shot in the calf.  

5. Lafayette named his only son after George Washington.

6. Hounds that Lafayette sent to Washington helped to create a new breed of dog.

In 1785, Lafayette sent seven large French hounds across the Atlantic Ocean as gifts for Washington.  the future first president of the United States bred the hunting dogs with the imports. The combination of the  hounds helped to create the American Foxhound.

7. Lafayette co-authored the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.

8. Lafayette is an honorary American citizen.

In 1784, Maryland conferred honorary citizenship upon Lafayette, and other colonies followed suit. The U.S. State Department, however, determined in 1935 that the measures did not result in the marquis becoming a United States citizen following the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. That changed in 2002 when Lafayette became the sixth foreign national to be given honorary American citizenship by Congress.

9. At the age of 72, he was still a revolutionary leader.

10. Lafayette was buried in France underneath dirt taken from Bunker Hill.

After the 76-year-old Lafayette died in Paris on May 20, 1834, he was laid to rest next to his wife at the city’s Pic pus Cemetery. To carry out the request of “The Hero of the Two Worlds” to be buried in both American and French soil, his son covered his coffin with dirt they had taken from Bunker Hill in 1825 when the marquis laid the cornerstone to the monument that still marks the battlefield

straight down to hell mate

the years following the end of world war i were a period of deep social tensions, aggrevated by high wartime inflation. food prices more than doubled between 1915 and 1920; clothing costs more than tripled. a steel strike that began in chicago in 1919 became much more than a simple dispute between labor and management. the steel strike of 1919 became the focal point for profound social anxieties, especially fears of bolshevism.

organized labor had grown in strength during the course of the war. many unions won recognition and the 12-hour workday was abolished. an 8-hour days was instituted on war contract work and by 1919, half the country's workers had a 48-hour work week.

the war's end, however, was accompanied by labor turmoil, as labor demanded union recognition, shorter hours, and raises exceeding the inflation rate. over 4 million workers--one fifth of the nation's workforce--participated in strikes in 1919, including 365,000 steelworkers and 400,000 miners. the number of striking workers would not be matched until the depression year of 1937.

the year began with a general strike in seattle. police offers in boston went on strike, touching off several days of rioting and crime. but the most tumultuous strike took place in the steel industry. then some 350,000 steelworkers in 24 separate craft union went on strike as part of a drive by the american federation of labor to unionize the industry. from management's perspective, the steel strike represented the handiwork of radicals and professional labor agitators. the steel industry's leaders regarded the strike as a radical conspiracy to get the company to pay a 12-hour wage for eight hours' work. at a time when communists were seizing power in hungary and were staging a revolt in germany, and workers in italy were seizing factories, some industrialists feared that the steel strike was the first step toward overturning the industrial system.

the strike ended with the complete defeat of the unions. from labor's perspective, the corporations had triumphed through espionage, blacklists, and the denial of freedom of speech and assembly and through the complete unwillingness to recognize the right of collective bargaining with the workers' representatives.

during the 1920s, many of labor's gains during world war i and the progressive era were rolled back. membership in labor unions fell from 5 million to 3 million. the us supreme court outlawed picketing, overturned national child labor laws, and abolished minimum wage laws for women.