Quick – somebody please write a strong, wonderful, beautiful book about the life and times of Harriet.
I’m too busy to do it, but that is a book that I want to read.
Quick – somebody please write a strong, wonderful, beautiful book about the life and times of Harriet.
I’m too busy to do it, but that is a book that I want to read.
Oh my goodness! The best part of that article is the last sentence:
Imagine being identified as the wrong gender for a century, much less MORE than a century!
Hmmm, I think there was one written recently…. I’ll have to check..
Totally different “Harriet”…but it triggered a memory for me!
My sister and I used to read out loud from a book about “Horrible Harriet”. I have begun a search and am not having any luck. Any of you ever heard of it? Must have been about 1965 or so…
Hmm…
Sounds like a worthy endeavor. Oh, and perhaps the book could be written from the perspective of Harriet?
Timothy, or Notes of an Abject Reptile, by Verlyn Klinkenborg (really!), is told from the perspective of another real-life nineteenth-century tortoise misidentified as male; this one was actually brought back to London, where she lived for not quite a century. The book is elegant, meditative, and a tiny bit boring.
England, not London, sorry.
Oh, not Harriet!
Who is Harriet?
She was the world’s oldest tortoise. Just died at age 176. Had been studied by Charles Darwin.
Farewell, Harriet.
Harriet faq
copy/pasted from mirror.co.uk
and edited by unwriter to fit
19 October 2005
EXCLUSIVE: THE OLDEST CREATURE ON EARTH
She was hatched when Queen Victoria was still a teenager… next month she’ll be 175
By Clare Raymond
A (VERY) SLOW MARCH THROUGH HISTORY
1830: Harriet is born – and her home country Ecuador becomes independent and elects its first president.
1834: Aged four, the young tortoise is basking in the Galapagos sun when the British abolish slavery and the Tolpuddle martyrs are banished to Australia.
1843: She is just a teenager when Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol is published.
1852: When Harriet hits 22, Australia’s gold rush kicks off after a half-ounce nugget is found in Queensland and thousands of prospectors flood the area.
1865: As she reaches 35, the world is shocked at the assassination of American president Abraham Lincoln at the hands of actor John Wilkes Booth.
1868: Harriet is 38 – and the last British convicts arrive in Australia.
1880: As Harriet turns 50, the infamous Aussie outlaw Ned Kelly hangs in the Old Melbourne Jail.
1882: The Aussies achieve the unthinkable – and beat England at cricket on home soil for the first time, giving birth to The Ashes.
1901: At 71, Harriet is already a pensioner when her adopted country is unified and the Australian flag flies for the first time.
1915: Gallipoli, the First World War battle against the Turks, claims the lives of 7,600 Australians as Harriet reaches 85.
1945: Harriet is pushing 115 when the atomic bomb obliterates the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
1953: The grand old lady is 123 when Queen Elizabeth II is crowned in Westminster Abbey in London.
1956: Dame Edna Everage makes her first appearance, courtesy of Australian comic Barry Humfries. Harriet is 126.
1967: Aborigines are finally given citizenship when Harriet is 137 after 90 per cent of Australians vote Yes in a referendum.
1968: When she reaches 138, Australia’s most famous export, Kylie Minogue, is born… and a year later man first sets foot on the moon.
2000: She’s 170, and Australia hosts the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the most successful ever.
Harriet faq
copy/pasted from mirror.co.uk
and edited by unwriter to fit
19 October 2005
EXCLUSIVE: THE OLDEST CREATURE ON EARTH
She was hatched when Queen Victoria was still a teenager… next month she’ll be 175
By Clare Raymond
A (VERY) SLOW MARCH THROUGH HISTORY
1830: Harriet is born – and her home country Ecuador becomes independent and elects its first president.
1834: Aged four, the young tortoise is basking in the Galapagos sun when the British abolish slavery and the Tolpuddle martyrs are banished to Australia.
1843: She is just a teenager when Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol is published.
1852: When Harriet hits 22, Australia’s gold rush kicks off after a half-ounce nugget is found in Queensland and thousands of prospectors flood the area.
1865: As she reaches 35, the world is shocked at the assassination of American president Abraham Lincoln at the hands of actor John Wilkes Booth.
1868: Harriet is 38 – and the last British convicts arrive in Australia.
1880: As Harriet turns 50, the infamous Aussie outlaw Ned Kelly hangs in the Old Melbourne Jail.
1882: The Aussies achieve the unthinkable – and beat England at cricket on home soil for the first time, giving birth to The Ashes.
1901: At 71, Harriet is already a pensioner when her adopted country is unified and the Australian flag flies for the first time.
1915: Gallipoli, the First World War battle against the Turks, claims the lives of 7,600 Australians as Harriet reaches 85.
1945: Harriet is pushing 115 when the atomic bomb obliterates the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
1953: The grand old lady is 123 when Queen Elizabeth II is crowned in Westminster Abbey in London.
1956: Dame Edna Everage makes her first appearance, courtesy of Australian comic Barry Humfries. Harriet is 126.
1967: Aborigines are finally given citizenship when Harriet is 137 after 90 per cent of Australians vote Yes in a referendum.
1968: When she reaches 138, Australia’s most famous export, Kylie Minogue, is born… and a year later man first sets foot on the moon.
2000: She’s 170, and Australia hosts the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the most successful ever.
Re: Harriet faq
Thank you for this!
Re: Harriet faq
Welcome– sorry about messing up the first posting- i forgot to edit it and tighten it up and when i tried to back up and redo it i ended up reposting the whole thing again! arrgghh—-
but your all welcome- It is a fascinating story
wow, talk about a long life! what adventures! I’d like to read that book too!