Some Things I have Learned While Writing this Book

- Franz II of the Holy Roman Empire is the only man in history to be Emperor of two different states. He was the last Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and he founded the Austrian Empire as Franz I several years before the HRE's armies were crushed by Napoleon's forces crushed the HRE's armies thus ending the HRE. In German he is called the Doppelkaiser.



- Velocipedes, were the earliest form of bicycle with pedals, they became a popular means of transport in the late 1860's. They were similar to the modern-day tricycle in that the pedal was solidly affixed to the front wheel, but had two wheels of similar size. Later, to take advantage of the higher mechanical ratio of a large front wheel, penny farthings were invented.



- The Besler Steam Aeroplane flew twice on April 12, 1933. It performed as well as a gasoline driven equivalent. Boeing bought the patents and spent three years working on a steam aeroplane project but it was never shown to be more practical than an internal combustion engine. The steam engine was much quieter than a conventional aeroplane engine, so much so that observers on the ground could hear the pilot calling to them on low-flying passes.