10 LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT 1916

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1. Five of the seven signatories of the Irish proclamation had visited America, but only one was an American citizen. Thomas Clarke had lived in America for years before returning to Ireland. His American citizenship did not save him from execution.
2. There are 30 original copies of the Proclamation of Easter 1916. One sold for $1 million in 2006. In New York, the American Irish Historical Society houses one.
3. General John Maxwell, supreme commander in Dublin, decided who would be executed. On May 2,  secret military courts sentenced Patrick Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh to death. Thirteen more would follow. British Prime Minister Asquith warned Maxwell the killings could rebound on the British, but Maxwell ignored him. One woman was sentenced to death, Countess Markievicz, but her sentence was never carried out. Roger Casement was hanged in August 1916 in London, the last to be killed.
4. Michael Collins was in the GPO but played a smaller role than might have been expected. Just 26, he was an aide to Joseph Mary Plunkett, who was dying of consumption at the time. Collins at first thought the Rising was a failure, but when he returned from internment in Wales he realized he was wrong as a new spirit of solidarity with the Easter Rising was spreading.
5. A Swede and a Finn fought with the Irish in the GPO. They were crewmen on a foreign ship and felt solidarity with the Irish.
6. The rebels were responsible for the world’s first-ever radio broadcast sending out messages in Morse code:“Irish Republic declared in Dublin today. Irish troops have captured city and are in full possession. Enemy cannot move in city. The whole country rising.”
7. From 1880 until 1916, Ireland and Britain maintained different time zones.Dublin Mean Time (DMT), which was precisely 25 minutes behind GMT ( Greenwich Mean Time).  DMT was abolished in October 1, 1916. However, the Rising began four months earlier on April 24, at approximately 12 o’clock – Dublin Mean Time. Therefore, when modern commemorations of 1916 begin at midday outside the GPO, they’re actually 25 minutes early.
8. The first shot fired in the Easter Rising was actually in County Laois where Volunteers of Laois, destroyed a section of railway track at a place called Colt Wood on the night of April 23 – the day before the Rising began in Dublin.
9. Why did Thomas Clarke’s name appear first on the proclamation? It remains one of the biggest mysteries around the Proclamation as it seemed to indicate he was of higher rank than Pearse. It has never been answered satisfactorily.
10. Did you know that one of the British officers who took the surrender of Padraig Pearse went on to become a famous Hollywood actor. After Pearse surrendered unconditionally, Major John Lowe escorted him to Kilmainham Gaol. After World War 1 , John Lowe became John Loder,  moving to Hollywood, where he gained fame in movies, on stage and TV.