Talk To The (Wooden) Hand & Teeth

Today's theme, as you might have guessed, is wooden prostheses. First up in the wood parts category is George Washington, who according to my sources had wooden teeth. He was sworn in today in 1789 as the first President of the United States. I take it the historical import is not lost on anyone.

Our second wooden man is Captain Jean Danjou. Captain Danjou lost his hand while a young Lieutenant in Algeria. His replacement hand was, unsurprisingly for the time, made of wood. Today in 1863 the formidable Captain and 64 other soldiers of the French Foreign Legion made history by telling 2,000 Mexican soldiers that, no, we won't be surrendering, thankyouverymuch. This probably would have gone down as yet another example of doomed bravado were it not for the fact the frogs spent the rest of the day fighting off the incursions of the Mexican Army, with most of them dying in the process. What forever cemented the reputation of the Legion as hard-asses was the actions of the final troops. Instead of surrendering when out of ammunition, they fixed bayonets and charged. This worked out about as well as you might expect, but the last two standing were given safe passage and allowed to care for their wounded by the Mexican commander. The Legion still celebrates Camerone every year. If you read French, here's the schedule.