The potato's journey from feared outsider to peacekeeping staple was a deliberate campaign. Initially called 'devil's food,' it was rejected by peasants and elites alike. Change came through state action and savvy publicity. In the 1740s, Prussia's Frederick the Great ordered compulsory cultivation, distributing free seed. In France, scientist Antoine Parmentier famously presented potato flowers to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, sparking aristocratic fashion and public acceptance. The tuber's h

What did they teach you about the Irish potato famine? #irishhistory #potatofamine #fblifestyle | Peculiar History

IRISH POTATO FAMINE HISTORY #history #historymemes #historylovers #historybuff #historyfacts #historychannel #historynerd #ireland #irish #potato #irelandtravel | What History

The Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1852 claimed more than a million Irish lives and prompted a mass exodus from the starving country. Emigrants crowded into unsafe, unsanitary “coffin ships;” those who survived the up to nine-week journey across the Atlantic to Canada first had to quarantine at Grosse Île in the St. Lawrence River. So many were sick, the island’s medical facilities were overwhelmed. Today, a memorial on the island honours the thousands who died escaping poverty and hunger. Learn mo