GBS was definitely one, Abe Lincoln was rumoured to be one........ Don't know about the other two but I will hazard a guess....... All vegetarians?
With those numbers at that time I'm guessing it has to involve China, and also likely that a lot of people drowned (always the case in particularly heavy casualties before gunpowder). But I don't know really.
You've guessed SB, the name is not particularly important. It was the battle of Salsu. The Chinese emperor Yahgdi invaded Goguryeo (Korea) with an army of 1,133,800 men. One portion of these troops, the Left Army, numbering 305,000 soldiers tried to take the capital of Goguryeo, without success. When the Chinese withdrew, crossing the relatively dry bed of the river Salsu, General Eulji Mundeok ordered his men to knock down the dam that contained its water. There was outright victory. The Goguryeo cavalry ambushed the survivors at the river banks, only around 2,700 Chinese managed to survive the day. It is considered the most bloody 'battle' in world history.
Bloody hell, I should rely on a little bit of deduction more often. My guess was based on England's bloodiest battle, Towton during the Wars of the Roses, where a lot of Lancastrians drowned, or were cut down in a river. Which 20th Century English novelist and journalist said: “The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians.”
Too difficult? He also said: "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" I'll start dropping in quotes from two of his books, you'll get this easy.
Wrong century Tel. Keep up mate. OK, another quote, this time from one of the stunningly famous books.... "Films, football, beer, and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult….”
Oops! Believe it or not, I knew when Charlie boy was around. Think I better read the question more closely in future!
Stan, does he share a birthplace with other colossi/colossuses such as Cliff Richard, Spike Milligan and Rudyard Kipling?
i.e. India? Yes Thats it Aaaaagh, to my relief, thought I would be reduced to "the clocks struck 13" or "all animals are equal, except some or more equal than others"
Ok but more than 2 minutes to think of the next one Which English poet first used the phrase "dreaming spires" in connection with Oxford?
John Betchamin (sp)? He got it wrong wanting the bombs to fall on Slough. It should have been Wycombe!
