Tomorrow is the International Day of the Cravat. In honour of this auspicious day, i'd like to take the time to regale you with tales of the wierd and wonderful world of cravats.
The cravat first came to western Europe in the Napoleonic era. Jannissary troops from the Carpathian mountains, who wore woollen cravats to ward off demonic influences, mingled with British and Portugese troops during the Peninsular campaign. These backwoods troops proved unused to the streetsmart ways of the Westerners and soon lost heavily at cards. Their cravats were sent home to England and worn on holidays as spoils of war. Beau Brummel was reputed to be the first gentleman to wear a silk cravat. Many gentlemen soon followed.
The world's most deadly cravat was created in 1967 by Alistair Larkmede, a noted apiarist from Devonshire, Rhode Island. Alistair managed to train an astonishing 35000 bees to sit upon his neck in a cravat-like fashion for almost 3 minutes before he succumbed to the poison of 35000 stings and was subsequently eaten. Several jars of the resultant honey still exist and are much prized by collectors.
The first (and thus far only) cravat in outer space was worn by American Astronaut Hyman T Spunkfelcher during the Apollo-Soyuz hookup in 1974. While the cravat was ultimately well-suited to the rigours of space, Hyman did report that microgravity made it difficult to tie. Due to Hyman's subsequent death during re-entry it is not known if he was using a traditional overhand knot or a knot of a more experimental nature such as the 'Indooroopilly' or the 'Old Ma Bacon'.
Prince Phillip's cravat was the only cravat to see both royal and naval service. It is known to have come under enemy fire on at least three occasions, the last of these being the Battle of Bowman's Run, after which it was mentioned in despatches.
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