The Hartlepool Monkey Incident
This next story is a famous legend, but some people claim that it’s not actually true. But the story is still pretty funny. During the Napoleonic Wars, a French ship crashed on the coast of Hartlepool, England. At the time, people were scared of a possible French invasion, and they were always on the lookout for spies. But instead of men coming off this ship, there was a single monkey wearing a French uniform. Apparently, the citizens of Hartlepool had never seen a monkey before. But they had also never seen a Frenchman before, either. So they assumed that this monkey was a spy, so they hung him in the town square. People who live in Hartlepool will insist that the story is true, even though it makes their ancestors look foolish. Today, Hartlepool’s local Rugby team is called the Monkeyhangers in honor of the story.