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30 Trivia Tidbits About History

Somebody spilled their history textbook down our list!

30 Trivia Tidbits About History

August 03, 2024

Like your partner in an argument, we’re bringing up the past! But unlike them, we promise that we haven’t been storing these up to use against you. We store them up strictly for knowledge-sharing. So don’t worry, while perusing this list of interesting historical facts, you won’t stumble upon one of your many, many past slip-ups.

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30

The Viking Hastein GET HELP CRACKED COM Hastein entered a Roman city by arriving on a stretcher with his men asking for aid. The Romans let them through the gates, then the Vikings sacked the city. — Source

29

Antonio López de Santa Anna LEGENDARY CRACKED COM Mexico's 8th president needed his leg amputated when the French shot a cannon at him. Не gave the leg a full state funeral (then protesters dug it up again). — Source

28

Charles Dickens CRACKED COM Dickens was a very fashion-conscious man who instructed in his will that those who attend my funeral wear no scarf, cloak, black bow, long hat-band, or other such revolting absurdity. — Source

27

A Civil War battle stopped so the soldiers could watch a fistfight. In the Battle of the Wilderness, a Confederate and a Union soldier hiding in the same gully began to duke it out after trying, and failing, to capture each other. Soon, both sides stopped firing and got closer so they could cheer on their dude. (The Union guy lost, and got captured.) CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Salt Lake City has the widest streets of any major U.S. city. At 130 feet, they're twice as wide as Manhattan's. CRACKED.COM Brigham Young, the Mormon president who planned the city, chose the wide streets so settlers could turn their cattle around without resorting to profanity. — Source

25

The infamous Milwaukee serial killer and cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer, was a class clown in high school. 75 72 69 66 63 MILWAUKEE COUNTY MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF S UEPARIMENI His pranks and antics E 0 as were known as doing a Dahmer around school. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

World War II

A WWII submarine had a reindeer onboard for six weeks. The British sub HMS Trident carried Pollyanna the reindeer, a personal gift from a Soviet admiral, back to England. She ate so much food (plus some navigation charts) that she got too big to walk out, and had to be lifted out with a winch (a sailor with a broom helped). CRACKED.COM — Source

23

On the Manhattan Project, safety standards basically didn't exist. In a key experiment, the plutonium was contained by one technician holding a screwdriver. But the screwdriver slipped, and the plutonium killed the technician. This happened twice. GRACKED.COM — Source

22

During the French Revolution, they caught Louis XVI because GNAT his face was on money. BRE 17 NES s ASSIGNATS DES FRANCOIS NAT par le décr Avril 1790, sanctionné LOUISXVLROL T CU While running to the countryside, Louis and Marie Antoinette (both disguised) were stopped by a postmaster who thought he recognized Marie. Once he compared the guy with her to a 50-franc note, he was sure. Pretty soon, they were arrested, then beheaded. CRACKED COM — Source

21

Walt Disney himself helped to design a Mickey Mouse gas mask Though few remain, you can find several on display in various museums in the United States. GRACKED.COM — Source

20

THE BEATLES OFFICIALLY ENDED ON DISNEY PROPERTY. IN 1974, ON VACATION AT DISNEY'S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT, JOHN LENNON SIGNED THE CONTRACT THAT DISSOLVED THE GROUP. Disney's Polynesian Village Resort CRACKED.CON — Source

19

The repeal of the prohibition of alcohol in 1933 led to the emergence of the modern CRACKED.COM drug cartels. Crime syndicates needed a replacement for their source of income, and drug trafficking was the best alternative available. — Source

18

At Mao and Stalin's first meeting, the USSR stole Mao's poop. On Stalin's personal orders, the sewage pipes in the house where the two met were rerouted to special storage boxes. The thinking was that an analysis of the chemicals in his poop would reveal secrets about Mao's psychology. (Did it work? Nobody knows.) CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Due to fire, decay, negligence, or deliberate destruction, AP 75% T ط of all American CRACKED.COM silent movies no longer exist. Q.A — Source

16

The first submarine dates way back to the 1620s and was made by Cornelius van Drebbel. Called the Drebbel I, it was basically an enclosed CRACKED COM rowboat and was proprelled just like one. — Source

15

King George V's time of death was chosen for its PR value. When George lay dying in 1936, the royal family wanted the morning journals, not the lower-class evening ones, to announce his death. So he got a lethal dose of morphine and cocaine at 11:55 p.m. on January 19. Не apparently wasn't asked, and probably wouldn't have approved. CRACKED COM — Source

14

Vaseline originated as a byproduct of the oil drilling Vaseline - IN - 1 - process. سيد - WITH In 1859, British chemist Robert Augustus Chesebrough visited a small town in Pennsylvania where petroleum had been discovered. Не noticed Vaseline's skin-healing properties after seeing how oilers used it to heal cuts and burns. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Britain’s First Satellite

Ariel-1, Britain's very first satellite, was put into orbit on April 26, 1962. It was accidentally destroyed weeks later after the US military detonated a 1.4 megaton nuclear weapon called Starfish-Prime in the upper atmosphere. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

The earliest pillows CRACKED.COM were made of stone. Ancient Egyptian Pillow Neck-rests from Tutankhamen's tomb Ancient Chinese Pillow Originally more about keeping the head away from crawling bugs or protecting an elaborate hairstyle during sleep than a cushion, they evolved into elaborate works of art for the wealthy. They only become a cloth-covered stuffing-filled accessory after the textile revolution. — Source

11

Apollo missions increased the moon's temperature by 1-3 degrees Fahrenheit. Dust on the surface is lighter than the soil underneath, and astronauts walking and driving during their explorations disturbed the top layer. With more of the darker soil showing through, the Moon absorbs more heat. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte CRACKED.COM In his very detailed will, he requested that his hair be preserved and made into several bracelets with a little gold clasp for his friends and family. — Source

9

Frisbee Creator Ed Headrick WORLD WORLD CLASS CHAMPIONS FLYING DISC 165 G. CRACKED.COM Per his request, Headrick's ashes were molded into frisbees and given to his family and friends. — Source

8

Thomas Jefferson CRACKED.COM In his will, Thomas Jeferson left James Madison his gold-mounted walking staff of animal horn as a token of their friendship. — Source

7

Mrs. O'Leary is remembered for causing the Great Chicago Fire. But she was innocent. And so was her cow. Despite all the campfire songs to the contrary, the 1871 Chicago fire wasn't caused by Catherine O'Leary's cow kicking over a lantern she'd left burning. The official report actually cleared Mrs. O'Leary (and her cow). But that didn't stop The Chicago Tribune from publishing Michael Ahern's unproven story blaming O'Leary. Because of anti-Irish prejudice, she was reviled and literally spit on her entire life. CRACKED.COM https://www.thoughtco.com/mrs-olearys-cow-great-chicago-fire-1774059 — Source

6

The movie Caligula was insanely perverted. TANTAIN But Caligula himself wasn't unusually sexual. Most of Caligula's horrendous reputation comes from the writings of Suetonius and Cassius Dio, neither of whom were alive during Caligula's day. His contemporaries never recorded any instances of the incest, scandals, or nut-crushing cruelty now associated with his name. Не did have luxurious pleasure barges, but that was fairly typical for emperors of his era. Caligula was prone to mental instability, which historians now attribute to encephalitis. CRACKED.COM http://www.newworldencyclopedia. .org/entry/Caligula — Source

5

Dr. Seuss was a beloved children's author. And he didn't like children. Theodor Geisel, who wrote under the pen name Dr. Seuss, not only never liked children, but was actually scared of them. Не never had children of his own, and according to his widow, the reason he didn't like them was that he never knew what their weird child brains would make them do next. Не ventured into children's stories when his publisher tasked him with writing a book even first graders couldn't put down, using a vocabulary of just 250 words. CRACKED.COM http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/politicaldrseuss/film.html — Source

4

Fender

Leo Fender is a legend who perfected the electric guitar. But he couldn't play, and didn't like rock'n'roll. Despite the fact that his entire business revolved around manufacturing and constantly improving guitars and amps, Fender never actually got around to learning how to play them and didn't have any interest in doing so. When Fender was testing an amp with a guitar, other people in the shop had to go in and tune the instrument when they couldn't take the noise anymore. Yet his creations are the guitar of choice for legends such as Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Henry Ford tried to end WWI by sailing to Europe on a Peace Ship. Не sailed with a group of pacifists and reporters, planning to convince European soldiers to go on strike. When they landed, they were greeted by eight college students in total. The half-million-dollar expedition ended in failure and ridicule. Ford told the pacifists he couldn't go on to Stockholm because he was sick, and then he sailed home on an ocean liner. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci fought for animal welfare. Leonardo had a habit of buying caged birds at the marketplace just to release them. Не was furious about the fact that humans raise animals just to slaughter them, and apparently refused to eat meat. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

GALILEO WAS A PRACTICING ASTROLOGER We think of Galileo as a brilliant scientific mind, but in his time, he was also a well-regarded astrol- oger famous for his horoscopes and predictions. CRACKED COM — Source

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