21 Unbelievable Moments Omitted from History Books

The Battle of Passchendaele was terrifying
21 Unbelievable Moments Omitted from History Books

Listen, no history book can cover everything. Despite what it might feel like sometimes, publishers are aware that you’re going to have to carry this thing around in your backpack all semester, and most history books are highly specialized for exactly this reason. If you’re looking for information on Ancient Greece, for example, a history of German hip-hop is probably not the place to go.

Those aren’t always the reasons for omission, though. Sometimes, it’s political. Other times, the facts are at the mercy of historians to decide what is and isn’t pertinent in the limited but back-breaking space they have. Occasionally, a story is so outrageous that repeating it will instantly discredit you, even if it’s true. That’s why user Hysterria asked r/AskReddit, “History buffs of Reddit, what is one of the most fascinating stories you've learned that no one seems to talk about and can’t be found in textbooks?”

someboysdad 7y ago In 1952, Albert Einstein was offered a presidential seat in Israel.
steviesmum 7y ago Edited 7y ago Diarrhea was so widespread and common in the 19th century that people would develop opium habits because opium makes you constipated.
neildegrassebyeson 7y ago Edited 7y ago Peter the Great often forced dwarves to get married and him and his friends would get drunk and attend the wedding. Не had a fascination with dwarves, and he once forced someone who had made him angry to marry a dwarf.
Tarsus1994 7y ago The siege of Vienna. An outnumbered force of Polish, Austrian, and German soldiers led by the Polish king defeated the massive Ottoman army and halted the advance of Islam in Europe. The Pope called the Polish king the savior of Christendom.
ChiefKv 7y ago Edited 7y ago The Battle of Saragarhi- 21 British Sikh soldiers were attacked by 10,000 Afghans. All the Sikhs fought to the death and brought down a lot of Afghans. It (deservingly) should be considered one of the greatest Last-stands of all time.
7y ago 1 in 5 women who came across the Oregon Trail did so while pregnant. If pregnant, women's hygiene wasn't an issue. Timing was everything because a successful trip on the trail meant you started in the Spring.
7y ago Helen Keller's Socialist activism... She was literally a card carrying member of the Socialist party and spent most of her adult life fighting for Socialist causes but the only thing most people remember her for is being blind and deaf... Girl was an ACTIVIST, disabilities notwithstanding. PS: She's the only Socialist to appear on American currency (Alabama state quarter)
iconoclast63 7y ago The Lobotomobile. Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman performed as many as 4000 lobotomy surgeries in 23 states over a period of 40 years. As many as 40% of them were performed with the intention of curing homosexuality. After his death his van came to be called the Lobotomobile.
MrMango69 7y ago 1014 AD: After defeating a large Bulgarian army at the battle of Kleidion, Byzantine Emperor Basil II had 99 of every 100 prisoners blinded, leaving each 100th man with one eye so that he could lead his comrades home. Upon seeing his thousands of blinded soldiers, the Bulgarian Emperor reportedly died of a heart attack. Basil II was known thereafter as Basil Bulgar-Slayer.
twothirtysevenam 7y ago The story of The Bloody Benders, a family of serial killers in southeast Kansas in the 1870s. They let travelers stay and eat at their home (for a fee, of course), and would kill them during dinner, steal anything of value that the travelers had with them, and bury the bodies in the yard. It makes sense why the Benders aren't included in textbooks, but other famous criminals are often included and even become folk heroes. (Jesse James is a prime example.)
MysteryHisyory 7y ago Queen Victorias kids were a bit weird. Specific moments I love telling people about: Princess Louise insisted on boiling her knees in whiskey at least once a day, single malt I think. Prince Bertie, eventually King Edward the 7th, had to have an even number of asparagus no matter what. At least 18 I think. Also this is better known but still not known enough; Prince Bertie was a huge slut and commissioned a chair made to specifically allow him to pleasure two women at once and no one has ever figured out how exactly it's supposed
Rexanne 7y ago A little late here but there used to be an ancient language formed from the Inca called kihpu, which were strings with knots tied in them. It's kind of hard to study because when the Spanish came and saw these strings, they kind of freaked the fuck out. Some say they were terrified of them, but the most notable recording said they thought they were idols. Either way, they tried to destroy all of them and there's only around 450-600 remaining. Originally we just thought they were for numbers and accounting for stuff, but the more we
firedog1235 7y ago It's a bit more recent but I love the story of Gander. After 9/11 all the planes were grounded. Almost 7,000 people, which was about 66% of the local population , were forced to land in this tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland. The whole town worked together to make sure all the passengers would have everything they needed. The local ice rink was filled with frozen food that people donated. You couldn't find a closed door in town for stranded people to take a shower or just talk. Once the grounding of planes was lifted those passengers pooled
WillyB133189 7y ago During WW2 hundreds of Polish women and children escaped on a ship but no country would provide them refuge. Vendor ship docked in Mumbai the British government too refused to help them. Frustrated by the lack of empathy the Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja of Nawanagar allowed them to dock in the port of his province. On disembarking he welcomed them and said them that from now he was their father, he gave free education to the kids, provided them accomodation and took great care. Не even adopted the kids to prevent the British from deporting them. After
whalemango 7y ago In World War II, there was a Spanish spy named Joan Pujol Garcia who approached the Allies to work for them. When they refused, he approached the Nazis, and they accepted him (giving him the codename Arabel). Once he earned credentials working as a Nazi spy, he approached the Allies again, this time getting a job as a double agent (codenamed Garbo). This is where it gets unbelievable: he fed the Germans a combination of mis-information, true but useless information, and high-value information that always got to the Germans just a little too late. Не even started
shadowslasher11X 7y ago People have rediscovered this recently, but it still doesn't get talked about enough. The Battle of Passchendaele was one of the most terrifying things you could read about in WW1. A small town in Belgium that was turned to a muddy hellscape following an offensive by the allied forces in 1917. The ground would turn to mud following heavy rains and due to bombardments had caused soil to become loose. There are horror stories that are well documented of soldiers being eaten alive by rats, shell shock, and horrible infections due to flooded trenches. What it's known
strawberryswisherz 7y ago Edited 7y ago SYBIL LUDINGTON. She was, essentially (perhaps oversimplifying) the female, teenage Paul Revere. At only 16 years old, she rode through New York in 1777 to alert local militia (not dissimilar to the famous Revere). BUT- reportedly, this young woman rode more than TWICE the distance of Paul Revere's ride, while being significantly younger (~40 miles at only 16, in the middle of the night). She also saved her father from being captured by Royalists, she lit candles surrounding her house and gathered her siblings to march around the house and give the illusion that
BigSchwartzzz 7y ago The Bitch Wars Oh my god this is funny and intriguing. You all know about the Soviet gulags, correct? Well within them there became a society of criminals that organized together as Thief in laws. In Russian, they became commonly known as the Vors. They were viciously anti-authority. They must refuse all orders and all work and spit in the face of officials. These motherfuckers were hardcore. Well when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin allow prisoners to fight them on the front. In exchange for their freedom. So these guys, who are just anti-authority, we're
Dr_Heron 7y ago I wish more people realised how truly post apocalyptic life after the collapse of the (western) Roman empire was. In Britain, we had large cities made of masonry, aquaducts, running water, laywers and accountants, central heating, financial derivatives, a thriving civilization. After the collapse, we lost all of that. The plumbing and concrete broke down, nobody new how to fix it. People built mud huts inside old stadium and amphitheatres, using them as forts. That's some Diamond City shit there. It took centuries for the economy to recover to the point that currency was needed again, rather
Eroe777 7y ago The Battle of Attu. It was the only battle of World War II fought on US soil. Attu is an island in the Aleutians. The Japanese invaded it intending to... who the hell knows; it was far too remote to serve as a staging for an invasion of the mainland. The American soldiers who were sent there had originally been slated to go to North Africa, they were sent to the arctic, in the spring, with gear meant for fighting in the desert. They lost more men to the elements than to the Japanese.
AvidReader182 7y ago Robert Liston 1794-1847 A surgeon. In fact, he was described as the fastest knife in the West End and could amputate a leg in 2.5 minutes (the faster the surgery, the more likely the recovery) - though during this particular amputation he went so quickly he also removed his patient's testicles. However, he also amputer a man's leg (in less than 2.5 minutes), who would later die of gangrene. In his haste, he accidentally cut off his assistant's fingers, who would later die from gangrene, and (apparently) cut through the coat tails of a surgical spectator, who was so

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