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40 Lesser-Known Historical Tidbits That We Extracted From Your Textbook’s Fine Print

Why is history trying to hide these?

40 Lesser-Known Historical Tidbits That We Extracted From Your Textbook’s Fine Print

February 06, 2025

After checking out these wild historical facts, you’ll wonder why your history teachers spent so much time on boring stuff like the Revolutionary War. Like, cool, some guys fought to govern themselves. Big whoop. They could’ve easily trimmed a few pages of fluff out of that chapter to make room for some of these fun tidbits.

It definitely would’ve kept us more interested in class!

40

No World Peace

Just 8% of recorded human history is considered peaceful. Of the 3400 years of recorded history, only 268 are considered peaceful. At least 108 million people were killed in wars in the twentieth century. — NY Times

39

Doors

CRACKED THE OLDEST KNOWN DOOR IN EUROPE WAS UNEARTHED IN SWITZERLAND. Tree rings suggest the door was made in 3063 BCE - around the time of Stonehenge. — Source

38

The Aztecs

The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan employed street sweepers back in the 16th century. the There were about a thousand cleaners who swept the streets, washed them with water, and ferried human waste in canoes wy before Europe had anything similar. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: Mexicolore

37

Napoleon

NAPOLEON: LEADER, STATESMAN, ROMANCE NOVELIST? Before Josephine, before his conquest of Europe, a broken-hearted Napoleon wrote Clisson et Eugénie, a romance novella based on his doomed rela- tionship with Eugénie Désirée Clary. At the end of the novella, the hero dies tragically in battle, pierced by a thousand blows. CRACKED.COM — Source

36

Breakfast

MEDIEVAL CUISINE Breakfast was considered for the weak and lower class. Nobles didn't take breakfast until the 16th century. Eating more than one meal was considered a form of gluttony, so it was only practiced by those who needed it, due to health or hard labor. CRACKED.COM — Source: Smithsonian

35

The Civil War

During the Civil War, generals were 50% more likely to die in battle than privates. Unlike modern warfare, generals back then had to lead by example - by being the first person to charge into battle. CRACKED.COM — Source: 18 Perspective-Shifting Historical Statistics

34

Beer

The oldest recorded beer recipe is in a Sumerian song, The Hymn to Ninkasi, 14 originally found on a tablet from 1800 BCE. CRACKEDCON

33

Ice Cream Rations

World War II Ice cream rations were more coveted than cigarettes and fresh socks. Look at the Battle of the Coral Sea from 1942. While engaging the Ja — For details, read 5 Insane Facts From History Nobody Taught You In School

32

The First Recorded Battle in History

The first recorded battle in history was the Battle of Megiddo in 1457 В.С. It left such an impression on the Levantine people there that they believed the final battle of humani- ty would take place there as well. That's where the word Armageddon comes from. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — The Battles of Armageddon

31

Silver Mining

The Roman Empire mined so much silver that at peak production they were mining 220 tons per year. Scottsdale Silver - Loo list China us CRACKED.COM This was 5 to 10 times larger than the com- bined amount of silver available to Medieval Europe and the Ab- basid Caliphate around 800 A.D. — Vaulted

30

Cooked Veggies Only

MEDIEVAL CUISINE Fruits and veggies weren't eaten raw. All produce was cooked as it was believed that raw veggies and fruits carried disease. A book written in 1500 warns, Beware of green salads and raw fruits, for they will make your master sick. CRACKED.COM — Source: British Library

29

Roast Battles

In medieval England and Scotland, public insult battles were all the rage. It was called flyting, and it was basically the rap battle of its day people would insult each other in all kinds of funny and clever ways. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Forks

MEDIEVAL CUISINE Forks were considered sacrilegious Europe was slow to adapt to forks. The English were critical of using forks for as late as the 16th century, believing it was insulting to God to not use your God-given hands. CRACKED.COM — Source: AP News

27

Animals on Trial

In the Middle Ages, it was a totally normal thing to put animals on trial. History records horses, goats, pigs, cows, dogs being put on trial for breaking the law and being treated just like bipedal lawbreakers. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Almond Milk

Almond milk seems like a new hipster thing, but it was big in the Middle Ages. People in medieval Europe considered it a delicacy and way better than milk they used it in fancy meals as much as they used spices. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Swords

Greatswords aren't medieval. Two-handed greatswords became a thing in the late 1500s- during the Renaissance, not the Middle Ages. Terms like Zweihander are even more recent, and weren't used historically. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts

24

Oxford

OXFORD UNIVERSITY IS OLDER THAN THE AZTEC EMPIRE. The Aztec Empire originated in 1325. The first class at Oxford was in 1095. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Joan of Arc

JOAN OF ARC WAS BORN BEFORE THE AZTEC EMPIRE. According to estimates, she only overlapped with the empire for three years, until her death in 1431. CR

22

Civil War Fistfights

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 s

21

Female Artists

Blue pigment found in the tooth of a medieval skeleton shows women were artists During the Middle Ages, women, not just monks, may have painted illuminated manuscripts. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Abandoned Subway System in Cincinnati

Abandoned constructions Abandoned subway system in Cincinnati Cincinnati has the biggest abandoned subway system in the world, with more than two miles of tunnels built in the old Miami-Erie Canal bed in the 1920s. Despite a few attempts to get it going again, the subway has never been used. CRACKED

19

The Miss America Pageant

The Miss America Pageant CRACKED.COM Believe it or not, New Jersey hasn't always been an enthusias- tic supporter of young women's excellence. The Miss America pageant began in 1921 as a swim- suit competition to lure tourists back to Atlantic City once sum- mer was over in the time-hon- ored marketing tradition of boobs. — Insider

18

Tesla

Nikola Tesla was able to do integral calculus in his head, leading his teachers to believe he was cheating. Passionate about mathematics and sciences, Tesla had his heart set on becoming an engineer but was constantly oppressed by his father's insistence that he enter the priesthood. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — PBS

17

Martin Luther

In 1517, Martin Luther defiantly nailed his 95 Theses to a church's door in Wittenberg. Except that he didn't. That particular story didn't start roll

16

John Lennon

CRACKED.COM THE FBI HAD FILES ON... JOHN LENNON The FBI started a file in 1971 when the former Beatle traveled to New York on a visa to meet up with anti-war activists. The FBI proposed that Lennon should be arrested, if at all possible, on possession of narcotics charges which would make him more immediately deportable. The file includes a wanted poster for Lennon, but, despite having one of the most famous faces, they used a photo of another guy who had similar glasses. — Source

15

Richard III

Richard III wasn't as evil as Shakespeare made him out to be. There's no indication that Richard III killed any of the people Shakespeare wrote he did (and he wasn't a hunchback, either). It's possible that Shakespeare intended the king to be a stand-in for Robert Cecil, a member of a powerful family the Bard wasn't a fan of. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

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

13

Rod Serling

Rod Serling watched his friend get decapitated during WWII. The Twilight Zone cre- ator served with his friend Melvin Levy, who was crushed by a food supply crate as it landed on his head-to Ster- ling's horror. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

12

The Aztecs

THE AZTECS FOUGHT WITH A MACUAHUITL-A WOODEN SWORD EMBEDDED WITH PRISMATIC BLADES MADE FROM OBSIDIAN, A VOLCANIC GLASS STONE. CRACKED According to reports from Spanish conquistadors, it was sharp enough to decapitate a man and even a horse. — Source

11

Medieval Scrolls

CRACKED OLYMPIC ROWER MATTHEW PINSENT IS A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF GOD. The 4x gold medalist traced his lineage to King Edward I. That medieval scroll showed that the royals linked themselves to the divine, because the lineage kept going back to Jesus, Adam & Eve, then God at the tippy top. 000S — Source

10

Fasting Girls

Miraculous fasting girls were a big attraction in Victorian times. As Netflix wasn't a thing in the 19th century, people would entertain themselves by visiting fasting girls, who were said to live for years on end without eating anything. (As the girls weren't being watched by visitors 24/7, it isn't hard to figure out how this miracle happened.) CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Spies

CRACKED.COM Great Britain got rid of their Soviet spies because one of them got drunk. You cannot beat me, Oleg Lyalin rebuked the cop who arrested him for drunk driving in 1971. I am a KGB КГБ C officer. MI5 eventually took him into custody, and got him to defect and rat out over 100 of his comrades. — Source

8

Antoine Lavoisier

An 18th-century French chemist used his own beheading to perform one last experiment. CRACKED.COM Antoine Lavoisier told his colleagues that he would try to blink as long as possible after being be- headed. Some sources say he continued to blink for 30 seconds.

7

Niagara Falls

A condemned ship filled with animals sailed over Niagara Falls as part of a tourism stunt. CRACKED.COM In 1827, William Forsyth, an investor in the Falls, con- cocted the idea to draw in more tourism. The ship held Buffalo, bears, rac- coons, a dog, and a goose. 10,000 people watched it sail over the edge. — Source

6

Chrysler

PUTTING THE TOP ON THE CHRYSLER BUILDING IN A FLASH It only took 90 minutes to put the CHRYSLER BUILDING's 27-ton steel spire in place, which was the last step to make it the world's tallest building in 1929. CRACKED — newphotoservice/Shutterstock
We Build Value

5

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptians had pregnancy tests of a sort as far back as 3,500 years ago. A woman would pee over a bag of barley and a bag of wheat, and if either one sprouted, the woman was pregnant. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Disney and the Nazis

A day after the infamous Kristallnacht, when thousands of Jews were brutalized, WALT Disney was the only one of Hollywood's big names who agreed to meet with Leni Riefenstahl, one of Hitler's favorite filmmakers and declared Nazi sympathizer and promoter. Не gave her a tour of his studio. CRACKED CON — Source

3

Mozart and James Joyce

CRACKED.COM Our greatest artists and thinkers were pervs. Mozart began writing symphonies at five, but then also wrote a lot about poop and farts. Similarly, besides writing Ulysses, James Joyce described in detail what he'd like to do with his wife's farts. Does this mean they could have worked for Cracked? Yes. — Source

2

A Different Kind of POW

CRACKED BOSSA NOVA: THE TRENDY WAY TO MAKE ANYTHING SEEM COOLER IN THE '60S. During World War II, prisoners in the U.S. got involved in the war effort in different ways, such as giving blood, buying war bonds, and making things for the military. Some prisoners even got out of jail temporarily so they could join the military.

1

Hidden Treasure

Who buried the Saddle Ridge Hoard? While walking their dog, a California couple found in their property over 1,400 19th- century gold coins, worth a grand total of $10 million. Most of the coins were never circulated, and are in mint condition. It's the largest buried treasure ever discovered in the U.S. CRACKED.COM — Source

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