Facts might be our bread and butter, but separating the wheat from the chaff is no easy feat. When you’ve got so much fake news, different ideological narratives, and fictional stories for the sake of attention floating about, sometimes even real, genuine facts can sound completely made up because they sound absolutely ridiculous. But fact is often stranger than fiction.
And that’s what this post is all about. Reddit user Youfellforityoufool asked their fellow redditors to share real history facts that sound so stupid, they don’t even seem real. Check some of the best ones out below and upvote the ones that impressed you the most (and, let’s face it, made you laugh while asking ‘how is this real?’).
Oh, and to pre-empt any confusion: the thing about people eating mummies? That’s actually true! Honest! Read on to find out why (spoiler warning: it's not as dumb as it sounds on paper).
#1
The second person to go down Niagara Falls in a barrel and live later perished by slipping on an orange peel.
Image credits: lucif_woods
#2
In WWII, the Russians trained dogs to run under tanks with time bombs on their backs - "anti-tank dogs." But, the Russians trained the dogs on Russian tanks, so when they set them free on the battlefield, the dogs turned around and started blowing up the Russian tanks instead of the German tanks.
Image credits: Archayvic
#3
Not one but two kings of France perished by smashing their heads on the top part of a door, or lintel.Charles VIII in 1498 (the shock probably caused something else but still).
Louis III was pursuing a fair lady (who was actually trying to escape him) on his horse on August 5, 882, when she passed a door. The horse went through, but not the king, who broke his skull and died instantly.
Image credits: Ramtalok
Bored Panda spoke about separating facts from fiction, as well as how some conspiracy theories can turn out to be close to the truth (and might not all be bad!) with Joseph M. Pierre, a professor of psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
According to the professor, most recent conspiracy theories—from what happened to JFK and Princess Diana to 9/11 or the Flat Earth theory—”have been fairly inconsequential without any largescale behavioral ramifications.”
In other words, they haven’t had many negative real-life consequences for the vast majority of society, even if they’re full of lies and make a mockery of the truth. However, there is one exception to this. Climate change. And that’s a real pickle!
#4
Jack Daniel (yeah, that Jack Daniel) died from an infected stubbed toe caused by him kicking a safe containing money to which he had forgotten the combination.
Image credits: Fact-Crab
#5
In the 2015-2016 New Zealand Flag referendums, where New Zealand voted on a new flag for the country, one of the highest voted results was an image of a kiwi firing lasers from it's eyes. Google "New Zealand laser kiwi flag" if you don't believe me.
Image credits: CrazyComedyKid
#6
The reason there [aren't] a lot of mummies around anymore? It's because we ate them.
Image credits: FredrickTheWriter69
Professor Pierre suggested that there are some conspiracy theories about climate change that might be close to the truth and actually encourage people to act for the sake of the planet, not just deny global warming in the first place.
“Not all of the debate around that topic involves a conspiracy theory,” the professor pointed out. “In fact, the most conspiratorial claim about climate change may be that ‘big oil’ companies, like ‘big tobacco’ decades before, know that climate change is real and is caused by human CO2 production, but that they’re purposely claiming otherwise and putting out misinformation to the contrary that refutes what the vast majority of climate change scientists have stated in order to protect profits from the industry.”
The professor continued: “Those of us who believe that conspiracy theory (remembering that some conspiracy theories are true!) argue that real-life physical actions—moreso on the part of industry than individuals per se—are necessary now.”
#7
The Titanic look-outs did not have binoculars. It was believed they had accidentally been left in Southhampton, but they were locked in a safe on board.
Image credits: Gumpy57
#8
How the Berlin Wall fell. In order to calm mounting protests, German Democratic Republic (GDR) officials decided on loosening travel restrictions between East and West, but not opening the border completely.Notes of the new rules had been handed to a spokesman who hadn't had time to read them before the press conference. "Private travel outside the country can now be applied for without prerequisites," he said. Surprised journalists clamoured for more details. Shuffling through his notes, he said that as far as he was aware, it was effective immediately. In fact, it had been planned to start the next day, with details on applying for a visa. But the news was all over television - and East Germans flocked to the border in huge numbers.
As the border became inundated with East Berliners wishing to reunite with family and/or escape the GDR, border guards became overwhelmed and with no orders to either shoot upon the crowd or open the gate, only a handful of guards facing hundreds and thousands of citizens, rather than fire and create a stampede and potentially kill hundreds, the head of the guards decided to give the order "Open the barrier!" What came next was a spontaneous chain reaction with Berliners on both sides arriving at Checkpoint Charlie to celebrate this momentous event and to demolish the wall.
So, basically, an ill-prepared functionary made a flippant remark and a border guard captain, unable to get orders on how to proceed, led to one of the most defining moments of the late 20th Century in Europe.
Image credits: Farkenoathm8-E
#9
People used to think women's uteruses would go flying if they rode the train.
Image credits: uthglow
There’s no doubt that there are plenty of people who believe false facts, fake news, and tinfoil conspiracy theories. Others, however, profit off of those beliefs and use them to create a platform for themselves, leading to potential financial gain. Separating the true believers from the con artists is no easy feat, however.
Professor Pierre said that figuring out whether somebody genuinely believes a conspiracy theory or is cashing in on the gullible is a complex issue. “Determining if someone is lying isn’t easy and is complicated by the fact that we don’t really have clear agreement of what it means to ‘believe’ something, much less genuinely.’”
The professor highlighted how people like Alex Jones and his lawyers have been called to answer about “belief conviction in various lawsuits against him.” However, he’s always been able to get away from stating outright whether his beliefs are real or just for show. “[He] has been able to skirt a firm account of whether he’s a huckster or true conspiracy theory believer.”
#10
William the Conqueror exploded at his funeral.The short of it, the intestinal infection that killed him ended up eating up his body from the inside. All the gas from the decomposition was trapped in there, but as some people tried to fit him back into his coffin, his body exploded from the pressure. Guess he had to go out with a bang.
Image credits: nergigante-is-best
#11
Corn flakes were originally marketed as an anti masturbation cereal and the man who made them, John Harvey Kellogg, adopted all 8 of his kids and didn't even sleep in the same room as his wife
Image credits: Ms_Superhero1939
#12
During 1774 Frederick the Great of Prussia had a free potato policy to help the people through the famine. A lot of people initially rejected the potatoes and so he had guards feign patrol of the potato fields so they looked more valuable and people would steal them in the night.Even though they were totally free.
Image credits: bobakittens
Meanwhile, let’s jump back to some of the weirdest real history facts. Or rather one particular fact about how people have been munching on mummies. The Science History Institute explains that aside from artists using mummies for paint pigments, Europeans have been eating Egyptian mummies as medicine since the 12th century.
“In later centuries unmummified corpses were passed off as mummy medicine, and eventually some Europeans no longer cared whether the bodies they were ingesting had been mummified or not,” the SHI writes. “The eating of Egyptian mummies reached its peak in Europe by the 16th century. Mummies could be found on apothecary shelves in the form of bodies broken into pieces or ground into powder. Why did Europeans believe in the medicinal value of the mummy? The answer probably comes down to a string of misunderstandings.”
#13
A Skylab satellite's guidance system was failing and ended up crash landing in Australia. Instead of giving the satellite back, Skylab was charged with a $500 littering fine.After the fine was paid, the company wanted to put the satellite in a museum but was refused on the basis that since the satellite fell from space, its legally Australia's now. So now, Skylab pays a monthly rent to Australia to display its own satellite in a museum.
Image credits: spyraxian
#14
King George II Was so constipated while he was taking a poop his heart actually physically burst.
Image credits: Potato_Bees
#15
The 6th president had a pet alligator and Ryan Reynolds failed drama class
Image credits: A_zuma2007
In brief, when Europeans first saw the black stuff coating ancient Egyptian mummies, they assumed it was bitumen (aka mumia, which has been used as an ingredient in some embalming processes, has antimicrobial and biocidal properties, and has been recommended as a cure for many things since the times of the ancient Romans).
“Eating mummies for their reserves of medicinal bitumen may seem extreme, but this behavior still has a hint of rationality. As with a game of telephone, where meaning changes with each transference, people eventually came to believe that the mummies themselves (not the sticky stuff used to embalm them) possessed the power to heal,” the Science History Institute explains.
#16
The US and the UK scrapped plots to assassinate Hitler as they believed his poor judgement would bring an end to the war quicker.
Image credits: Ozymandias-97
#17
In 1956 a man named Tommy Fitzpatrick stole a small plane from New Jersey for a bet and then landed it perfectly on the narrow street in front of the bar he had been drinking at in Manhattan. Two years later, he did it again after someone didn't believe he had done it the first time.What's also crazy is that the punishment for the first time ended up being only a $100 fine, since the charges were dropped by the owner of the plane, and the second resulted in only 6 months in jail.
Image credits: -eDgAR-
#18
Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel but turned it down.
Image credits: moinatx
“Scholars long debated whether bitumen was an actual ingredient in the Egyptian embalming process. For a long time they believed that what looked like bitumen slathered on mummies was actually resin, moistened and blackened with age. More recent studies have shown that bitumen was used at some point but not on the royal mummies many early modern Europeans might have thought they were ingesting. Ironically, Westerners may have believed themselves to be reaping medicinal benefits by eating Egyptian royalty, but any such healing power came from the remains of commoners, not long-dead pharaohs.”
#19
Bill Clinton, who hasn't been president in 20 years is 4 years younger than Joe Biden
Image credits: scott60561
#20
The Great Pig War (aka the San Juan Boundary Dispute) between the US and UK/Canada lasted seven whole years. At maximum belligerence, the order of battle included 2,600 ground troops, five powerful ships of the line, and nearly a hundred cannon.But fortunately, the combatants never actually got around to doing much combatting. In fact, the only recorded injury was a Royal Marine who got hit in the eye by a rock thrown from the American trenches. He was shipped to a nearby militry hospital, recuperated, and eventually rejoined his unit.
Most of the opposing troops' energies were spent sneaking across the lines to each other's outposts - to play cards, swap stories, and to trade American tobacco and fresh food for navy rum swiped from the British quartermaster's stores.
Generally acknowledged as The Best War Ever.
Image credits: theartfulcodger
#21
"Gorilla gorilla gorilla" This is the scientific name of the western lowland gorilla
Image credits: metal_gearmen
#22
A Greek philosopher called Chrysippus died from laughing too much at a drunken donkey eating rotting (therefore fermented) figs.
Image credits: -Glitter-Herpes-
#23
Teddy Roosevelt invented the forward pass in American football
Image credits: High_Noon21
#24
As WW2 revved up, the US realized that fast and cheap was the way to go with manufacturing ships (ex Liberty Ships). But there was a line of escort carriers made with so little armor that some Japanese armor-piercing shells went through the hull and out the other side without exploding, a nice surprise.
Image credits: RealisticDelusions77
#25
Honduras and El Salvador had a 3-day war over a football game.
Image credits: theycallmemomo
#26
Then American Vice President Andrew Johnson was so drunk at his vice presidential inauguration that he could not swear the new congress in and rambled incoherently during his acceptance speech.
Image credits: TheNewGirl76
#27
There was a real plan to spike Hitler's food with estrogen to try to turn him into a woman and make him give up on war.
Image credits: Alistair_TheAlvarian
#28
In 1184, a number of nobles from across the Holy Roman Empire were meeting in a room at the Church of St. Peter, when their combined weight caused the floor to collapse into the latrine beneath the cellar and led to dozens of nobles drowning in liquid excrement.It is referred to as the "Erfurt latrine disaster."
Image credits: FenrirIII
#29
It is said that Greek tragedian Aeschylus died because an eagle dropped a tortoise on his bald head, mistaken for a rock, in order to break the shell of the tortoise.
Image credits: fbkjj
#30
Michigan and Ohio had a war over Toledo.
Image credits: LadyLightTravel
#31
Benjamin Hornigold was a pirate in the late 1600s and early 1700s who once robbed a merchant vessel purely for the crew's hats - because he and his crew got so drunk the night before that they all threw their own hats overboard for no good reason.
Image credits: JohnSmith2217
#32
the allied powers decided to steal a tank in the middle of a battlefield#33
Whilst on his death bed, George Washington was drained of almost half his blood and given treatments that caused him to violently vomit and [poop] himself. He perished anyway.
Image credits: sarcasmisart
#34
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4th 1826#35
France is currently on its 5th Republic. The history of how it happened is bizarre:Boubon Kingdom -> French Revolution with the guillotine -> 1st Republic -> Napoleon's Empire -> back to the Boubon Kingdom -> July Monarchy (different kingdom) -> 2nd Republic -> 2nd Empire -> 3rd Republic -> Nazi occupied France -> 4th Republic -> 5th Republic.
Fun Facts: The 2nd Empire was led by Napoleon's nephew, Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who was elected as President of the 2nd Republic. He changed his name to Napoleon III and declared himself Emperor after he was supposed to step down after his 1 term Presidency. Because of this, the 2nd French Republic only lasted 4 years since he was the only President of that particular Republic.
#36
Adolf Hitler had many physical ailments, many of which are known. He had in particular severe stomach cramps and also bouts of insomnia, so his quack doctor (Theodor Morell), in his infinite wisdom, gave Hitler sleeping pills and laxative, resulting in very severe gas problems.
Image credits: llcucf80
#37
A man from New York missed his friends who were fighting in Vietnam. So he traveled thousands of miles to track them down in a combat zone to personally give them beer and letters from home. He even wrote a book about it called The Greatest Beer Run Ever
Image credits: bakedmaga2020
#38
40 dudes held off the German invasion in Belgium for 18 days. They surrendered when they ran out of ammo.
Image credits: reddit
#39
General Santa Anna got captured during the Battle of San Jacinto by the Texians while he was taking a poop. They literally caught him with his pants down.#40
The guy who invented the tube for Pringles had his ashes buried in one#41
Sylvester graham invented graham crackers to prevent masturbation#42
Alexis St. Martin was a voyageur during the fur trading days. He was shot in the stomach and not only lived, he lived with a hole that was open to his stomach.Dr. William Beaumont was the doctor who saved him, but also the one to perform experiments on Alexis.
This is how we know so much about digestion. Because a doctor would drop food on a string in this man's fistula and record what happened.
All those Beaumont hospitals? Yep. Same Doctor William Beaumont. Named after a doctor who, yes, did exploit a patient.
#43
President Andrew Jackson had a pet parrot. Jackson was also a very vulgar man and his parrot learned a lot of curse words from him. At Jackson’s funeral they had to remove the parrot from the funeral because it wouldn’t stop cursing.#44
The way the world is today and an immense portion of its problems can be traced back to one 19 year old kid shooting an archduke in 1914.#45
The fax machine predates the American Civil War.#46
Not only did Australia lose its 17th Prime Minister at the beach (he drowned) but we named a public swimming pool after him.#47
In the mid-1800’s Europe was hit by a huge blight of aphids that were destroying the grape vines so French wine makers sent vines over to the US cause the aphids in the US wouldn’t hurt them thus saving the French wine industry.In WWII the UK sent the Manga Carta and other documents to be stored in Fort Knox with the US gold reserves, France sent a huge portion of the Louvres Art there as well
#48
In 1793, the new United States needed a common measure system. So T. Jefferson wrote to France and they sent some continental measurements to establish new system in the States. Unfortunately, a big storm forced the ship way south and it was intercepted by British pirates. And that is a reason why the USA has imperial and not metric units#49
Early humans use to bore massive holes in each others skulls to cure a myriad of ailments.......... without anesthesia........... and with stone tools.#50
William Lyon Mackenzie King was Canada's longest serving Prime Minister with a total of 21 years in office. He held seances to talk to his dead mother and ask former (dead) Prime Ministers for advice. He also had 3 dogs of the same breed...all named Pat (he also asked them for advice). None of this was known until after he died and people read his diaries#51
In 1518 in Strasbourg, a woman started dancing for no reason. Over the course of a month, 400 other people joined her. Soon close to 50 people would dance themselves to death in what became known as the Dancing Plague of 1518. Realistically, people were probably caught up in a case of mass hysteria. Another theory is that the grain they grew locally was poisoned by ergot fungi. Whatever caused it, I can’t imagine the feeling knowing a family member died because they danced until their heart exploded.#52
In WWII, the US spent 14 million dollars on an ice cream ship#53
Two of Napoleon's Marshalls secured a critical bridge crossing in the war against Austria by casually strolling up to it and insisting to the Austrian sappers that an armistice had been signed. They delayed the destruction of the bridge for long enough for French soldiers to get in position to seize it properly.#54
In Hartlepool, England a monkey was hanged because they thought the monkey was a french spy, they had never seen a monkey or a french person before so they thought that the monkey was speaking french, the monkey was hanged on a beach and there is a statue remembering the monkey#55
Georgy Zhukov had Coke make him 50 cases of Coke that was clear and came in vodka bottles with the red Soviet star on the cap because he would’ve been punished if he had been seen drinking a bottle of Coke which many would consider the ultimate symbol of American capitalism.#56
Shortly before the U.S. Civil War, abolition was such a heated topic that due to it on one occasion a congressman brought a cane to congress and beat another politician with it.#57
Astronaut poop is fine and dandy on the moon.Because bringing back as much moonrock as possible for research was vital, extra space was made in the LM by dumping as much stuff as possible that wasn't esencial for the return voyage, including tools, gear, manuals and of course, human waste containers.
#58
Spain was invading Europe, I think it was the eighty years war, they got as far as Belgium and documented some pretty horrific atrocities, killing and raping civilians and burning whole towns. They let a couple of survivors go to spread fear. Didn't work. By the time they got to the Netherlands people were pissed off with the invaders. It was also nearly winter. The Spanish tried to march on a Dutch city and the Dutch said, screw those guys and flooded the plains between the army and the city. The Spanish didn't fancy wading and drowning so they hopped on their support ships and tried to approach the city from the water except they messed up and by the time the got there the water had frozen and the ships were useless. They formed up on the ice and began once again to march on the city. By this time the Dutch had set boobytraps everywhere, lots of the invaders pitched into freezing water, and where they did manage to engage the Dutch in direct combat, the Dutch turned out on ice skates and fought back, often quickly skating into range, taking a shot and then skating back to safety. The Spanish didn't know what the hell was going on and got their asses kicked by an army on skates. I really want to see this movie one day but I doubt anybody would believe it.#59
The inventor of lobotomy got a Nobel Prize for it.#60
During WWI, Germany converted and armed a passenger cruise liner, the SMS Cap Trafalgar, into a cruiser, and sent to the Atlantic Ocean to disrupt British shipping. Off the coast of Brazil though, when they received word that a British ship was coming to flush out German ships disrupting British shipping, the SMS Cap Trafalgar decided to disguise itself as another ocean liner-turned-cruiser, the HMS Carmania, so that they wouldn't be shot at.The British ship that came to deal with the SMS Cap Trafalgar was... the HMS Carmania.
Which promptly sunk the fake one.
#61
Alright I don't remember the specifics. But there was a king (I believe a sumerian king) who was told by an oracle that "Disaster would befall the king." So he had a gardener crowned as king for a day, and that night the gardener would be executed, thus fulfilling the prophecy and saving the real king.Soon after the gardener's coronation, the real king choked on soup and died. The gardener ruled for 24 years
#62
There is at least one person, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived both Atomic bombs. I don't know if this is incredibly good luck or incredibly bad luck.According to some sources, he was in the middle of describing the Hiroshima bombing when the Nagasaki bomb went off only a few KM away.
#63
Turkmen Bashi, the former dictator of Turkmenistan, made owning a dog illegal due to him thinking they smelled bad.#64
Fidel Castro loved milk so much that when his cow who holds the world record for most milk produced in a day died, he had her taxidermied, had a marble statue of her built and a full eulogy and obituary written for her in his state newspaper, and Cuban scientists have repeatedly tried (and failed) to clone her. Her name was Ubre Blanca, which means White Udder.#65
Andrew Jackson’s 1400 lb block of cheese that just chilled at the White House for 1 1/2 years#66
Carrots don’t actually help improve eyesight. It was a lie made up by the British during WWII to hide their radar technology and explain how British pilots always knew where the Germans were coming from.#67
In WW2 the Polish military officially had a bear join. The bear named Wojtek rose to the rank of Corporal for bravery in combat and killed several nazis. Wojtek was rewarded with cigarettes and beer after fighting and after helping set up camps. After the war, Wojtek lived in a zoo in England. To the zookeeper's dismay soldiers would jump into his enclosure and wrestle with him.#68
Julius Caesar's finest hour in the conquest of Gaul came at the Battle of Alesia, where the leader of the Gauls, Vercingetorix, held a fortified position. The Roman response was to put it under siege, building a wall around it and ensuring that they would starve the Gauls out. However, reinforcements were on their way, so the Romans built a wall around their wall so the incoming Gauls would have to besiege them besieging the original Gauls. It worked, and made Caesar a superstar.#69
John Quincy Adams, Former US President, Would start every day by drinking some whiskey and swimming naked in the Potomac river.#70
Since JFK, every US president carries with him a credit card sized plastic card with the nuclear launch codes, called “the biscuit”. Jimmy Carter accidentally left it in his costume when he sent it to the dry cleaners. Reagan lost his when he was hospitalized after he was shot. When the doctors had to cut open his clothing, the card was stil in his vest. It was later found in a trashbag. Bill Clinton simply misplaced it and couldn’t find it for months.#71
Americans/British used inflatable vehicles that looked like jeeps and tanks to fool the Germans before D Day.#72
Frederick I Holy Roman Emperor drowned because he went for a swim with his armour on#73
Everything Olga of Kiev did after her husband was killed by an opposing tribe (the opposing tribe killed him by tying his legs to trees they'd bent down and then releasing the trees)Cliffs: -Buried 20 men alive -Burning another 20 alive after she'd lured then into a bath house
Slaughtered 5000 of the opposing tribes solders after she'd gotten them piss drunk. -Telling the opposing tribe she'd end the assaults if each house gave her "3 pigeons and 3 sparrows". She then had her soldiers tie sulfur to each of the birds and set them free so that they would return home to nest in their original villages. Eventually the villagers bedtime fires would ignite the sulfur and burn the town to the ground.
Also she's a "saint" in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic church.
#74
A Finnish sniper named Simo Häyhä was able to kill around 500 Soviet soldiers in the Winter War of 1939 by literally hiding in the snow and taking random shots every couple hours. In March 1940 he was struck in the jaw by an explosive bullet and seriously wounded. He was very disfigured, unconcious, and presumed dead when he was found, and later he was thrown onto a pile of bodies. A fellow soldier noticed a leg twitching in the pile and they brought him home alive. He lived to be 96.#75
Just off the top of my head,King Henry I died from eating a giant plate of lampreys (a type of small eel) too fast EDIT: As selacophile has pointed out, lampreys aren't eels, they're a type of jawless fish
Then American Vice President Andrew Johnson was so drunk at his vice presidential inauguration that he could not swear the new congress in and rambled incoherently during his acceptance speech
Pope Stephen VI put the months dead corpse of Pope Formosus on trial for crimes against the papacy, serving as a bishop without being appointed to the clergy, and a couple of other crimes, too. He was dug up, propped up in a chair, and a deacon was made to stand behind the body and speak for him. Formosus was found guilty and punished by having his fingers chopped off and buried in an unmarked grave, then he was dug up and thrown into the Tiber River but the conviction was annulled by a later pope, and reinstated by one of that pope's successors. I believe Formosus is still considered guilty. EDIT: No he isn't.
The Roman Emperor Caligula once declared war on Poseidon Neptune, and had his soldiers fight with the waves and collect conch shells as proof of their victory
#76
That the war between Zanzibar and Britain lasted for only 38 mins. Its the shortest recorded war in history#77
A woman named Violet Jessop survived not only the sinking of the Titanic, but also the destruction of BOTH of the Titanic's sister ships.#78
The giant tortoise didn't have a proper scientific name for over 300 years after it was discovered. This was because no samples were brought back to the Royal Society in London. The reason none made it to London is they were too delicious. The sailors always ate them.#79
Canada and Denmark have been at war since 1984.Sort of.
Hans island: disputed since the 1930's, but since 1984 each country's military visits and erects their flag taking down the other flag. With it a note welcoming the next visitor to Canada or Denmark.
Canadians leave whiskey, Danes leave schnapps.
And the cycle continues.
#80
Australia lost a war against emu’s#81
A quote from Winston Churchill when he was visiting the White house and the president walked in on him buck naked: "The prime minister of the UK has nothing to hide from the president of the US."#82
Tycho Brahe, an astronomer, had a pet moose.That moose later died from a fall down the stairs. Because it was drunk.
#83
During the Spanish American War. The Spanish governor of Guam wasn’t told about the war. When a US warship showed up he was happy to see them, cause he thought they where just visiting. Boy was he wrong.#84
A prominent Roman politician, Publius Clodius Pulcher, dressed as a woman to infiltrate a womans-only religious ceremony in a futile effort to seduce Julius Caesar's wife.Not surprisingly, his plan didn't work. Charges were pressed and caused a very public legal battle for the next 2 years.
At the insistence of his wife, none other than the famous Cicero came to prosecute the case. Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Crassus (yes, the same Crassus of the first triumvirate and richest person in Rome at this point) bribed the jury and Pulcher was acquitted.
In the meantime, Caesar divorced his wife over the affair.
Surprisingly, though, this didn't tank Pulcher's career. Instead, it strengthened his alliance and he became a rather prominent politician. Once he gained more power, he was able to pass a law l, which retroactively applied to Cicero, banishing him from Rome and allowing the state to confiscate or destroy his property. While political inemity was present, much of it was also revenge.
This isn't all. He also employed street gangs to dobhis bidding. Theyd gather at opposing politicians speeches and heckle them. They'd blockade roads so politicians couldn't make it to an important vote. They'd rough up people they didn't like.
Another opposing politician, Milo, didn't care for this up and brought up his own street gangs. The difference was that Milo's gangs were trained by gladiators. General street violence erupted in the streets of Rome.
The street violence caused two delays to important elections and eventually Milo caused the death of Pulcher in scuffle.
When placed on trial, Milo had none other than Cicero, now returned from exile, be his defense lawyer. Despite his best efforts, Milo was exiled.
#85
The guy that my username was named after, King Alfred, pushed back the invading Viking armies and then revolutionized the educational system, social system, legal system and like a dozen other things - there's a reason he's called Alfred the Great. He was also very famously yelled at by an old lady because he was too busy plotting a military campaign to watch the cakes that she had in the oven. I just find it silly that one of the greatest monarchs in English history was yelled at by an old lady for the same kinds of trivial things that people have been angry at eachother over forever - it's an odd juxtaposition.#86
In my country some politicians literally got yeeted out of a window and survived because they fell into some manure. They started a war with the ones who yeeted them after.#87
When more people began started switching to skim milk dairy farmers had tons of milk fat left over so they stored it all in some caves in Missouri. This lead the USDA to open a department on Dairy Management to figure out what to do with it.Want to know why almost every fast food item comes with so much cheese? That’s why.
#88
William Henry Harrison was elected president. The day of his inauguration it was rainy and cold and he didn’t wear a hat or a coat, thereby thumbing his nose at moms everywhere. Then later he died of pneumonia. 31 days in office.#89
The Roman emperor Nero fell in love with Poppaea Sabina, the wife of his good friend Otho (a future emperor himself). Poppaea Sabina and Otho divorced (Otho was conveniently sent away to be governor of Lusitania), and Poppaea Sabina and Nero were married. Poppaea Sabina died while pregnant with their second child— some claim that her death was the result of Nero kicking her in the stomach.Nero was devastated by her death. He thought a young freedman, Sporus, looked like Poppaea Sabina, so he had Sporus castrated, married him, and called him Poppaea.
When Nero was forced to flee from Rome, Sporus/Poppaea was one of his only companions. Nero committed ritual suicide when it became clear his turn as emperor was over, and Sporus/Poppaea was with him at the end.
After Nero’s death, Sporus/Poppaea briefly fell into the care of the Praetorian prefect who had betrayed Nero and had tried, unsuccessfully, to make himself emperor. He also called Sporus/Poppaea Poppaea, and referred to him as his wife. The prefect didn’t last long.
In the end, Sporus/Poppaea ended up with Otho, the original husband of the original Poppaea Sabina. They lived the rest of their (very short) lives together. (Otho became emperor, lost a big battle, and committed suicide. Sporus/Poppaea killed himself shortly after.)
#90
Castrato. Chop em off before puberty! Little boy voice forever with long arms and ribs. Good for opera roles, but pants roles and countertenors are there too.#91
That guy Buzz Aldrin punched for denying the moon landing.#92
Live pigs were hung from battlements as a defense against siege elephants.#93
There was an instance in the 18th century when the 8th French hussar and the 15th line infantry regiment captured a Dutch fleet of ships because the water froze over while they were docked. The French just rode up and told them to surrender and this is the only example of a calvary and infantry regiment defeating a naval fleet out in the water#94
A guy from Nashville, William Walker, became the president of Nicaragua and later was murdered in Honduras bc he tried some more nonsense there.#95
The world’s first submarine attack took place September 6, 1776 during the American Revolution. The craft was called the Turtle and was essentially a giant oak and metal Christmas ornament powered by two hand-cranked propellers. It was designed to attach waterproofed explosives to the hulls of British warships. However, the pilot kept hitting metal plating when trying to attach the bomb and abandoned the mission due to dwindling air supply all subsequent missions were failures as well, and eventually the ship transporting the Turtle was sunk with the vessel onboard.Also, during WW2, Americans tried to develop pigeon-guided missiles. The idea was that they would be guided by a pigeon inside the missile, pecking at the target, visible through a windshield in the missile. All the simulation tests proved it could be done, but sadly Project Pigeon, as it was called, was never given the funding it needed to become a reality.
#96
There was a genuine plan, that was championed by its supporters for decades in the early 20th century, to create a colossal dam across the Strait of Gibraltar, in order to lower the sea level of the Mediterranean by roughly 200 metres.The plan was called Atlantropa, and those who believed in it thought it would lead to huge amounts of new land from the lowered coastline, unlimited energy from the hydroelectric dam, and improved relations throughout Europe and North Africa.
These people apparently failed to realise that the new land would be salt pans, utterly useless for settling, and that there literally wasn't enough concrete on earth to build the dam.
#97
Anne Frank’s diary was full of masturbation that was later cut outfrom Bored Panda https://bit.ly/3lREU6x
via Boredpanda
