stackyFACTS
History

Anglo-Portuguese treaty is the oldest active military pact

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

While other nations constantly backstabbed their closest allies on a weekly basis, these two strictly maritime powers signed a pact in the late 1300s and incredibly just stuck to it. Hundreds of years and completely shifting global alliances later, this deeply dusty diplomatic promise technically means they still have each other's backs.

Anglo-Portuguese treaty is the oldest active military pact
STACKY / History
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

History →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
When kings exchanged hostages for peace
History

When kings exchanged hostages for peace

Pinky promises meant nothing in medieval diplomacy, so kings relied on human collateral. To ensure a peace treaty actually held up for more than ten minutes,…

Discover more
Signing absurd treaties that effectively gave away entire massive peninsulas for practically nothing
History

Signing absurd treaties that effectively gave away entire massive peninsulas for practically nothing

In a stunning display of geographical ignorance, diplomats routinely traded vast tracts of wilderness for completely useless trinkets. These spectacularly…

Discover more
Popes once punished entire countries with an Interdict
History

Popes once punished entire countries with an Interdict

When a king refused to do exactly what the church commanded, the Pope wouldn't just excommunicate him; he would hit the entire nation with an 'Interdict.'…

Discover more
History

Admiral Zheng He navigated colossal Ming dynasty treasure ships across the Indian Ocean to deliver a live East African giraffe to the Yongle Emperor who promptly declared the…

Nothing says 'we are the absolute center of the universe' quite like shipping a giraffe halfway across the planet just to brag. Long before European colonial…

Discover more
Why Herbert Hoover spoke Mandarin in the White House
History

Why Herbert Hoover spoke Mandarin in the White House

Nothing screams 'healthy work environment' quite like needing a secret language to speak to your spouse. Hoover and his wife learned Mandarin while living…

Discover more
How Maria Theresa turned her children into alliances
History

How Maria Theresa turned her children into alliances

Why negotiate complex treaties when you can just export your offspring? Maria Theresa viewed her sixteen children as highly effective chess pieces, marrying…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store