History
Discover facts about history. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
History
Mayans threw raw jade into deep water pools
The rain god Chaac lived at the bottom of dark cenotes, and he allegedly loved expensive rocks. Mayans routinely chucked priceless, carved jade artifacts…
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The king who threw garbage at his own dukes
King Ferdinand I of Naples fiercely hated the stuffy aristocrats of his own court. He routinely dressed in ragged clothing, sneaked out of the palace, and…
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A doctor infected himself with syphilis
This dedicated physician used a needle from a patient to infect himself with syphilis. Unfortunately, the patient also had gonorrhea, giving Hunter an…
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The US borrowed British money to buy Louisiana
Nothing screams geopolitical irony like paying your former colonizer to help you buy land. In 1803, the US desperately wanted to buy the Louisiana Territory…
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Mohist philosophers advocated for impartial care
Around 400 BC, Mozi decided that tribalism was exhausting and proposed 'jian ai'—universal, impartial care for literally everyone. Naturally, the rational…
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Africa's earthworks rival the world's biggest monuments
Digging a basic defensive ditch is standard military practice, but doing it for thousands of miles requires absolutely staggering levels of completely manual…
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When white was a mourning color at weddings
Long before it became the standard symbol of bridal purity, wearing white to your wedding was basically screaming for a funeral. In 1558, Mary…
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The vice president who showed up drunk to his inauguration
Talk about showing up absolutely hammered to your first day of work. Before Lincoln's assassination promoted him to the top job, Johnson tried to cure a…
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The emperor who slapped European royals
Nothing diffuses tense international diplomacy quite like getting randomly assaulted by the Emperor of Germany. Wilhelm II was infamously immature and loved…
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Newton put a needle behind his own eye
The line between unparalleled scientific genius and absolute madness is terrifyingly thin. While trying to understand how the human eye perceives light,…
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Early fiber optic cables were made of spun glass
Before we used it to stream endless cat videos, sending light through glass was just a Victorian-era parlour trick. Nineteenth-century physicists discovered…
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How Puritan couples dated in sleeping bags
To actively prevent premarital intimacy, young lovers were tightly zipped into restrictive blankets or separated by a literal wooden board while lying in bed…
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Boston once banned Christmas celebrations
The original war on Christmas was waged by highly religious Christians. The Massachusetts Bay Puritans found the holiday way too fun and pagan, despising the…
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Romans roasted dormice with honey
Why eat potato chips when you can consume a terrified rodent? High-status Romans considered dormice a massive delicacy. They would raise these oversized mice…
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Why court musicians went deaf
Working incredibly closely to loudly blasting brass horns takes a massive toll on delicate human eardrums. Surrounded entirely by aggressively booming…
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He went to space in one country and returned to another
Talk about coming back from vacation to an absolute mess. Sergei Krikalev went to the Mir space station in May 1991 as a proud Soviet citizen. While he was…
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Manhattan's famous sale may have been a misunderstanding
The greatest swindle in real estate history involved a few shiny beads and some utter confusion. In 1626, Dutch colonists supposedly bought the island of…
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Canadian researchers extracted insulin to save diabetics
Before the 1920s, a diabetes diagnosis was functionally a death sentence managed only by starvation diets. Researchers finally figured out how to extract a…
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The warships with roofs covered in iron spikes
Hand-to-hand combat at sea is messy, so ancient naval engineers decided to just make stepping onto their boats a lethal endeavor. Korean 'Turtle Ships' were…
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How French armies spread one legal code across Europe
Nothing helps you accept a brand new civil legal system quite like an invading army burning down your town. As French forces relentlessly marched across…
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People used to cover filthy floors with fresh grass
When the dirt floor got way too filthy with rotting food scraps and dog droppings, they just threw a fresh layer of dried grass right on top of the mess.
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The inventor who hated holding doors open
Chivalry didn't die; it was engineered away. The revolving door was specifically patented by a man who harbored an intense, burning hatred for the social…
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The border war fueled by pork and beans
International diplomacy has never been pettier. The Aroostook War was a bloodless border confrontation between the US and British North America over the…
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The sultanate where rulers were often assassinated
Peaceful transitions of power are incredibly boring, so this heavily militarized empire just normalized completely violent turnover. If a ruling leader showed…
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