History
Discover facts about history. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
History
The Wii was almost called the Nintendo Revolution
A powerful, aggressive codename that perfectly described their plan to upend the controller landscape was completely discarded. They ultimately went with a…
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First footing dictated your new year fortune
The exact characteristics of the very first person to walk through your door on January first supposedly locked in your household's luck for the next twelve…
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Why old mattresses had to be beaten every morning
If you didn't aggressively smack your bed with a large stick, all the assorted bugs and mice would get a little too comfortable inside your sleeping space.
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Chinese emperors fully believed they held a cosmic mandate
Losing a war is embarrassing, but losing the approval of the entire universe is a real career killer. The 'Mandate of Heaven' meant that Chinese emperors…
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The tree that was arrested for over a century
When an intoxicated official feels deeply threatened by the local foliage, swift justice must happen. A very drunk officer ordered a large banyan tree to be…
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Why ancient Egyptians worshipped cats
Feline worship wasn't just cute; it was intense agricultural security. Egypt's wealth relied heavily on massive stores of grain, which constantly attracted…
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How volcanic ash helped waterproof ancient buildings
Leaky stone roofs are a massive inconvenience, so builders began mixing localized volcanic ash into their stucco. This created an incredibly durable,…
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When doctors prescribed smelling farts for the plague
When your doctor’s best medical advice is essentially 'pull my finger.' During the Black Death, physicians believed the disease was caused by bad air. Their…
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Why Victorian cemeteries were full of weeping willows
Victorians practically fetishized sadness, arbitrarily deciding that the droopy, highly melancholic look of the weeping willow was the only acceptable tree…
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When sliding on ice became a crime
The incredibly strict Metropolitan Police Act of 1839 explicitly targeted the terrifying "nuisance" of having fun in winter. It legally criminalized making…
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Why making soy sauce once took years
Getting that absolutely perfect umami flavor required massive wooden barrels and a level of deep culinary patience modern humanity no longer possesses.
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The monkey sent into Siberian exile
Even pets weren't safe from Siberian exile. In the 1740s, a monkey owned by a disgraced noble was legally included in its owner's punishment and officially…
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The Silk Road was a relay, not a journey
Despite the romantic idea of a lone traveler walking from one side of the continent to the other, almost nobody ever did that. The famous trade network…
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The amateur who found Troy—and damaged it
Sometimes discovering history requires a shocking lack of academic finesse. For centuries, everyone assumed Homer's Troy was purely fictional. Enter Heinrich…
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The Sphinx once had a stone beard
Carving an entirely deeply completely massive creature featuring a human head onto a deeply entirely lion's body is deeply entirely already weird enough. But…
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Why Einstein stopped wearing socks
The smartest man in the world refused to participate in basic footwear hygiene. Einstein realized early on that the big toe inevitably punches a hole in the…
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Mendel failed his teaching exams despite his genius mind
The man who discovered the fundamental laws of genetics was ironically deemed completely unqualified to teach high school science. Gregor Mendel took the…
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The rulers who tried to outsmart poison
Paranoia makes you do crazy things, like micro-dosing arsenic with breakfast. King Mithridates VI popularized the idea, but Roman emperors adopted the…
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Why Harriet Tubman carried a pistol on the Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman absolutely did not have time for cowards on the Underground Railroad. Guiding runaway slaves through swamps to freedom was highly illegal and…
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1920 Haiyuan earthquake fractured the earth
Because sometimes the ground just decides it is finished cooperating. The intense shaking literally tore massive rifts into the dry landscape, causing massive…
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Romans believed spilling salt summoned evil
Since salt was an incredibly valuable preservative, wasting it wasn't just careless; it was practically demonic. Romans believed knocking over a salt cellar…
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How two U's became the letter W
Turns out, the alphabet was crowd-sourced by lazy scribes. Before the 7th century, there was no 'W' to represent the sound, so writers just lazily smashed two…
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Roman engineers constructed giant gravity-fed water systems
When you want a luxury spa experience but live miles from a fresh spring, you simply reshape the earth to accommodate you. Roman engineers built massive,…
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When the Olympics included horse long jump
Why let humans have all the jumping fun when you can launch a thousand-pound animal through the air? The 1900 Games tested equine leaping abilities, but the…
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