History
Discover facts about history. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
History
Vikings used the bones of dead animals to forge their swords, believing that the spirit of the animal would transfer into the weapon and make it significantly more powerful in battle.
Vikings used the bones of dead animals to forge their swords, believing that the spirit of the animal would transfer into the weapon and make it significantly…
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Marie Curie's notebooks retain physical traces of her experiments.
Marie Curie's notebooks retain physical traces of her experiments. Radioactive particles from laboratory materials settled onto hands, covers, and pages as…
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Abraham Lincoln is the only United States president to ever secure a patent, having designed a device to lift boats over shoals and obstructions in shallow rivers.
Abraham Lincoln is the only United States president to ever secure a patent, having designed a device to lift boats over shoals and obstructions in shallow…
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Plutarch described Spartan money that was a nuisance to hoard.
Plutarch described Spartan money that was a nuisance to hoard. In his account of Lycurgus, wealth was deliberately made bulky: iron money replaced precious…
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Alexander's body became a prize in the fight over his empire.
Alexander's body became a prize in the fight over his empire. After Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE, Ptolemy diverted the funeral procession to Egypt.…
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A roof tile brought down the king behind 'Pyrrhic victory'.
A roof tile brought down the king behind 'Pyrrhic victory'. Plutarch tells how an elderly woman in Argos threw a tile at Pyrrhus while he fought her son. The…
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Boston Corbett was the deeply eccentric Union soldier who famously shot and killed John Wilkes Booth, but he is equally notable for having casually castrated himself with a pair of scissors.
Boston Corbett was the deeply eccentric Union soldier who famously shot and killed John Wilkes Booth, but he is equally notable for having casually castrated…
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Chairman Mao Zedong initiated the Four Pests Campaign in 1958, ordering the entire population of China to aggressively exterminate sparrows because he mistakenly believed the…
Chairman Mao Zedong initiated the Four Pests Campaign in 1958, ordering the entire population of China to aggressively exterminate sparrows because he…
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Alexander Graham Bell tried to locate a president's bullet.
Alexander Graham Bell tried to locate a president's bullet. After James Garfield was shot in 1881, Bell brought an experimental electrical detector to help…
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A potato legend turns guards into an advertisement.
A potato legend turns guards into an advertisement. In the story, French potato promoter Antoine-Augustin Parmentier posted guards by his crop during the day…
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Persian forces defeated the Egyptian army at the Battle of Pelusium in 525 BC by literally carrying cats into battle, knowing the Egyptians worshipped the animals and would not risk harming them.
Persian forces defeated the Egyptian army at the Battle of Pelusium in 525 BC by literally carrying cats into battle, knowing the Egyptians worshipped the…
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Pyrrhus won the battle that made victory sound dangerous.
Pyrrhus won the battle that made victory sound dangerous. After fighting Rome at Asculum in 279 BCE, Pyrrhus had lost men he could not easily replace.…
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French women in the 16th and 17th centuries could legally drag their husbands into court and demand a divorce on the singular grounds of male impotence.
French women in the 16th and 17th centuries could legally drag their husbands into court and demand a divorce on the singular grounds of male impotence. The…
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Norse literature gave the gods their own insult battle.
Norse literature gave the gods their own insult battle. In Lokasenna, Loki confronts the gods with accusations and cutting replies at a gathering. The…
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Humanity's deepest borehole is narrower than a dinner plate.
Humanity's deepest borehole is narrower than a dinner plate. The Kola Superdeep Borehole reached 12,262 meters into the crust, yet the hole was only about…
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ABC paired Buckley and Vidal for a televised political clash in 1968.
ABC paired Buckley and Vidal for a televised political clash in 1968. During the presidential conventions, the conservative and liberal commentators turned…
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An ancient account describes Goujian using prisoners’ deaths to distract an opposing army.
An ancient account describes Goujian using prisoners’ deaths to distract an opposing army. Men killed themselves in front of the enemy line, drawing the…
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An attack on a trade caravan helped unleash a Mongol invasion.
An attack on a trade caravan helped unleash a Mongol invasion. In 1218, a Khwarezmian governor seized a Mongol caravan at Otrar and had its merchants killed.…
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A medieval duel manual put one fighter in a hole.
A medieval duel manual put one fighter in a hole. Hans Talhoffer’s 15th-century illustrations show a man fighting from a waist-deep pit with a club while a…
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Soviet intelligence agents attempted to blackmail Indonesian President Sukarno during the Cold War by secretly filming him participating in a massive, enthusiastic orgy with…
Soviet intelligence agents attempted to blackmail Indonesian President Sukarno during the Cold War by secretly filming him participating in a massive,…
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The White House once kept a cow for its milk supply.
The White House once kept a cow for its milk supply. President William Howard Taft's household had Pauline Wayne, a Holstein cow who became a celebrity as…
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Brescia suffered a catastrophic disaster in 1769 when a totally random lightning strike hit the Bastion of San Nazaro, which the Republic of Venice was brilliantly using to store…
Brescia suffered a catastrophic disaster in 1769 when a totally random lightning strike hit the Bastion of San Nazaro, which the Republic of Venice was…
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Roman arena attendants could turn corpse removal into mythology.
Roman arena attendants could turn corpse removal into mythology. The early Christian writer Tertullian described a figure dressed as Mercury checking bodies…
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Greek and Bulgarian forces fought a brief but deadly conflict in 1925 known as the War of the Stray Dog, which allegedly began when a Greek soldier chased his runaway pet across the border.
Greek and Bulgarian forces fought a brief but deadly conflict in 1925 known as the War of the Stray Dog, which allegedly began when a Greek soldier chased his…
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