History
Discover facts about history. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
History
Jimmy Carter once reported seeing a UFO
Decades before conspiracy theorists were raiding Area 51, a future U.S. President was officially logging sightings of unidentified flying craft. While waiting…
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Why armor was banned in Parliament
Political debates often get intensely heated, but 14th-century British lawmakers took it to an entirely literal extreme. The 'Statute Forbidding Bearing of…
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Blackbeard went into battle with a burning beard
Edward Teach understood that 90% of a pirate's job is purely theatrical marketing. To ensure his enemies surrendered without a fight, Blackbeard would weave…
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Investigators stare intensely at corkboards to solve cases
No criminal enterprise can be toppled without a massive bulletin board covered in red yarn and thumbtacks. Detectives will stand silently in front of this…
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Zimbabwe really had a president named Canaan Banana
It sounds like a ridiculous fictional name written by a comedian, but it was incredibly real. Canaan Banana served as the very first President of Zimbabwe…
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John Paul Jones's bizarre raid on Britain
During the American Revolution, everyone was focused on the colonies, except for one fiercely petty naval commander. John Paul Jones decided the best defense…
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Blurry photos of woods automatically indicate murder
A well-lit forest is a lovely place for a hike, but apply a sepia filter and artificially lower the frame rate, and it instantly becomes a mass grave.…
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The US detonated a nuclear bomb in space in 1962
In an era defined by deeply awful decisions, detonating a massive nuclear warhead right in the Earth's magnetic field easily takes the cake. Operation…
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Andrew Jackson beat an assassin with his walking cane
When an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence attempted to shoot the President in 1835, both of his heavily loaded pistols miraculously misfired.…
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When sheep replaced White House groundskeepers
During World War I, the federal government decided they needed to aggressively cut costs on absolutely everything, including the landscaping budget. President…
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Benjamin Harrison was afraid to touch light switches
Being the first President to have electricity installed in the White House sounds like a flex, until you realize he was utterly petrified of it. Benjamin…
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The alien invasion pact Reagan proposed to Gorbachev
Nothing unites two bitter nuclear superpowers quite like the entirely hypothetical threat of little green men. In 1985, Ronald Reagan directly asked Mikhail…
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Alexander the Great used giant armor to scare enemies
When you want to thoroughly psych out your enemies, gaslighting them with oversized clothing is a genuinely elite strategy. During his retreat from India,…
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Every small town is described as a peaceful community
No matter how many terrifying events actually occur there, the obligatory opening statement for any investigation is that 'things like this just don't happen…
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A pet monkey was hanged as a French spy
During the Napoleonic Wars, the sheer, blinding panic of the British public led to a spectacularly stupid miscarriage of justice. A shipwreck washed up in…
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Davy Jones may have been a murderous pub owner
Before he was highly romanticized as a terrifying sea-spirit guarding the bottom of the ocean, the legendary figure was likely just a completely awful British…
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Dramatic reenactments feature overly aggressive typing
When a stand-in actor needs to portray a cyber-criminal or an intense detective, they resort to furiously smashing their keyboard as if it personally insulted…
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Why the US built a fake town for a nuclear test
Sometimes the military has entirely too much money and an intense desire to blow up a suburb. During the Cold War, the US constructed 'Survival Town' out in…
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Why cold cases lean on blurry video
The entire foundation of a compelling cold case rests on the shoulders of the worst security camera ever manufactured. Investigators will point to a clump of…
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Neighbors always thought the serial killer was quiet
It is a statistical certainty that every horrifying criminal in broadcasting lived next door to an oblivious retiree who thought they were a perfect…
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The president who received two tiger cubs
Who needs a guard dog when you can have apex predators wandering the halls of government? The Sultan of Oman wildly gifted President Martin Van Buren a pair…
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Documentaries stretch single facts into ten episodes
Why resolve a mystery in ninety minutes when you can milk it for ten agonizing hours? Creators have mastered the art of padding runtimes by repeating the…
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Nixon asked Lincoln and Kennedy for advice
Under the immense, soul-crushing pressure of the Watergate scandal, Nixon's grip on reality completely evaporated. Wandering the halls of the White House late…
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The president who got a speeding ticket
You can be the hero of the Civil War and the sitting President of the United States, but you still can't outrun a grumpy local cop. Grant had a notorious…
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