History
Discover facts about history. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
History
Steven Spielberg helped turn World War II into a video game
The legendary cinematic director wasn't satisfied just traumatizing audiences with 'Saving Private Ryan'. Spielberg personally spearheaded the creation of…
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The Vatican has its own soccer team
Even the holy see wants a shot at the World Cup. Comprised entirely of Swiss Guards, papal employees, and local museum guards, the tiny country fields its own…
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When the Soviet Union gave everyone different weekends
Why let people rest together when you can stagger their weekends to maximize factory output? In 1929, the calendar was completely abolished in favor of a…
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The pope who quit after five months
Sometimes the dream job is actually a total nightmare. An intensely introverted hermit, he was essentially forced into the papacy, realized the Vatican…
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How King John lost the crown jewels at sea
The absolute worst baggage handler in royal history. While fleeing across a tidal estuary known as the Wash, the king miscalculated the incoming tide, and his…
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A palace ceiling killed Pope John XXI
You can be the spiritual leader of millions, but you still can't trust dodgy contractors. After having a special secluded study constructed in his palace to…
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Spanish royal court required women to wear huge hoop skirts
Personal space wasn't an option; it was structurally enforced. The Spanish farthingale was an enormous, rigid skirt frame made of willow and whalebone that…
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The Olympics once held a hot-air ballooning event
Because normal racing wasn't pretentious enough, the 1900 Games included a literal ballooning event. Competitors were judged on how far they could float and…
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Pineapples were once rented as status symbols
In Georgian England, nothing screamed 'I have old money' quite like hauling a spiky tropical fruit to a high-society dinner party. Because growing a pineapple…
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Why German soldiers called kilted Scots Ladies from Hell
Real men wear skirts directly into heavy artillery fire, a fact the Scottish regiments proudly demonstrated during World War I. Marching into bloody battles…
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One Impressionist painted Paris from hotel windows instead of going outdoors
Going outside to paint landscapes is entirely too much effort. The famous impressionist got so lazy in his later years that he just booked high-rise hotel…
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The king with a hidden Death to Kings tattoo
The ultimate case of extreme career hypocrisy. Before unexpectedly becoming the King of Sweden, he was a hardcore French revolutionary who got a massive…
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Cardinal Richelieu kept fourteen pampered cats
Ruthless political manipulation requires a soft, fuzzy counterbalance. The terrifying French statesman practically built a feline sanctuary in his palace,…
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The tsar who made guards watch his toy-soldier parades
Being the ruler of a massive empire wasn't nearly as fun as playing with wooden figurines. He forced his elite royal guards to stand in full uniform and watch…
Discover moreA Spanish king reportedly synchronized every clock in his palace
When you have absolute power but zero chill. The Spanish monarch developed a deeply neurotic obsession with timekeeping, spending his days pacing around his…
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The writer who hoarded stacks of blank paper
The anxiety of a blank page is much worse when you own thousands of them. He developed a compulsive need to hoard fresh reams of paper, filling his entire…
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Alexandre Dumas raced his own ghostwriter
When you farm out your novels, you have to maintain dominance somehow. The author of 'The Three Musketeers' literally challenged his own hired collaborator to…
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Napoleon wrote a romance about his heartbreak
Before he tried to conquer the known world, he tried to conquer the literary market. He penned a deeply melodramatic novella called 'Clisson et Eugenie' just…
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Lope de Vega churned out exactly three thousand sonnets
When you have absolutely no quality control but boundless energy. The Spanish playwright wrote at such a terrifying, chaotic speed that he successfully…
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Vladimir Nabokov hunted butterflies between novels
Writing highly controversial novels wasn't time-consuming enough. The author spent hundreds of hours hiking around mountains with a giant net, aggressively…
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A French author walked a pig on a leash
Because French intellectuals absolutely refused to own normal animals. The cynical author adopted a completely ordinary pig, put a very nice collar on it, and…
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Taras Shevchenko hid his personal writings in his boots
When your diaries are literal contraband, footwear becomes a filing cabinet. The poet was under such extreme surveillance that he walked around for years with…
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Cyrano de Bergerac imagined reaching the Moon with dew
Centuries before rockets, this eccentric Frenchman decided he knew exactly how space travel would work. He wrote a fully earnest manuscript detailing how to…
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The writer who walked a lobster on a leash
Why get a dog when you can drag a crustacean across the Parisian cobblestones? The French writer claimed lobsters were the perfect pets because they don't…
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