History
Discover facts about history. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
History
Herodotus mistook marmots for gold-mining ants
A Persian term for marmots was translated as “mountain ants.” The animals dug in gold-rich soil, and a translation turned burrowing rodents into Herodotus’s…
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Byron brought a bear to Cambridge when college rules barred dogs.
Byron brought a bear to Cambridge when college rules barred dogs. In an 1807 letter, he described his new bear and joked about it seeking a fellowship. The…
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In the winter of 1795, French troops reached a Dutch fleet trapped in ice near Den Helder.
In the winter of 1795, French troops reached a Dutch fleet trapped in ice near Den Helder. Cavalry could approach ships that could not sail away, an…
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The CIA explored turning a cat into a listening device.
The CIA explored turning a cat into a listening device. Project Acoustic Kitty investigated using an animal fitted with surveillance equipment. A declassified…
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The Royal Navy once banned forks
The Navy treated forks as an effeminate Italian custom, so sailors were expected to eat with knives or their fingers. At sea, even cutlery came with a chain…
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Why Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey to the eagle
Franklin was mocking the Society of the Cincinnati's eagle emblem, not drafting a bird-selection plan. The eagle stole fish; the turkey was native to America…
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A famous Napoleon anecdote gives the rabbits the upper hand.
A famous Napoleon anecdote gives the rabbits the upper hand. The story says a hunt was stocked with tame rabbits that ran toward the assembled men instead of…
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Queen Victoria was prescribed cannabis for menstrual pain
Reynolds called concentrated cannabis tinctures “one of the most valuable medicines we possess,” treating them as a serious remedy, not a novelty.
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Pope Stephen VI ordered the nine-month-old corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, to be dug up, dressed in papal vestments, and put on trial in 897.
Pope Stephen VI ordered the nine-month-old corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, to be dug up, dressed in papal vestments, and put on trial in 897. A…
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When 30 congressmen turned the House floor into a brawl
Rising tensions over slavery turned the House floor into a fight involving more than 30 congressmen. Then a punch knocked off a Mississippi representative’s…
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When two writers dueled over a poem
In the 17th century, Charles-Claude Genest and another French writer argued over a point of syntax in a poem and drew swords. One was badly wounded.
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John Adams made switching from tea to coffee a political choice
In a 1774 letter to Abigail, Adams described being told that tea was no longer patriotic and declared that he would give it up. The drink had become entangled…
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Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, and Tito all spent time in Vienna in 1913
They were there for different reasons, before the revolutions and wars that made their names inseparable from 20th-century politics. Sharing a city does not…
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Benjamin Franklin proposed making farts smell better.
Benjamin Franklin proposed making farts smell better. His satirical 1781 essay urged a learned academy to investigate a way to perfume intestinal gas. He…
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Bayer once sold heroin as a cough remedy.
Bayer once sold heroin as a cough remedy. At the turn of the 20th century, the company marketed it as an alternative to morphine, with disastrously optimistic…
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President Andrew Jackson owned a pet African grey parrot named Poll who had to be removed from Jackson's funeral in 1845 because she wouldn't stop swearing.
President Andrew Jackson owned a pet African grey parrot named Poll who had to be removed from Jackson's funeral in 1845 because she wouldn't stop swearing.…
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The Anglo-Zanzibar War was over in less than an hour.
The Anglo-Zanzibar War was over in less than an hour. On August 27, 1896, British warships bombarded the palace after Sultan Khalid refused an ultimatum to…
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Bohemian Protestants kicked off the Thirty Years' War in 1618 by literally tossing three Catholic officials out of a third-story window in Prague.
Bohemian Protestants kicked off the Thirty Years' War in 1618 by literally tossing three Catholic officials out of a third-story window in Prague. All three…
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Boston's leaking molasses tank was painted brown before it burst.
Boston's leaking molasses tank was painted brown before it burst. Residents had noticed syrup escaping from the tank; according to the city's account, the…
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A Roman poet turned white teeth into a filthy insult.
A Roman poet turned white teeth into a filthy insult. In poem 39, Catullus mocks Egnatius for grinning at inappropriate moments, then attributes his bright…
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Liechtenstein's last military expedition became an extra-soldier legend.
Liechtenstein's last military expedition became an extra-soldier legend. The country sent troops to guard an Alpine pass in 1866 and later abolished its army.…
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The bizarre plan to build an aircraft carrier from ice
Pykrete—ice reinforced with wood pulp—was tough and slow to melt, but a 2,000-foot floating runway still needed refrigeration. The material solved one…
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Roman toilets had a sponge-on-a-stick before toilet paper
Ancient accounts describe a tersorium, a sponge attached to a handle and associated with cleaning after using the toilet. Its handle kept the cleaning surface…
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Aztec warriors fitted wooden weapons with volcanic-glass blades
Aztec warriors set razor-sharp obsidian blades into wooden clubs. The volcanic glass could take an exceptionally fine edge, though it was brittle—a formidable…
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