History Facts
History is rich with fascinating and sometimes unbelievable things, so learn more about it with this regularly-updated list of history facts.
During World War 1, Harry Houdini took 1 year off performing to help sell war bonds and teach american soldiers how to escape from German handcuffs.
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Pineapples were such a status symbol in 18th century England that you could rent one for the evening to take to a party.
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Early American humans hunted car-size armadillos and used their shells for houses.
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In 1518, a "dancing plague" struck Strasbourg, Alsace, whereby hundreds of people danced fervently in the streets over the period of a month. Some suffered heart attacks or strokes, and many others died from sheer exhaustion. It remains unexplained.
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In 2011, a couple bought a box of textbooks for $10. Inside, they found a 25-cent bill signed by the president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, and subsequently sold it for $63,250.
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Leonardo Da Vinci loved animals so much that he used to buy caged animals at the market just to set them free.
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The exact cause of death and burial site of Genghis Khan is unknown, because all of the 2000 funeral guests and 800 soldiers were killed in order to preserve the secret.
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In 1700s, the deer skin was a common medium of exchange between the trading settlers and the native Red Indians in America. This is how a buck became a slang for a dollar.
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The site where the Parthenon was built had to be cleared of hundreds of dinosaur bones (then called giants' bones) before construction could begin.
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A monk had once written over a book that contained information about calculus that was written by Archimedes in ancient Greece that could have made us 100 or even 1000 years more mathematically and technologically advanced.
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In 1958, a nuclear bomb was lost somewhere along the swampy coast of Georgia. Its whereabouts remain a mystery to this day.
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France’s King Louis XIV was offered biological weapons by an Italian chemist. He not only refused, but also paid the chemist an annual salary to never reveal the technology to anyone else.
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Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: spades - King David, clubs - Alexander the Great, hearts - Charlemagne, and diamonds - Julius Caesar.
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There is a 600 year old 240 paged book called the Voynich Manuscript, that’s written language is still completely unknown today.
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Al Capone's armored limousine, after being seized by the feds, was later used to protect Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), 32nd President of the US, after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
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Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.
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During the Cold War, the US had planned to detonate a nuclear weapon on the moon.
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Modern humans first appeared about 200,000 years ago, but record keeping didn't begin until about 6,000 years ago. That means about 97% of human history is lost.
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There's a bar in Ireland (presently named Sean’s Bar) that was opened in 900AD.
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A female photographer in the 50s took tens of thousands of pictures and remained remained unknown until her death. She is now considered one of the most important street photographers ever.
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