History Facts
History is rich with fascinating and sometimes unbelievable things, so learn more about it with this regularly-updated list of history facts.
In Ancient Egypt, some people paid their taxes in honey.
152
When the Egyptians destroyed Libya in the 13th century B.C. they took 13,230 penises of the conquered enemies as trophies.
220
The life expectancy in 1900 was just 47 years.
49
In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.
130
The first semi-permanent settlements appeared in Florida around 5000 B.C.
10
The flushing toilet was invented in 1596, not by Thomas Crapper as most people think, but by Sir John Harington.
98
Vikings used the skulls of their enemies as drinking vessels.
169
The first coast-to-coast telephone line was established in 1914.
33
The Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship resulting from the diplomatic relationship between the United States and France.
97
Napoleon constructed his battle plans in a sandbox.
573
The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
149
The range of a medieval long-bow is 220 yards.
78
Approximately 25,000 workers died during the building of the Panama Canal, and approximately 20,000 of them contracted malaria and yellow fever.
14
Because metal was scarce; the Oscars given out during World War II were made of plaster.
40
Cleopatra married two of her brothers.
47
During World War II, Uncle Ben's was the exclusive supplier of rice to the U.S. Armed Forces.
23
Early Romans used to use porcupine quills as toothpicks.
27
In 1897, Bayer, who is the maker of Aspirin, marketed the drug heroin.
56
Leonardo da Vinci was dyslexic, and he often wrote backwards.
77
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had only one testicle.
117