History Facts

    Random History Facts

    There are 163 History Facts!

    The life expectancy in 1900 was just 47 years.
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    Knocker-Up
    Knocker-Up
    Until the 1920s, there was a profession called 'knocker-up', which involved going from client to client and tapping on their windows (or banging on their doors) with long sticks until they woke up.
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    Derinkuyu Underground City
    Derinkuyu Underground City
    In 1963, a man found a mysterious room behind a wall in his home that lead to a huge underground city that once housed up to 20,000 people, complete with schools, livestock pens, and food stores, dating back over a millennium.
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    The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C.
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    Candle Clocks
    Candle Clocks
    Before clocks, there were candle clocks that when burned, indicated the passage of periods of time. To set an alarm, you pushed a nail into the desired point and the nail would fall and clank on the metal holder.
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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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    There's a bar in Ireland (presently named Sean’s Bar) that was opened in 900AD.
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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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