Approximately 25,000 workers died during the building of the Panama Canal, and approximately 20,000 of them contracted malaria and yellow fever.
14
During the Gold Rush in 1849, some people paid as much as $100 for a glass of water!
65
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.
19
In 1542, French aristocrat Marguerite De La Rocque survived being marooned for 2 years alone on a remote island off the coast of Quebec.
12
The average life span of a peasant during the medieval ages was 25 years.
68
A singing birthday card has more computing power than the allied forces in 1945.
30
London's Pall Mall became the first street lit by gaslight in 1807!
39
The site where the Parthenon was built had to be cleared of hundreds of dinosaur bones (then called giants' bones) before construction could begin.
13