History Facts
History is rich with fascinating and sometimes unbelievable things, so learn more about it with this regularly-updated list of history facts.
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During World War II, Uncle Ben's was the exclusive supplier of rice to the U.S. Armed Forces.
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142
There are pictures of Knights fighting Snails in old Medieval manuscripts - and nobody knows why.
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143
The handbook issued to US soldiers in Britain during WW2 included the line "The British don't know how to make a good cup of coffee. You don't know how to make a good cup of tea. It's an even swap."
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144
Canada's new flag, with its maple leaf design, was unfurled in 1965 in Ottawa!
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145
Leonardo Da Vinci made a robotic lion in 1515 that would walk, sway, open its mouth and move its tail - it even had a compartment that opened to present flowers.
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146
In Ancient Greece, small penises were desirable, and big ones were for ‘old men and barbarians’
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147
The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers founded in 1744, is the world's oldest golf club!
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149
If Earth's history was condensed into twenty-four hours, life would've appeared at around 4am, land plants at 10:24pm, dinosaur extinction at 11:41pm, and human history would’ve began at 11:58:43pm.
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150
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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151
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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152
Scientists are excavating the ruins of a major civilization which pre-dates both the pyramids and Stonehenge by over 7,000 years. In 15 years, they have uncovered only about 5% of the site.
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153
Originally, Du Pont, Inc. was a tiny gun powder mill in New Jersey.
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154
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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155
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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156
Although Nostradamus died in the middle of 1566, his 1567 almanac was published because he had the foresight to prepare it before his death.
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157
During the Black Plague, it was thought that bad smells were the cause of the plague. "Plague Doctors" therefore wore masks with long beak-like noses stuffed with flowers or smoke to hide the smells.
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158
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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159
When Charles Darwin first discovered the Galapagos Tortoises, he tried to ride them!
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160
Picasso’s full name: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.
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