History Facts

    History Facts

    History is rich with fascinating and sometimes unbelievable things, so learn more about it with this regularly-updated list of history facts.

    1
    Ancient Fart Battles
    Ancient Fart Battles
    There are scrolls from the Edo period of Japan that suggest fart battles took place. The drawings show men blasting farts at other men, women, and even a cat.
    736
    2
    Napoleon constructed his battle plans in a sandbox.
    573
    3
    Shortest War
    Shortest War
    The shortest war on record was fought between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
    540
    4
    In medieval Italy, if a man was caught kissing a woman in public, he had to marry her whether he liked it or not.
    456
    5
    To take an oath, ancient Romans put a hand on their testicles
    426
    6
    Until President Kennedy was killed, it wasn't a federal crime to assassinate the President.
    341
    7
    Vegetarian Gladiators
    Vegetarian Gladiators
    Ancient gladiators were mostly vegetarians whose diet consisted mainly of grains, beans, and dried fruit, washed down with a vinegar and plant ash tonic.
    294
    8
    Two dogs were among the Titanic survivors.
    262
    9
    When the Egyptians destroyed Libya in the 13th century B.C. they took 13,230 penises of the conquered enemies as trophies.
    220
    10
    Beethoven, was told by a music teacher that he had no talent for music. In fact, this teacher once remarked, “As a composer he is hopeless.”
    184
    11
    The Titanic is about as long as the Empire State building is tall.
    174
    12
    Vikings used the skulls of their enemies as drinking vessels.
    169
    13
    The first bomb dropped on Germany in WWII killed the only elephant in the Berlin zoo!
    166
    14
    Tsar Bomba
    Tsar Bomba
    The largest nuclear bomb ever built, the Tsar Bomba, caused damage up to approximately 1,000km away.
    161
    15
    Ching Shih
    Ching Shih
    Ching Shih, once a prostitute, became one of the most powerful pirates to have ever sailed. She commanded one of the most formidable pirate fleets in all of China during the early 1800s, with hundreds of ships under her command.
    155
    16
    The Ramses brand condom is named after the great pharaoh Ramses II who fathered over 160 children.
    153
    17
    Leonardo Da Vinci predicted the mass use of solar energy as long ago as 1447.
    153
    18
    In Ancient Egypt, some people paid their taxes in honey.
    152
    19
    There's no evidence that pirates made people walk the plank.
    151
    20
    The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
    149
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