A monk had once written over a book that contained information about calculus that was written by Archimedes in ancient Greece that could have made us 100 or even 1000 years more mathematically and technologically advanced.
13
In 1700s, the deer skin was a common medium of exchange between the trading settlers and the native Red Indians in America. This is how a buck became a slang for a dollar.
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Pineapples were such a status symbol in 18th century England that you could rent one for the evening to take to a party.
25
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.
21
There is a 600 year old 240 paged book called the Voynich Manuscript, that’s written language is still completely unknown today.
15
In 1949, an official boxing match between a bear and a man was held. The bear won.
41
Genghis Khan exempted the poor and clergy from taxes, encouraged literacy, and established free religion, leading many peoples to join his empire before they were even conquered.
28
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.
20