History — Page 3
Surprising historical events
221 facts
Leonardo da Vinci wrote backwards.
Leonardo da Vinci used a writing style known as mirror writing, writing from right to left. His notes could only be…
The longest year in human history lasted 445 days.
In 46 BC, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar and, to correct accumulated discrepancies, the year was…
The guillotine was still in use when Star Wars premiered.
The last execution by guillotine in France occurred on September 10, 1977, the same year the first Star Wars film was…
Ancient Olympic athletes competed completely naked.
The word 'gymnasium' comes from the ancient Greek word 'gymnos', meaning naked. Athletes competed nude to celebrate…
The Hundred Years' War between England and France actually lasted for 116 years.
It was a series of conflicts fought from 1337 to 1453. It spanned three centuries and involved five generations of…
Ancient Romans used to clean their teeth with a paste made from crushed bones, eggshells, and ashes.
While abrasive, the crushed bones and oyster shells provided some gentle polishing, while the ashes acted as a…
The fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia, and many skyscrapers skip the 13th floor entirely.
The superstition is so widespread in Western culture that hotels, hospitals, and airports often jump straight from…
The term 'OMG' (Oh My God) was first used in writing in 1917 in a letter sent to Winston Churchill.
Admiral Lord Fisher wrote it to Churchill to express his shock about a new order of Knighthood, showing that internet…
The first person to ever be convicted of speeding was going just 8 mph (about 12 km/h).
In 1896, Walter Arnold was fined for speeding in his car. At the time, the speed limit in the UK was just 2 mph in…
The Titanic was equipped with only 20 lifeboats, enough to hold about half of the people on board.
Although the ship could carry over 3,000 people, it only had lifeboat capacity for 1,178, as regulations at the time…
The Great Pyramid of Giza was built without the use of the wheel.
The ancient Egyptians did not have the wheel or pulley systems when the pyramid was built; they used sledges, ramps…
The first recorded ancient Olympic Games took place in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece.
These games were held every four years to honor the god Zeus, and the only event recorded in the earliest games was a…
William Henry Harrison was the shortest-serving US President, holding office for only 32 days.
He caught a cold that developed into pneumonia just weeks after his inauguration in 1841, becoming the first US…
The musicians on the Titanic continued playing as the ship sank to keep passengers calm.
The eight-member band played uplifting music on the deck and reportedly stopped only when the ship was about to go…
It is estimated that about 100 billion human beings have ever lived on Earth.
This means that for every person alive today, there are roughly 15 people who have died in all of human history…
Piltdown Man was one of the greatest scientific frauds in history.
In 1912, skull and jaw fragments were presented as a missing link between humans and apes. In 1953, it was discovered…
The Library of Alexandria was not destroyed in a single fire, but declined over several centuries.
Ancient accounts mention fires, funding cuts and conflicts, but there is no proof of a single event that erased it…
In 1518, hundreds of people in Strasbourg danced uncontrollably for days.
The so-called dancing plague began with one woman, Frau Troffea, and spread rapidly. People danced until they…
The Hjortspring boat, 2,400 years old, was sacrificed in a Danish lake.
Denmark's oldest warship was deliberately sunk in a lake as an offering to the gods. Excavated in the 1920s, the…
Humans mastered fire 400,000 years ago.
Recent studies indicate that humans mastered fire about 400,000 years ago, not 1 million years ago as previously…
A 2,500-year-old statue was found buried face down under a Roman road in Turkey.
The statue, over 2.13 metres tall, was discovered in Sardis, the ancient capital of the Lydian Empire, during…
A 1,600-year-old Egyptian mummy contained a scroll with Homer's Iliad.
Archaeologists discovered in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, a papyrus scroll with excerpts from Homer's epic poem placed on the…
The University of Oxford was founded after the Aztec Empire.
There is evidence of teaching at Oxford as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking…
The Hundred Years War actually lasted 116 years.
The conflict between England and France began in 1337 and ended in 1453, totalling 116 years. The name is a later…