34 Little-Known Historical Trivia Tidbits That Are Like the Dark Matter of History Books

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34 Little-Known Historical Trivia Tidbits That Are Like the Dark Matter of History Books

History may have drag-and-dropped these trivia tidbits in the trash, but they didn’t click “Empty Trash,” now did they? And it’s a good thing they didn’t. While dumpster diving in history’s laptop, we found some pretty zany little facts that occurred in and around the history we already know. To be fair, adding every little historical detail would’ve made for some pretty beefy textbooks. But we’d risk a slipped disc for these any day!

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When people think of Joan of Arc being burned at the stake it's usually for the crime of being a witch. In actuality she was burned alive for wearing men's clothing, the only thing she was ever formally charged with. CRACKED.COM

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Qin Shi Huang ate mercury pills. The first emperor of China died in 210 BC ate mercury pills, believing they would give him eternal life. They had the opposite effect. CRACKED.COM

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Pythagoras was murdered after refusing to run through a bean field. The Greek philosopher was being chased by political enemies. Instead of escaping through a bean field (as by his own teachings they were considered ritually unclean), he stopped running and was murdered. CRACKED.COM

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The MoMA hung a painting upside down for 47 days before someone realized INCORRECT CORRECT A visitor was one who caught the wrong orientation of Matisse's Le Bateau. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

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Leonardo Da Vinci was a wedding planner for four years The seating for The Last Supper mirrors his layout for the wedding of the Duke of Milan Leonardo. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

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Cleopatra is known for being the last pharaoh of Egypt, but she was not actually Egyptian. She was Macedonian. CRACKED.COM

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Isaac Newton was a waiter. Until he got an undergraduate scholarship, he waited tables at Cambridge. CRACKED.COM

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John Wilkes Booth's family was obsessed with the play Julius Caesar CRACKED COM CELL John's father and elder brother were both named Junius Brutus Booth after the play's hero. An 1864 production of Julius Caesar was also the only play to star all three of the famous Booth Brothers, months before one of them became an assassin in real life.

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Abraham Lincoln was a trash-talking wrestler in the army. As a president, Lincoln was a patient leader, but as a young adult, he'd kick your ass. During one of his matches, Lincoln defeated his opponent, then turned to the crowd and said: I'm the big buck of this lick. If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns. Which is basically 19th century speak for Come at me, bro. CRACKED.COM

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