19 Facts That Make History Feel Just a Little Less Serious

‘In the ancient Olympics, athletes competed naked’
19 Facts That Make History Feel Just a Little Less Serious
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Let's face it: History can be kind of a bummer sometimes. All that war, genocide, -isms of various natures really gets you down after a while. Sure, it’s important — there's that whole thing about history repeating for those who don't study it that's extra crucial for the worst parts — but would it have killed those past people to have a laugh every now and then?

Well, sometimes it literally did. Fortunately, that didn't (always) stop them, and history is riddled with moments of wacky levity in between the horrors, occasionally really sandwiched in there. For example, there was “that time Liechtenstein went to war with 80 troops and [came] back with 81,” having fought no battles and brought back a friend, u/UncreativePotato143 told r/AskReddit.

They asked, “What's a fun history fact that not many people know?”

 

Gensis916 . 5y ago In the ancient Olympics, athletes competed Naked.
VietQuads . 5y ago Xerxes had the sea whipped when a storm destroyed the construction of a bridge
. 5y ago Popsicles were accidentally invented in 1905 by an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson
. 5y ago Theodore Roosevelt learned Jiu Jitsu after going blind in one eye after a boxing match.
thegnight . 5y ago Portland OR was almost named Boston. It came down to a coin flip.
KolpakWolnosci 0 5y ago . Edited 5y ago 31 January 1915 Germany used the toxic gas for the first time. After they spread it into the air, wind changed direction. Oopsie
TO fingers621 . . 5y ago The coliseum in Ancient Rome had an extendable shade awning with piped in water to mist attendees on hot days.
spiritbearr . 5y ago Mansa Musa was a king of Mali who underwent a Hajj to Месса bringing with him so much gold that while passing through Egypt he crashed the local economy.
augenwiehimmel . 5y ago Buzz Aldrin - the second person to set foot on the moon - claimed $ 33.31 in travel expenses: Houston > Cape Kennedy > the Moon > Pacific Ocean > Hawaii > Houston.
Bardonious 5y ago Lobster used to be food for the poorest of poor and was considered disgusting. They were so plentiful in New England that they could easily be picked off of the beaches at low tide. They were referred to as insects of the sea.
DeepDoughbeast 5y ago Canada's landmass technically includes a tiny piece of France. For their work in Vimy Ridge, a notable victory for Canada in WWI, the french government declared a square kilometer of the place The eternal property of Canada. A monument to the soldiers exists there.
HarshMillennium 5y ago King Edward I built the biggest trebuchet ever made to lay siege to a Scottish castle. The Scots saw the monstrosity coming and immediately surrendered. Edward refused the surrender and sent them back to the castle so he could have a few shots of his new weapon of war. Have trebuchet, will trebuchet.
ArcOfRuin 5y ago Aimo Koivunen was a Finnish soldier in WWII. Не was carrying amphetamines for his group when they were ambushed by Soviet troops. Koivunen got tired, which led to him taking all 30 amphetamine pills he had, then passed out and got separated from his group. After waking up, he: skied over 250 miles, escaped from Soviet troops again, got hurt after setting off a land mine, and lived off pine nuts and a bird that he caught and ate raw. When he was found a week later, he weighed less than 100 lbs and his heartbeat was
TheSorge 5y ago Edited 5y ago During the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck, a Polish destroyer that was part of the British destroyer flotilla sent to harass her, ORP Piorun, allegedly flashed the message I am a Pole (other sources have stated the message was Three salvos in honor of Poland) before opening fire on the battleship. It seems the ship's crew were eager for some payback for the Invasion of Poland, as Piorun would exchange fire with the much larger ship for over an hour, all by herself, and only begrudgingly agreed to back off when she started
AfraidDifficulty8 5y ago One of the biggest heists in Japans history was commited by a single man. Не sent a letter to the manager of the bank, saying he will blow up his house if he doesn't give him money. The bank manager set a marked car to hand him the money, and the drivers were stopped by a police officer saying the house just blew up, and that he needs to check the car to see if it had a bomb on it. One of the passengers noticed smoke coming from the car and ran for cover, as well
Archi_balding 5y ago Classical era China changing dynasties because of a bad day of rain and a drunk moron. The guy is named Liu Bang, it's 3rd century BC. Не was chief of security. Liu Bang is escorting prisoners, he drinks too much and fall asleep black out drunk. Some prisoners escape. When he wake up he free the other and run away (because letting prisoners escape is also death penalty worthy). Some of his friends in the army that are stuck due to heavy rain and are at risk of death penalty for being late to an official event.
Lichruler 5y ago In 238 AD, the Roman Empire had a temporary emperor for 3 months that went by the name Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus. Yes. You read those last two words correctly. Pupienus Maximus. And yes, Pupienus is exactly as naughty sounding as you hope it is.
tippytoes00 . . 5y ago During WWII, Great Britain used inflatable tanks and planes to make their resources look more plentiful. There are even videos of troops running practice drills where they get under the inflatable and carry it around a giant field so they would appear as fully operational machinery.
fishjam . 5y ago Victorian England - 1837 - 1901 American Old West - 1803 - 1912 Meiji Restoration - 1868 - 1912 So gentlemen thieves, rootin tootin cowboys, and honorable samurai all existed at the same time

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