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30 Wild Tales About History That Are Stranger Than Fiction

By:: Cracked Writers; Eric B

November 25, 2023

30 Wild Tales About History That Are Stranger Than Fiction

More times than you’d think, actual human history was far more shocking (and interesting) than anything created by even the most imaginative of authors. And so, dive in for some truly bizarre (and true) stories that will cause you to rethink everything you thought you knew about history.

30

Andrew Jackson's parrot had to be expelled from his owner's funeral... Because it wouldn't stop swearing. CRAON — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

29

The Beatles wrote some of their songs purely because they wanted to buy cool new stuff. GRAM Paul McCartney and John Lennon would start a songwriting session with something like, Now let's write a swimming pool. — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

28

Frank Sinatra always carried spare dimes in his pocket after the kidnapping of his son. ONE DIME The kidnappers demanded all communication be via payphones, and Sinatra was determined to always be prepared, a habit he kept for the rest of his life. He was even buried with ten dimes in his pocket. CRACKED.COM — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

27

What really crashed in Roswell in 1947? Pictured is a radar target from a balloon. The US Army Air Force was working on a balloon project at the time to monitor Soviet nuclear tests. CRACKED.COM — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

26

By the time Bonnie and Clyde were at the height of their notorious crime spree they both walked with a limp. Clyde had chopped off two of his own toes while in prison, and Bonnie had been injured SO badly in a car wreck that she could no longer walk unassisted, and often had to be carried. CRACKED.COM — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

25

Ernesto Che Guevara was also nicknamed EI Chancho The Pig)... Because he seldom bathed. CRACKED.COM — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

24

CRACKED COM Because of their use of easily degradable papyruses, everything ever written by the Phoenicians is lost. To have a bit of an idea of what we may have missed, let S s remember that they were the inventors of the alphabet. — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

23

In a major blow to science, the first 000 U.S. patents were lost in a fire. Copies of some were found, but most are forever lost, including the first U.S. patents issued to a woman and an African-American. Until a fireproof building was finished, they were held in temporary storage with a fire station next door. But the firefighters' pump didn't work, and their leather firehose cracked because the weather was too cold. CRACKED.COM — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

22

Chuck E. Cheese's existence was an accident. PIZZA TIME CHUCKECHEESES Nolan Bushnell was planning on creating a coyote mascot for his pizza place that was initially called Coyote Pizza. Bushnell then bought a coyote costume, but they received a rat costume instead. They just went with it. CRACKED.COM — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

21

Animation dates way back to the stone age, using only charcoal, flickering flames, and neuroscience. 21,000 years ago, prehistoric artists would draw rows of images that, when illuminated by flickering firelight, would CRACKED.CON appear to be in motion. This illusion has to do with the way the human brain fills in gaps between the flashes of light. — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

20

CRACKED.COM d The stethoscope was invented by a French doctor named Rene Laenned because he was embarrassed having to press his ear to women's chests listening to their hearts and lungs. — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

19

The original call signs for Apollo 11 were changed from Snowcone and Haystack to Columbia and Eagle. Which was probably a good thing. The Haystack has landed doesn't have the same ring to it. CRACKED.COM — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

18

The first text message was sent December 3, 1992. It was Merry Christmas. 3DEF 2ANC GMNO 5 JKL 9wxY 40HI B ruv # 7PRS DOPR SND CLR END STO FCN RCL VOL PWR MOTOROLA GRACKED.COM — Source: These 47 Facts Will Make You A Walking History Channel

17

We all know the stories about Honest Abe Lincoln and his log cabin. IS WHAT WE SHOULD BE TAUGHT All that og-splitting and abin-building made Abraham Lincoln incredibly strong. He was known to haul crates of stones weighing over 1,000 pounds around his hometown. There are also two recorded instances of Lincoln picking somebody up by the neck and tossing him aside like a doll - One of which happened while he was on the campaign trail. CRACKED.COM David Herbert Donald 1996. Lincoln. — Source: 22 Historical Stories That Left Out The Best Details

16

The documentary White Wilderness captured lemming mass-suicides in action! WHAT THEY LEFT OUT Contrary to what the textbooks say, lemmings don't jump off cliffs. The documentarians found this out the hard way, and wound up throwing the lemmings off the cliff to get the scene. CRACKED.COM http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/femmings.asp — Source: 22 Historical Stories That Left Out The Best Details

15

The Dark Ages were a terrible time to be alive, between the disease, filth, poverty, and the Black Death. WHAT THE HISTORY BOOKS LEFT OUT It was a time of unprecedented scholarship, discovery, and innovation in the Middle East. Islamic caliphs blanketed every land they conquered with schools, libraries, public works, and the most comprehensive system of social welfare on the planet. CRACKED.com COM whttp//www.history.com/topica/middle-ages — Source: 22 Historical Stories That Left Out The Best Details

14

The history books teach that Columbus had trouble finding backers because nobody believed the world was round. WHAT THEY LEFT OUT Pythagoras pretty much settled the flat earth thing 2,000 years before Columbus' time. The navigational techniques used in Columbus' day were actually based on the fact that the Earth is a sphere. The reason Columbus had trouble finding backers was that he had grossly underestimated the size of the Earth and stood absolutely no chance of reaching Asia, and everyone knew it. CRACKED Hp://www.pa.msu.edu/sciencet/ask st/071592.html — Source: 22 Historical Stories That Left Out The Best Details

13

In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed while trying to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. The story dominated USA the news cycle, and scientists scrambled to figure out what happened. WHAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW The same flaw that caused the destruction of Columbia happened again, just 2 years later, to Discovery. Insulating foam came loose during launch, and hit the wing. Fortunately for Discovery, the crew was able to do an inspection and learn that the damage wasn't critical. CRACKED.COM ale.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/how-we-nearly-lost-discovery/ — Source: 22 Historical Stories That Left Out The Best Details

12

In 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that the Chevy Volt's lithium battery would catch fire in a 20-MPH collision. WHAT THEY LEFT OUT If you smacked into the Volt at just the right spot, and then flipped it at just the right speed, the battery would indeed catch fire ... three weeks later. CRACKED.COM tttp://contentusatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/11/ chevy-volt-cafches-fire-weeks-after-crash-feds-probe/1#UCKFT1Lvbms — Source: 22 Historical Stories That Left Out The Best Details

11

Sites like Business Insider and Newsweek recently revealed the existence of a series of 17 fake Interceptor cell towers, scattered across the country To bring their point home, they showed photos of cell towers. WHAT THEY GOT WRONG The towers referenced by the article aren't physical towers. They're intercepting devices that could fit in your backpack, like computers and radios. CRACKED.COM Htp://www businessinsider.com/mysterious-fake-callphone-towers-2014-9 — Source: 22 Historical Stories That Left Out The Best Details

10

When Houston Rockets power forward Charles Barkley tossed a man who had; thrown a glass of ice in his face through a first-floor window, it made headline news. THE MISSING PART OF THE STORY: When asked by a judge if he had any regrets, Barkley answered, I regret we weren't on a higher floor. CRACKED.COM http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/sfory/ /d/12289603 hhow-former-nba-star-charles-barklev-became-role-model — Source: 22 Historical Stories That Left Out The Best Details

9

The Manhattan Project CRACKED.COM One would assume the Manhattan Project had rigorous safety standards, what with the atomic bombs and all. One would be wrong. When scientist Don Mastick tried uncorking of a vial plutonium, it popped open and sent the contents spewing into his mouth. He washed his mouth out and repeatedly pumped his stomach, then handed the contents to a colleague and told him to go separate out the precious plutonium. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

8

Storming the Bastille CRACKED.COM By the time the Bastille fell in 1789, the oppressive wing had been out of commission for years, the involve so event didn't any mass release of political prisoners. Only seven inmates were housed in the sprawling complex, including four counterfeiters, two men guilty of the crime of being insane, and an aristocrat convicted of deviance. The Marquis de Sade had been transferred out days before. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

7

Pearl Harbor CRACKED.COM When Marines examined the wreckage after the attack on Pearl Harbor, they heard banging noises from inside the USS West Virginia. There were people alive and trapped in there. Worse still, they were doomed to stay there. Cutting a hole in the hull could flood the ship or spark an explosion It wasn't until six months later that we were able to raise the ship. The men had survived 16 days before suffocating. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

6

The American Genocide CRACKED.com You've surely heard about how tribes in America were devastated by European settlers. But that's not the main reason the native population dropped so much. By the time the Pilgrims landed, 96 percent of the Native American population had been wiped out by a plague. Before, America's population was somewhere between 20 and 100 million (Europe's was 70 million). After, it was less than tenth of that. a — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

5

The Library of Alexandria CRACKED.COM In 642 CE, the Library of Alexandria burned to the ground. But that's only half of the story. What really doomed the place were budget cuts. Sometime in the second century, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wiped out the library's finances. With no money for upkeep and its reputation as damaged as its walls, many of the scholars moved out and the library's collection fell into disrepair. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

4

Bra Burning CRACKEDo COM The story goes that at late '60s protests, feminists defiantly removed and set fire to their bras. But this never happened. Women protesting the 1968 Miss America contest did toss several items into a trash can, including bras and shoes, but no fire was involved, and no one stripped at the protest itself. This happened in the era of Vietnam protesters burning draft cards, so a journalist or two must have conflated the events. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

3

The Crash of '29 UNION AMERICAN BANK UNION BANK PALD ON 4 % NOTHRIFTACCOUNTS AMERICAN CRACKED.COM Ruined investors jumped from en masse the windows of their towering buildings... or so you've heard. In reality, the legendary string of dramatic suicides never happened. A popular comedian made quip about a speculators needing to stand in line to get a window to jump out of, and the myth grew from there. Only two jumped between the crash and the end of 1929, and one of those was an elderly female clerk. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

2

Bin Laden's Death CRACKED.C After Navy Seals raided Osama bin Laden's compound and killed him, they needed to authenticate the body. The first point of identification was checking bin Laden's most distinguishable feature: his freakish 6'6 height. Except they hadn't brought a tape measure. The soldiers quickly improvised. One of them was about six foot, so they had him lie down next to bin Laden on the ground. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

1

The Challenger Disaster CRACKED.co It's commonly thought that the crew perished immediately. Unfortunately there's evidence to suggest otherwise. Everyone Was in a spacesuit equipped with a PEAP, or Personal Egress Air Pack. When salvage teams located these PEAPs, they observed three had been activated. And not by hitting the water- -they were manually activated. Some of the crew were probably alive when they hit the ocean. — Source: 20 Facts That Change How You Picture Historical Events

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