Top 50 Historical Facts.

Ancient Egypt Painting

1. In ancient Egypt, being a servant was not exactly the most appealing job. They were smeared with honey in order to attract flies away from the pharaoh. Their service didn’t end after their pharaoh’s death either. Some pharaoh’s chose to be sealed in their tombs alongside their living servants, pets and concubines.

2. Albert Einstein was offered the role of Israel’s second President in 1952, but declined.

3. Tea bags were accidentally invented in 1904. Thomas Sullivan found that it was cheaper to send samples to customers in bags instead of boxes. The customers thought they were meant to be dunked in hot water, which lead to requests for “tea bag” orders!

4. Fidel Castro once said, “If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal”. There were more than 600 plots to take his life.

5. The use of fingerprints to identify people began when two men who looked nearly identical, with the same name, arrived at the same prison. They had never even met!

6. Being buried alive was such a common occurrence in the 19th century that inventors created a “safety coffin”. It allowed anyone waking up six-feet-under the ability to alert people above ground if they were still alive.

7. The Parliament of Iceland is the oldest legislature in the world. It was founded in 930.

8. The Civil War is often referred to as the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history. An 1889 study showed that approximately 620,000 soldiers died in the Civil War. Recent studies, however, put the number as high as 850,000.

9. Napoleon was once attacked by 1,000 rabbits.

House corner road urban crossing (Boston)

10. Boston was in a very sticky situation in 1919 when a 90-foot wide tank exploded containing two and a half million gallons of molasses. The entire contents of the tank spilled in the streets at 35 miles per hour and up to 15 feet high. It demolished buildings, carried away vehicles, killed 21 people and injured 150. The cleanup took weeks.

11. Ronald Reagan was a lifeguard during high school and saved 77 lives. Though locals joke that many of those “survivors” were women faking distress to be rescued by the handsome lifeguard.

12. The phrase “pardon my French” used after swearing began in the 19th century. English-speaking people would use French phrases in conversation to display class, apologizing to the listeners unfamiliar with the language. They would hide swear words under the pretense of the words being a foreign language.

13. The Great Fire of London in 1666 caused terrible damage, destroying 13,200 homes in and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Surprisingly, there were only six confirmed deaths.

14. There’s a monster mushroom in Oregon that is 2,400 years old. It is still alive and growing today with a root system covering approximately three miles of land.

15. Noble life can get mundane. Marie Antoinette had a fully functioning peasant village built on the grounds of Versailles. She would roam the grounds pretending to live the simple life.

16. In 1906, a three-year-old Swiss toddler was given a harsh sentence for petty theft. When he admitted to the act, he was convicted to three and a half months in prison.

17. Thousands of people attended Andrew Jackson’s funeral in 1845, including his pet parrot that was removed for allegedly swearing too much.

18. Hat making in the past involved extended exposure to mercury vapors, which caused poisoning. Symptoms included a lack of coordination and vision along with hearing and speech impairment. This inspired the phrase “Mad as a hatter” and of course, the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland.

19. Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other...simultaneously!

20. According to a receipt for an executioner from France in 1386, a pig was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child. He was provided human clothing for the trial.


21. On Good Friday in 1930, the BBC reported, "There is no news." Instead, they played piano music for the remainder of the 15-minute news segment.

Museum Antiquity 

22. Alexander the Great knew how to throw a party. He once held a drinking contest in 324 B.C. among his soldiers. When it was over, 42 people had died from alcohol poisoning. The winner, a Greek soldier named Promachus, consumed the equivalent of 13-liters of unmixed wine and died four days later from alcohol poisoning.

23. In 1999, Furbies were banned from the National Security Agency's headquarters and were branded a threat to national security along with arms traders and drug smugglers. It was feared the toys might repeat secrets of national security.

24. The Catholic Church once put a dead Pope on trial. After Pope Formosus died in 896 A.D., his successor had his remains exhumed, dressed in papal robes and put on trial for a long list of political charges. The corpse was found guilty.

25. Purple is often referred to as a ‘royal’ color. For centuries, they relied only on natural dyes until synthetics hit the market in 1850. Purple came from a species of sea snails and was the hardest dye to extract and produce. It was so exceedingly rare that it became worth its weight in gold. Only royalty could afford it.

26. A Byzantine historian recorded that in 536 A.D., there was a worldwide dust cloud that blocked out the sun for a year, resulting in widespread famine and disease.

27. The eruption of Krakatoain in 1883 was the loudest sound in recorded history, heard 3,000 miles away. It caused over 36,000 deaths.

28. Mexican General Santa Anna had an elaborate state funeral for his amputated leg.

29. Ice Age Britons were not known for their manners… or people skills. Not only did they indulge in cannibalism, they used human skulls as cups for drinking.

30. The Black Death reduced the population by up to two thirds. In four years, nearly 50 million people died.

31. The great conqueror, Attila the Hun, did not die in the way you might guess for a warrior and military leader. He met his fate by the hand of … a nosebleed.

Brooklyn Bridge Painting

32. On May 30th of 1883, during the opening week of the Brooklyn Bridge, a woman tripped. It sparked panic that the bridge was collapsing, resulting in a fatal stampede that ended with 12 people dead and more than 35 wounded.

33. In the 1800s, people bought mummies and held "mummy unwrapping" parties. The fascination with Ancient Egypt became all the rage and was referred to as “Egyptomania”.

34. The first car accident occurred in 1891, in Ohio.

35. In 1894, London and New York were “drowning” in horse manure. The Times newspaper predicted that within 50 years, London streets would be buried in 9-feet of poop and horse carcasses. Luckily, the invention of the automobile resolved the problem.

36. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

37. In the 19th century, a popular medicine used to alleviate pain in infants, "Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup," included morphine and alcohol. It is no surprise that it took the pain away!

38. Abraham Lincoln's dog, Fido, was also assassinated.

39. How’s this for health insurance? Ancient Chinese doctors could only receive payment if the patient was cured.

Egyptian statue

40. Cleopatra was the product of incest and continued the family tradition by marrying two of her brothers.

41. We’ve heard the saying, “Pain is beauty”, but not “life threatening”! Infamous 18th century rivals, Kitty Fisher and Maria Gunning, both died of lead poisoning by excessive use of make-up. At the time, make-up contained lead.

42. In Germany, around 1923, banknotes had lost so much value due to hyperinflation that they were used as wallpaper.

43. Lord Byron kept a pet bear in his Trinity College dorm room. He was told that dogs were strictly banned from the campus, so he brought along a different furry friend.

44. The Woolly Mammoth roamed the Earth when the Egyptian Pyramids were being built.

45. More than 8,100 U.S. troops are still listed as missing in action from the Korean War.

46. Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were all nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. Of course, they were not awarded the honor… for obvious reasons.

47. During World War II, two Polish doctors saved the lives of over 8,000 Jews by faking a typhoid outbreak. They stopped Nazi forces by entering 12 towns with this claim.

48. The Democratic donkey symbol was adopted in 1828, when Andrew Jackson’s opponents called him a “jackass”. The elephant symbol for the Republic Party was appointed after a satirical cartoon labeling an elephant “the Republican vote”.

49. Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to call his residence in Washington, D.C. the “White House.” Prior to his term, it had been called the “Executive Mansion” or the “President’s House”.

Colosseum Painting

50. Have you ever wondered how the wild animals got into the Colosseum? The Roman Imperial army created specialized fighting units to capture dangerous wild animals from Africa and Asia to fight in the Colosseum. They were forbidden from harming the animals and were considered to have one of the most dangerous jobs in the empire.

Also Read:- 50 Amazing Historical Facts You Never Knew

--------------*-*-*----------------------*-*-*-----------------*-*-*----------------
Image Credit :- Pixabay

"Keyword"

"important historical facts"

"world history facts"

"100 history facts"

"facts about history"

"history facts of the day"

"short historical facts"

"world history facts everyone should know"

"historical facts about india"