Cracked Archive - History

In 1910, Americans Thought Halley's Comet Was A Doomsday Event
Halley's Comet has everything you'd want in a harbinger of the apocalypse...except the apocalypse part.
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- By Mark Hill
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The First Native The Pilgrims Met Asked 'Where's The Beer?'
Then he just hung around. Awkward.
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- By Ryan Menezes
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6
In 1844, Americans Sold All Of Their Stuff Because Jesus Was Coming Back
If there's one thing the apocalypse isn't, it's punctual.
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- By Mark Hill
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8
More Revolutionary War People Died On NY Prison Ships Than In Battle
And you thought Royal Caribbean ships were unsanitary.
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- By Ryan Menezes
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3
From Depression to Fine Dining: The History of Spam
“Spam is underrated” is a ridiculous-sounding sentence, but it’s also true.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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Cracked's Oofageddon! - The Woman Who Was Pregnant With The Messiah (At 64)
For years, Britain had its own end-times-mystery-box, thanks to Joanna Southcott.
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- By Mark Hill
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A Thief Robbed George Washington's Grave (And Grabbed The Wrong Skull)
Don't try this again. They added locks now.
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- By Ryan Menezes
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15 Weirdo Habits of U.S. Presidents
Some of our presidents have taken their eccentricities to impressive, occasionally greasy heights.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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A President Died Eating A Fourth Of July Dessert
Life is a bowl of cherries. Both end in death.
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- By Ryan Menezes
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2
Popes and Prohibition: The Surprisingly Sinister History of Coffee
Even today, a cup of coffee can feel like a spiritual experience under the right (read: hungover) circumstances.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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Why Are We So Scared of Sharks?
It took a few well-publicized serial attacks, along with some help from Hollywood, to turn a species just trying to mind its own business into a national phobia.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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5
A Museum Accidentally Smashed The Biggest Viking Ship Ever
They were meant to preserve ships, not destroy them.
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- By Ryan Menezes
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5 Things About Vikings That We Get All Wrong
Unfortunately, thanks to centuries of misinformation in scholarly histories and in popular culture, most people suffer from a variety of misconceptions about the Vikings, from who they were to when they were active to what, exactly, they did.
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- By Jess Nevins
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29
Clarence Thomas: An All-Time Slimeball
This guy sucks, man.
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- By Eli Yudin
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38
5 Bizarre Deaths That Stand As Cautionary Tales
These tips will ensure you never die, or at least don't die these ways.
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- By Ryan Menezes
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10