Cracked Archive - History
12 Inventions That Were Accidentally Invented Twice
It took two people multiple centuries to come up with "the lightning rod." Congrats.
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- By Eli Yudin
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9 15 Sadistic Facts About the Marquis de Sade, the OG King of Smut
The censorship of his work raised important questions about freedom of speech, but he was absolutely not the kind of guy you wanted to hang out with.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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- 4
15 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About the Lizzie Borden Hatchet Murders
We all know that Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother 40 whacks -- but did she?
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- By Amanda Mannen
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Poppies and Politics: The History of Memorial Day
It wasn’t always barbecue and booze.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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- 3
5 Nutty Moments From The Lives (And Deaths) Of America's First Leaders
They died as they lived: weirdly.
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- By Ryan Menezes
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15 Weirdest Food Trends of the ‘80s
Over the course of this decade that was mostly fueled by cocaine and hairspray, food companies apparently figured that what we actually ate didn’t much matter.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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- 24
Reagan And Gorbachev Agreed To Team Up Against Aliens
See, this is why Reagan tried to build Star Wars.
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- By Ryan Menezes
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The Epic War For Sealand: The World's Realest Fake Country
What if you could find a loophole so good that it effectively lets you start your own country, free from the rule of law? Well, that’s happened exactly once in modern memory, and oh boy, did it get weird.
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- By Alex Hanton
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From Miners to Hipsters: A Complete History of Jeans
The story of jeans is really the story of America: the powerful stealing from the less fortunate.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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15 Facts About Scam Pioneer And Scheme Namesake Charles Ponzi
As always, don't invest in anything that you don't understand (cough, NFTs).
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- By Eli Yudin
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15 Disgusting Realities of Medieval Food
Despite what your local theme restaurant and jousting arena might lead you to believe, it wasn’t all turkey legs and pints of ale in medieval times.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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- 10
5 Pieces Of Bonkers History Hiding In Classic Artwork
Sometimes classic art is telling more of a story than we initially see.
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- By Ivan Farkas
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- 4
A Timeline Of The Energy Drink: From Thai Laborers To Pro Gamers
How the world embraced a whole new way to get wired.
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- By Eli Yudin
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- 5
The U.S. President That Died With A Butt Full of Beef And Bourbon
And no, it didn't get there the usual way.
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- By Eli Yudin
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- 2
The Bonkers Life of Griffith J. Griffith, California's Wildest Tycoon
It involved a mining empire, ostriches, attempted murder, and a handful of legal precedents.
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- By Amanda Mannen
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