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Cracked Archive - History

5 Iconic Building That Were Barely Saved from Destruction

There is this very elite class of buildings so iconic that they transcend the country that built them. So it's kind of weird how often we almost let the things get destroyed.

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The 6 Most Insanely Huge Musical Instruments

Humanity became great for two reasons: our ability to create beauty through art, and our urge to build increasingly huge, terrifying gadgets. It only makes sense that these two impulses would converge in amazing, if largely useless, ways.

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The 16 Most Hilariously Ineffective Propaganda Posters

War is hell, and tragedy, and terrible, terrible posters.

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The 6 Craziest Disguises Ever Used in the History of War

It turns out that, unlike the Greeks, more modern armies have downright insane methods of concealment.

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The 5 Most Half-Assed Attempts to Take Over a Country

For every inspiring revolution by the oppressed, there are several low-rent slapdick operations where the insurgents trip getting off the boat.

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6 Famous Symbols That Don't Mean What You Think

The entire point of using a symbol is that it conveys meaning and saves space. But sometimes the meaning of a symbol will get lost to history, and we'll just keep right on using it anyway.

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6 Historical Events Happening More Recently Than You Think

Apparently, things that we thought only existed in the black and white world were still around until just a few years ago.

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6 Insane Conspiracy Theories (That Actually Happened)

Secret schemes that shaped the world around us are hiding in the footnotes of our history books. You just need to know where to look.

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The 6 Coolest Things Said by Soldiers Before Killing People

War is hell. (Or a hell of a lot of fun, depending on who you ask.)

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5 Things Old Magazines Apparently Believed About Women

If we listen to the badass old-timey magazines of our grandparents' generation, we could learn a hell of a lot more than if we listened to them.

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The 5 Most Adorable Stories in the History of War

There are two places you'll never expect to find stories of cuteness: the toilet and warfront. But, well, here we are.

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Photoplasty

What People in Famous Photos Were Actually Thinking

Famous photographs don't come with soundtracks or orchestral scores to tell us what the emotional tone is supposed to be. Therefore, there's a pretty good chance we've gotten the people in some of the most famous photographs ever all wrong. We asked you to show us what we've been missing.

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13 Old War Photographs You Won't Believe Aren't Photoshopped

Maybe some of the ways we picture WWII looking -- all razor-jawed men charging through the mud in black and white -- isn't entirely accurate. Because we know for a fact that at least some of the soldiers were carrying floppy dong-shaped rifles into battle.

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5 Nazi Plans That Prove They Were Dumber Than You Think

Other websites like to tiptoe around the issue, but we've never hesitated to come out and just say it: The Nazis were bad. We're also going out on a limb with this once: They were stupid.

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Photoplasty

The Worst Possible Gifts for 21 Famous Figures

We've all given and received gifts that left us disappointed, but it takes a special combination of bad luck and shortsightedness to give a memorably bad gift. We asked you to show us the gifts given to notable figures that would have either ruined their birthdays or ruined entire years for everyone else.

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