Cracked Archive - History
5 Famous People Who Succeeded Long After They Should've Quit
If you haven't found your calling by, say, age 30, it's pretty much hopeless, right? If you were going to make it, you'd have made it by now. Well ... maybe not.
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- By Simon Dufresne, Dyl Moore
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994
994 5 Mundane Objects That Saved Important Lives
We could play the 'What if?' game all day, but you don't need a killer imagination to see how little, insignificant details have changed everything.
- Authors
- By Evan V. Symon
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- 740
The 9 Most Badass Last Words Ever Uttered: Part 2
Hopefully history will remember us for our sick burns and ballsy braggadocio, even if it forgets everything else. It worked for these folks..
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- By Ian Cheesman, Dustin Koski
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- 1364
7 Bizarre Easter Eggs Hidden in Great Works of Art
We tend to think of classic art as being all dignified and serious, if perhaps a little stuffy. But that's only because we're not looking closely enough.
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- By Jacopo della Quercia
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- 813
The 6 Most Secretly Racist Classic Children's Books
It's easy for us to hide the bad things from our kids that appear in works today. Things get a little trickier when classics of children's literature suddenly let fly with the sort of out-of-the-blue casual racism usually reserved for old Southern men after a few too many drinks
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- By Juan Arteaga, John Champion
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- 2694
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5 Screw-Ups on the Battlefield That Accidentally Won the War
Sometimes, even in war, a little stupidity can work to your advantage.
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- By Xavier Jackson, Douglas A. McDonnell
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- Comments
- 793
5 Turncoats Who Changed the Tide of History
In the grand scale of things, not much changes when a single dude decides he'd rather be a Communist than an American, or vice versa. The balance of power is still basically the same, right? But every balance has a tipping point, and sometimes all it takes is one turncoat to change the course of history.
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- By Eric Yosomono, Douglas A. McDonnell
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- 592
8 Insane Similarities Between the Internet and Ancient Egypt
Nothing ever changes.
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- By Nick Dreyer
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- 334
5 Soldiers Who Kicked Ass In the Face of Death (and Logic)
It's generally accepted that while reckless charges into danger make for great action movie scenes, they aren't good battle strategy. These men disagreed.
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- By Eric Yosomono
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- 552
5 Insane Celebrity Product Endorsements by Historic Figures
Selling out is an age-old tradition, and some icons from your history books were doing it long before musicians and athletes perfected the art.
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- By Jacopo della Quercia
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- 408
The 5 Most Mind-Blowing Acts of Battlefield Mercy in History
Mercy isn't a part of any army's strategy. And yet, inspiring stories of mercy on the battlefield do turn up all through history. In the most inhumane settings, sometimes a little humanity shines through.
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- By Xavier Jackson, Douglas A. McDonnell
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- 847
6 Terrifying Real Speeches That Were Thankfully Never Given
Just because we didn't hear speeches for when the whole country was going to shit doesn't mean they were never written ...
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- By Jacopo della Quercia
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- 811
5 Scientific Advances That Should Have Changed Everything
Sometimes it's bad luck, or shady business dealings, or the fact that the world just plain isn't ready. But one way or another, we've lost world-changing innovations for, in hindsight, ridiculous reasons.
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- By Dustin Koski, Adam Koski
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- 1035
5 Backup Plans That Would Have Changed Modern History
These five plans remained in the back pockets of various world leaders that, had they been used, would have changed the world, and possibly the language this article was written in.
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- By Evan V. Symon
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- 993
5 Real Murderers More Terrifying Than Any Horror Movie
There is no goofier Hollywood invention than the Flamboyant Killer. Real killers are, of course, much stranger.
- Authors
- By E. Reid Ross
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- 1246
