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33 Trivia Tidbits About History

Us and history? We go way back!

33 Trivia Tidbits About History

September 14, 2024

We have a complicated relationship with our old pal, History. With a relationship that long, how could it not be?

It’s had some incredibly regrettable phases that we don’t look back on fondly, but then again, if things didn’t happen just the way they did, we might not even be here to tell its tale. It’s symbiotic, if you ask us. A tad toxic? Hard to tell. We need an outsider’s perspective on that one.

Would you please check out some of our past moments and let us know?

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

33

Ohio and Michigan once went to war - over Toledo. N. Est L MICHIGAN Maumee Toledee Bay Disputed Toledo Strip Perrysburg er OHIO Maumee River Animals From 1835-36, the two states argued over a thin strip of land at their border. It escalated to a brawl wherein someone was stabbed with a pen knife, but that was the only casualty. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

THE NORMANDY LANDINGS WERE AMERICA'S FINEST DAY-EVEN IF AMERICANS WERE IN THE MINORITY. There were over 83,000 men in the British Second Army that stormed the French beaches, compared with 73,000 in the First United States Army. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

AN AMERICAN PATROTIC SONG TOPPED THE CHARTS AT THE HEIGHT OF THE BRITISH INVASION. Do you think the '60s were all about The Beatles? Nope! The Ballad of the Green Berets, by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, was the #1 song on the Billboard chart for 1966. GRACKED.COM — Source

30

THE PYRAMIDS WEREN'T BUILT BY SLAVES. Despite what you've seen in movies, the Egyptian pyramids were the work of paid laborers working on three-month shifts. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

THE STRONGEST OPPOSITION TO THE VIETNAM WAR CAME FROM OLDER AMERICANS. MIDER PET LING ogg ADVESSION INVETNAN - HIM LVETANNESSCHEN RED ، 1 Any IMPORALER DEAM VIETNAM GET THE HELL Yes, visible protestors tended to COFTERS OUT OF be young. But according to polls of the time, young people were VIETNAM more likely to support the war than older citizens- particularly those over 50. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

CRACKED.COM THE PONY EXPRESS WAS VERY SHORT-LIVED. Despite the huge role it plays PONY EXPRESS in the lore of the Old West, the Pony Express operated for only a year and a half, from DOLLAR, March 1860 to October 1861. WELLS/FARCO & CO — Source

27

THE ROMAN EMPIRE DIDN'T JUST FALL OVERNIGHT. Yes, Rome was taken by Germanic invaders in 479-which had happened other times, SO not much changed that day. The Eastern Roman Empire-which was more important by then- lasted another 1,000 years. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

DURING WORLD WAR II, THE USSR TOOK THE BRUNT OF THE FIGHTING - AND OF THE DYING. You see very heroic Americans fighting the Reich in movies. And while that is true, you're not told that for every American killed in action, about 21 Soviets died. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

TYRANNOSAURUS REX IS CLOSER TO YOU IN TIME THAN TO STEGOSAURUS. T. rex went extinct 65 million years ago. By then, Stegosaurus had been dead for 85 million years. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

BARELY ANYONE SMOKED РОТ IN THE 1960s. Ah, the '60s. Flower power, peace and love, everyone was high... Except that by 1969, only 4% of Americans had ever tried marijuana, and a whopping 34% didn't even know what its effects were. CRACKED COM — Source

23

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION IS RIDDLED WITH MISTAKES. We domesti the People and of Highwa Articl All We're not talking here about stuff such as not giving everyone the right to vote- we mean the many misspellings contained in the Constitution. Just ask the delegate from Pensylvania. GRACKED.COM NM — Source

22

CRACKED .COM Humans appeared 200,000 years ago. Written records begin 6,000 years ago. That means 97% of history is lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory#Timeline — Source

21

The citizens found guilty during the Salem witch trials were not actually burned at the stake. They were hanged. http://ouncaity discovery com/questionisalem-witches-bumed-at GRACKED COM stake — Source

20

All British tanks since 1945 have been equipped with Tea-Making Facilities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_2#Crew_and_accommodation GRAGKED.COM — Source

19

CRACKED.COM It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there have only been 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world. — Source

18

Interracial marriage was banned in South Africa from 1949 to 1985 - 36 years It was banned in USA from 1776 to 1967 - 191 years GRAGKED.COM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-miscegenation_laws — Source

17

The maximum area of the Roman Empire was about 2.51 million square miles. Pretty impressive right? It was actually only the 19th largest empire in history CRACKED.COM http://en.wikipedta.org/wiki/List of largest, empires*All empires at their greatest_extent — Source

16

N 0 500 km The Ottoman Empire Russian Federation 250 miles Dianno . Austria Hungary Basnia Moldavia Crimea Italy Black Sea Georgia o Caspian Seu WD Bulgaria istanbul Romte Albania Turkey Greece Tunisia Iran Iraq Syria Mediterranean Sea Baghdad Israel Dominions it TIN AD o Alexandia6 Jerusalem it 1451 AC A TimeWarner Company Farthout corne of Osean powered Saudi Arabia Turish Republic Egypt Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. was founded several months before the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Source: Wikipedia GRACKED.COM — Source

15

In one day of heavy fighting during the Battle of Stalingrad, a local railway station changed hands from Soviet to German control and back again fourteen times in six hours. CRACKED.COM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle of Stalingrad — Source

14

Joan of Arc fought alongside a serial killer. Gilles de Rais was her ardent companion by day. By night, he preyed particularly on children between the ages of six and 18. De Rais may have killed as many as 800 children, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in history. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

CRACKED CON December November October IF YOU COULD FIT September THE UNIVERSE'S August ENTIRE HISTORY IN July A SINGLE YEAR, bil June HUMANITY 13.8 Ma — Source

12

CRACKED VULGARITY HISTORY - a PORT The first ever X and R ratings Brian De Palma's 1968 film Greetings was slapped with the first ever X rating. Не cut some sexual content to be downgraded to an R rating, but Gordon Flemyng's film The Split was the first ever R rated movie (released one month before Greetings). — Source

11

Trollitical History Tom Moore's resolution praising the Boston Strangler On April 1, 1971, Texas lawmaker Tom Moore tricked his fellow legislators in the state House into passing a resolution that praised the Boston Strangler for his unconventional techniques involving population control. CRACKED — Source

10

A supernova in 1006 AD was visible in the daytime. CRACKED.COM SN 1006 is the brightest ob- served stellar event in re- corded history, 16 times brighter than Venus. It did not significantly affect Earth, but a signal of its outburst can be found in nitrate de- posits in Antarctic ice. — Source

9

CRACKED THE SHORTEST WAR IN HISTORY LASTED 38 MINUTES. The war broke out on August 27, 1896, after Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini refused to step down as ruler of Zanzibar, despite Britain's demand. Не was quickly defeated. — Source

8

Slow your roll, Betsy

Popular history credits Betsy Ross, but there's no historical evidence she had anything to do with it. The source of the story is Ross's grandson, who in turn could only point to affidavits from family members. — Source

7

A “fireproof” building was the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history.

The Iroquois Theater in Chicago was billed as Absolutely Fireproof in advertisements when it opened. EVERY en NIGHT - son Then BLUEBEARD Room It lasted 37 days be- fore being destroyed in what is still the deadliest single-build- ing fire in U.S. history, leaving 602 dead and 250 injured. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

6

Unbeatable record: 815 starts and counting.

CRACKED CY YOUNG has 815 STARTS The most of any pitcher in history. This record has stood or over 100 years, and it's unlikely that anyone will ever beat it. — Source

5

Lice helped study the origin of clothing. Clothes don't preserve well, but we do know that body lice evolved from head lice when we started using clothes. So by studying the nasty bugs' genetic history, researchers have concluded that we stopped walking around naked about 170,000 years ago. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

And it could sure pick locks

A giant paperclip-like creature roamed the seas 68 million years ago. Diplomoceras maximum was about five feet long, similar to a squid, and hada shell shaped like a paperclip. D maximum's lifespan may have been 200 years, and it grew a new rib on its shell each year. — Source

3

A missing line cost NASA $80 million. It was 1962, and NASA launched America's first inter-planetary probe Mariner 1. Its destination was Venus. But a single typo in a computer equation caused the spacecraft to veer off course. Specifically, it was an overbar - a line that goes above a letter or number. NASA had to detonate Mariner 1 five minutes after liftoff. R Arthur С. Clarke called n the mission wrecked by the most expensive hyphen in history. CRACKED.COM http://catfess.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/B.75.htm/#subj1 — Source

2

Coolderry, Ireland - The Castle of murder - Leap Castle is said to be the home of a whopping 19 ghosts. It has a history of clan battles and familial — Source

1

Worlds HISTORY The Warofthe THE broadcast caused widespread panic. Its news broadcast format terrified listeners, who didn't realize they were liste — Source

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