Rare Historical Moments That Really Happened

Tsar Nicolas II and King George V were identical and would often swap uniforms just for fun, in case you were wondering when politics got so unserious.

Russian astronauts used to go to space with shotguns and other weapons until the 2000s. This was a precaution in case they returned and landed in the middle of nowhere, like a Siberian forest, where wild animals like wolves could be waiting.

Mammoths were around when the Ginza Pyramids were being built.

A police ordinance from the 1800s prohibited women from using trousers in Paris. The decree was formally repealed in 2013, although women have been using trousers for ages.

In 1969, scientists “turned off” the Niagara Falls for months to study the effects of erosion, and this is what they look like without any water.

On September 3, 1967, Sweden switched from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right, creating a commotion early in the morning.

In 1930s London, these cages were common in tall buildings. The idea was to give little kids the chance to breathe fresh air and get some sunlight.

In Russia, things were similar, and some very cold places still do this today. Leaving the kids to sleep outside because the air is way better than inside, also preparing them for the harsh conditions of their unparalleled winter.

In this photo, you can see Walt Disney (far right) and McDonald's tycoon Ray Kroc (second from the left) working with the Red Cross after being rejected by the army right before World War I.

Pope Leo XIII awarded a Vatican gold medal to the creator of the cocaine-infused wine tonic Vin Mariani and even appeared on a poster endorsing it. That drink was a precursor of Coca-Cola, released a couple of years later.

In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre and was only recovered a couple of years later. Pablo Picasso was a suspect in the case due to some shady connections, but was let go pretty quickly.

With horses as the main means of transportation in the biggest cities of the world, horse manure was everywhere. In the 1890s, the situation was tough, and people predicted that cities would be covered in manure by 1950. Luckily, cars took over, and cities got dirty with a different kind of waste.

A great name for a fast food chain and something that actually happened almost 150 years ago. Pieces of red meat started falling from the sky in Bath County, Kentucky, and to this day, nobody knows exactly what happened, how it happened, or what kind of meat it was. But it happened.

Between 1925 and 1936, the Eiffel Tower was used by Citroën as an advertising space. 

Before the Civil War, Victoria Woodhull was the first female candidate for President of the United States in 1872 for the Equal Rights Party. She was an activist for women's rights and labor reforms in a time when women weren't allowed to vote. On election day, she was arrested and spent the entire day in jail for obscenity.