Tell Us Now: 12 Things We Wished We Learned In History Class
![Tell Us Now: 12 Things We Wished We Learned In History Class](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/2/3/817623_320x180.jpg)
Do you remember your high school history class? It was probably pretty boring, right? If you're like others, all you wanted to do was sleep through it. Well, Cracked is here to tell you that your history class can be so much more interesting than it is in school.
We all know that history is one of the most important subjects to learn. But what if there were some things we wish we had learned in history class? After all, there's so much to learn and only so many hours in a day. In this article, we'll discuss a few things that we think would be beneficial for everyone to know. Keep reading to find out more!
Moreover…
We asked Cracked readers on Facebook, "What's a historical fact you wished you had learned in school?" Most of our responders were from the United States, and the most common answer was that they didn't learn about the Tulsa Race Massacre until recently. The majority of responses included the important but overlooked brutal treatment of Indigenous and Black Americans, but some answers included fun facts throughout history that would have made history class more bearable. Here are 12 important or interesting facts from history that our curriculum didn't cover…
The indoctrination and kidnapping of Native American children
![... TELL US NOW. 'INDIAN SCHOOLS' Anne В. wish schools would teach a full history of the 'Indian Schools' in the United States. How white people basically kidnapped, brainwashed, and occasionally murdered an entire generation of Native American children in order to 'civilize' them. Really, they were just trying to bully them into accepting a place in a planned underclass that would do all the jobs white people didn't want to do cheaply and without rebellion. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/1/817591.jpg)
When a Pope dug up a dead Pope
![... TELL US NOW. THE CADAVER TRIAL Andrés E. wishes schools taught that once in Rome a pope dug out of the grave another pope and put his body on trial. The funniest part is that they had someone voice act the corpse so it could respond to any and all allegations made against him. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/0/817590.jpg)
Christopher Columbus never stepped on North America
![... TELL US NOW. COLUMBUS' 'DISCOVERY' Scott S. wishes schools taught that Christopher Columbus never landed in North America. Не landed on various Caribbean islands and explored Central and South American coasts but never reached North America. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/8/9/817589.jpg)
WWII German meth
![... TELL US NOW. PERVITIN IN THE GERMAN MILITARY Peru ul-2-methyl Mark D. thinks schools should teach that the entire German army were meth addicts. Pervitin was an early version of crystal meth that the German army during WWII was given to stay alert on little sleep. The Germany military gave out millions of tablets. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/4/817594.jpg)
Miyamoto Musashi
![... TELL US NOW. MIYAMOTO MUSASHI Icchan P. tells us, Miyamoto Musashi, undefeated ronin and master of dual wielding samurai swords, defeated his strongest rival, Sasaki Kojiro, with a stick. Kojiro, a master samurai, was probably using his favorite 3-feet long sword,.Normal katanas are usually just a bit longer than 2 feet. And despite wielding this monster of a weapon, Musashi is said to have arrived late to the duel and fashioned a weapon using the oar he used to paddle towards the island. Musashi also managed to battle and defeat more than 70 warriors who ambushed him yet still](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/6/6/817566.jpg)
How long pre-history is, comparatively
![... TELL US NOW. THE MYSTERY OF PRE-HISTORY Niklas H. says, We humans have been the same for more than 200,000 years, but our oldest written recorded history is no older than 6000 years. So more than 97% of our history is unrecorded. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/9/817559.jpg)
How many Native American people were killed
![... TELL US NOW. THE NATIVE AMERICAN POPULATION / REA SIN NORTHEAS VINNORITY Rik N. wished schools had taught How many Native Americans there were on the North American continent before 90% were wiped out by European-brought diseases ....that one shocked me! Estimates for the Native American population in 1492 range between 8 to 100 million. For comparison, Europe's population at the time was 70 to 88 million. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/7/817557.jpg)
Source: Counting the Dead: Estimating the Loss of Life in the Indigenous Holocaust, 1492-Present and The World
History from the Civil War to Mass Incarceration
![... TELL US NOW. ACCURATE BLACK AMERICAN HISTORY LORED M EN COLORED OMEN EN I COLORED Laura S. wishes they had taught in schools that the Civil War was fought over slavery not State's Rights. That the Rebel Flag and Civil War monuments were not popular until the 1920's and were used to symbolize white people triumph over Black people through Jim Crow laws. That much of our current legal/prison system was created specifically to re-enslave freed slaves. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/8/817558.jpg)
The Soviet Alliance During WWII
![... TELL US NOW. U.S.-SOVIET ALLIANCE Jeff А. was not taught in school that the Soviet Union was our ally during WWII. I went to school in the '80s, during the height of the Cold War, and they never taught us about the role of the Soviet Union in winning the war. The only thing I remember learning was that the USSR was our enemy, and that was that. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/6/817556.jpg)
Whose land are you on?
![... TELL US NOW. WHOSE LAND ARE YOU ON? Derek L. wished schools taught the names of the Native American tribes that lived where each high school is located and the current status of the tribe. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/1/817551.jpg)
Tulsa Race Masscre
![... TELL US NOW. 1921 TULSA RACE MASSACRE White mobs brutally attacked a wealthy Black community in 1921, murdering 100 to 300 people with no prosecution on any level. Ken T. says, I grew up in Tulsa, OK, and I never heard anything about the Tulsa Race Massacre until I was 36 years old on the 75th anniversary on a public radio program. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/8/817548.jpg)
Source: Tulsa Historical Society
The U.S.'s Japanese-American Internment Camps
![... TELL US NOW. INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE AMERICANS Of the 120,000 people who were incarcerated in concentration camps during World War II, Candance P. says, I read a fictional account of them while I was in middle school and had to research them on my own because I had no idea they were real. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/6/817546.jpg)
Source: National Park Service