It’s impossible to know about everything that happened in the past. You could spend decades sitting through lectures and still have barely scratched the surface of everything that has occurred in human history. Because of this, most of us only really know what we were taught in school. But if you’re interested in finding out some juicy stories about the past that you might have never heard before, you’ve come to the right place.
We took a trip to History Anecdotes on Reddit and gathered some of their best posts down below. From dark secrets that historical figures probably didn’t want you to know to amusing tales that weren’t told in textbooks, you’ll find it all on this list. So enjoy reading through, and be sure to upvote the posts that teach you something new!
#1 Vietnam War Pow Doug Hegdahl Pretended To Be Illiterate To Fool His Captors, Who Believed Him To Be So Stupid That They Gave Him Almost Free Rein Of The Camp
His captors called him “The Stupid,” but his mind was a fortress. The incredible story of Douglas Hegdahl, a young U.S. Navy sailor captured during the Vietnam War, is a powerful example of how ingenuity and an exceptional memory can become weapons in the face of impossible odds. After being blown overboard from his ship and taken prisoner in 1967, Hegdahl quickly realized that his low rank and youthful appearance gave him an opportunity. He began to feign illiteracy and a simple-minded demeanor, an act so convincing that his North Vietnamese captors deemed him a low-value prisoner.
This perception of his incompetence was a brilliant ruse. While others were subjected to brutal interrogations and torture, Hegdahl was given more freedom to move around the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison camp. He used this liberty not to escape, but to gather vital intelligence. With the help of a fellow POW, he developed a system to memorize the names, capture dates, and other personal details of over 250 American prisoners. He committed all of this information to memory by singing it to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” He also carried out small acts of sabotage, such as putting dirt in the gas tanks of prison trucks.
When he was unexpectedly released in 1969 as a propaganda gesture, Hegdahl was initially reluctant to go, worried that his early release would be seen as a betrayal. However, senior POWs ordered him to accept the offer, recognizing the immense value of the information he carried. Upon his return, Hegdahl’s detailed testimony helped the U.S. government confirm the identities of numerous prisoners previously listed as missing in action, expose the appalling conditions in the camp, and gave families of the missing desperately needed hope. His remarkable courage and cleverness turned a devastating situation into a stunning victory of human spirit and intelligence.
Image credits: senorphone1
#2 In 1813, Future President Andrew Jackson Was Shot In The Arm In A Bar Fight Against Two Men, & Was Told It Would Have To Be Amputated
Jackson refused, seeking out the help of a Cherokee medicine man who successfully treated his arm. Decades later Jackson ruthlessly ethnically cleansed the Cherokee
Image credits: anon
#3 Zura Karuhimbi – An Elderly Widow Who Saved More Than 100 People During The Rwandan Genocide By Exploiting Local Rumors She Was A Witch
Her family were traditional healers and Karuhimbi was believed to have magical powers. During the genocide she sheltered more than 100 people in her two room house. To maintain her reputation she painted herself and her house with herbs that would irritate the skin of whoever touched them. She threatened that anyone who entered her house to k**l the refugees would unleash the wrath of God upon themselves.
Image credits: Ill_Definition8074
#4 In 1913, 10-Year-Old Sarah Rector Received A Land Allotment Of 160 Acres In Oklahoma
The best farming land was reserved for whites, so she was given a barren plot. Oil was discovered there, and she became one of the country’s first black millionaires.
Image credits: senorphone1
#5
In 1978, Scottish journalist Malcolm Caldwell (right), an ardent defender of the Khmer Rouge, traveled to Cambodia for an audience with communist dictator Pol Pot, (not pictured) of whom he was an admirer. Caldwell was found m******d only a few hours after their meeting
Image credits: anon
#6 The Great Smog Of London In 1952 Was So Bad That Pedestrians Couldn’t Even See Their Feet
Some of the 4,000 who died in the 5 days it lasted didn’t suffer lung problems – they fell into the Thames and drowned because they could not see the river
Image credits: senorphone1
#7 When He Was Only 14 Years Old, Future Mongolian Conqueror Genghis Khan Stalked And M******d His Half Brother Behter Over A Piece Of Stolen Food. His Mother Reportedly Scolded Him Severely
Image credits: anon
#8 In The Late 19th Century, When Mexican Dictator Porfirio Diaz Was Building Mexico’s First Train System, He Had A Railway Constructed Specifically To Take Him To His Mistresses’ Estate
Image credits: anon
#9
In 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived the atomic blast in Hiroshima, sought refuge in an air raid shelter overnight, and then took a morning train to Nagasaki to report for work—where he endured and survived a second atomic blast.
Image credits: senorphone1
#10 A Protestant Husband And His Catholic Wife Were Not Allowed To Be Buried Together. Here Are Their Headstones Reaching Across The Two Cemeteries In 1888
Image credits: senorphone1
#11 Between 1978 And 1980, A Frenchman Named Michel Lotito Consumed An Entire Cessna 150 Aircraft, Having Discovered At The Age Of Nine That His Stomach Could Digest Metal
Image credits: senorphone1
#12 In 1965, A Scottish Man Named Angus Barbieri Didn’t Eat For 1 Year And 17 Days
He lived entirely off his excess body fat and vitamins, ultimately losing 276 pounds with seemingly no adverse effects. He only pooped once every 40 to 50 days.
In the mid-1960s, a 456-pound man named Angus Barbieri went without food for 382 days straight in a medically supervised diet designed to help him lose weight. In addition to drinking black coffee, tea, and sparkling water, he was prescribed multivitamins — including potassium, sodium, and yeast — to compensate for the lack of nutrients. Shockingly, Barbieri not only survived the diet but was able to achieve his ideal weight. By the end of his fast, he had lost 276 pounds, reaching his goal weight of 180 pounds, and he managed to keep most of the weight off afterward. And at the time of Barbieri’s death in 1990, he had only gained back 16 pounds.
Image credits: kooneecheewah
#13 In 1984, Ryan White Was Diagnosed With Aids That He Contracted From A Blood Transfusion
When the 13-year-old tried to return to school in Kokomo, Indiana, hundreds of parents and teachers petitioned to have him removed, and his family was forced to leave town after a bullet was fired at their house
“People would get up and leave so they would not have to sit anywhere near me. Even at church, people would not shake my hand.” Ryan White was just 13 years old when he was diagnosed with AIDS. A hemophiliac since birth, the Indiana teen contracted HIV through a tainted blood transfusion — yet he was bullied and ostracized by his peers and the community at large for having the “gay disease.” But the brave teenager persevered and helped change the negative stigma around the disease before dying at age 18.
Image credits: kooneecheewah
#14 In 1907, Jesús García Saved The Entire Town Of Nacozari De García By Driving A Burning Train Full Of Dynamite Six Kilometres (3.7 Miles) Away Before It Can Explode
Image credits: anon
#15 In 1926, Renowned Author Agatha Christie Mysteriously Disappeared, Sparking A Large-Scale Search Effort
After 11 days, she was identified by a musician at a hotel, where she had been staying under an assumed name. Christie passed away without ever offering an explanation for her disappearance
Image credits: senorphone1
#16 In 1935, Professional Faster Albert Wolly Was On Public Display In A Glass Box To Go 30 Days Without Eating
On Day 12, a girl taunted him by waving an eclair in front of him, causing him to go insane and smash his way out.
Image credits: The-Union-Report
#17
A Hungarian doctor’s brilliant insight saved thousands of mothers in childbirth, but the scientific community rejected it and discredited his irrefutable results; he went mad, and women resumed dying.
Ignác Semmelweis, a 19th-century Hungarian doctor, discovered that handwashing drastically reduced maternal deaths from puerperal fever. Despite clear results, his ideas were rejected by the medical community, leading to his dismissal, mental breakdown, and early death—ironically from the very infection he sought to prevent.
Image credits: davideownzall
#18 During World War II, The Japanese Government Used “Ohkas”, A Type Of Small Rocket-Powered Aircraft That Reached Up To ~600 Mph, To Conduct Kamikaze Missions
700 Japanese pilots lost their life, yet the missions were only able to sink 3 American ships and damage a total of 7
Image credits: IndividualFuture423
#19 In The 1930s, Carl Tanzler Developed An Obsession With Elena De Hoyos, A Woman 32 Years His Junior. Two Years After She Died, He Dug Up Her Corpse And Kept It In His Bed For Seven Years
Image credits: senorphone1
#20 Humans Are Not The Only Animals That Go To War. In The 1970s, Two Groups Of Chimpanzees Fought A Prolonged Conflict, Famously Known As The Gombe Chimpanzee War, Which Lasted Four Years
Image credits: senorphone1
#21 When She Was 23, Rosemary Kennedy, The Sister Of Jfk And Rfk, Had A Forced Lobotomy Arranged By Her Father. The Surgery Left Her Incapacitated For The Rest Of Her Life
Image credits: senorphone1
#22
When his son Uday was only 11 years old, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein took him to witness enemies of the Ba’ath being tortured. Such experiences supposedly had a profound effect on young Uday, who grew up to the one of the most ruthless, feared men of Saddam’s government
Image credits: anon
#23 The Roman Emperor Nero Found A Boy Named Sporus, Who Looked Like His Deceased Wife, So He Had Him Castrated, Put In Female Attire, And Made His Entire Court Play Along
Image credits: senorphone1
#24 The Worst Year In Human History
If you ask what the worst year in human history is, there are a number of possible answers. Some might respond that 2020 was the worst year in human history, a time when life came to a literal halt. Nearly 6.9 million people died due to COVID-19. And if you’re a bit familiar with history, your answer might be that the worst year was 1918, the year World War I ended, after claiming the lives of around 20 million people. In addition, the Spanish flu swept the globe, k*****g between 50 to 100 million people. But did you know that there’s something even worse? A year that is described as the worst in recorded history… The Mysterious Fog: In the year 536 AD, the year began with a mysterious thick fog that covered vast parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. It completely blocked out the sun. Procopius described the sun at that time: “It seemed as though the sun had lost its light, and it no longer shone with the brilliance of day, but rather as the moon, without rays or warmth, for more than a year.” The Roman statesman Cassiodorus also wrote: “The sunlight was weak, the sky appeared colorless, the cold pierced to the bone, and it was as if summer had been defeated by winter.” Catastrophic Climate Change: Temperatures dropped by 2 to 2.5 degrees Celsius in some regions, causing the worst cold spell the Northern Hemisphere had experienced in the past two thousand years. Widespread Famines: The climate shift led to the failure of harvests across Europe and Asia, resulting in massive famines, particularly in places like Ireland, Syria, and Byzantium. The Spread of Plagues: After this climate catastrophe and the ensuing famines, rats emerged from their hiding places in search of food, increasing their contact with humans. The fleas on these rats, which feed on blood, began infecting humans. Due to the general decline in public health and malnutrition, the world was struck by the Plague of Justinian, or the “Black Plague,” in the year 541 AD—just five years later. This pandemic k****d between 30 to 50 million people, nearly half of the population of the Byzantine Empire. The economy and military were weakened, trade came to a standstill, and this accelerated Europe’s descent into what became known as the Dark Ages. “The Triumph of Death is a painting by the Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, created in 1562.”
Image credits: Echo_of_Dusk
#25
In 1955 Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo fired & almost executed two-dozen of his most high ranking officials, including two senators, simply for failing to reprimand a speaker who forgot to praise Trujillo during his remarks at a minor celebratory dinner thrown in honor of a local lawyer.
Image credits: anon
#26 The Chainsaw Was Originally Invented To Assist In Childbirth By Cutting Through The Pelvises Of Mothers Who Struggled To Deliver Their Babies
This procedure, known as a symphysiotomy, was often performed without anesthesia on fully awake mothers.
Image credits: senorphone1
#27 Us President Harry Truman Was Known For Starting Every Day By Doing A Shot Of Bourbon, Which He Called His “Morning Medicine”
Despite this, Truman was not known for being an alcoholic, and did not drink to excess throughout the day
Image credits: Joeda-boss
#28 In 1898, During Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Visit To The Ottoman Empire, He Was Deeply Appalled By The Shabby State Of Medieval Islamic Conqueror Saladin’s Tomb
Germany’s final emperor was so moved that he fully funded the restoration of his mausoleum, personally donating a marble sarcophagus in his honor.
Image credits: anon
#29 After She Was Publicly Flogged And Her Daughters R**ed By Roman Soldiers, Queen Boudica Of The Iceni Destroyed 3 Entire Cities
Londinium burned with such ferocity that a blackened scorch-layer still runs under modern London, named by archaeologists the ‘Boudican Destruction Horizon’
Image credits: anon
#30 Union (Left) And Confederate (Right) Veterans Meet For The Battle Of Gettysburg’s 50th Anniversary In 1913
Despite official concerns “that there might be unpleasant differences,” the peaceful reunion was repeatedly marked by events of Union-Confederate camaraderie.
Image credits: senorphone1
#31 Budd Dwyer, A Former Treasurer Of Pennsylvania, Ended His Life By Shooting Himself On Live Television. Marilyn Manson Later Sampled The Audio For Get Your Gunn
Image credits: senorphone1
#32 Serial K****r Albert Fish Would Embed Needles Into His Groin And Abdomen. After His Arrest, X-Rays Revealed That He Had At Least 29 Needles Lodged In His Pelvic Region
Image credits: senorphone1
#33 George Vi Was Appalled When The South African Government Instructed Him To Only Shake Hands With White People While On His Visit There In 1947
He referred to his South African bodyguards as “the Gestapo”
Image credits: Curtmantle_
#34 After Olga Of Kiev’s Husband Was M******d, She Went After The Culprits And Not Only Obliterated The Whole Family Through Ruse And Deceit, And Also Destroyed Their City
Image credits: senorphone1
#35 Colonel Sanders Had A Kind Of Depressing And Harsh Life Before He Became The Chicken King
Forced to be the man of his house at 5, he failed at making anything of a short stint in the army, had a ton of bad luck with work, and his first wife left him and took the kids, thinking him a failure.
Image credits: Breadington38
#36 Circa 1992 – I Decided To See What War Was Truly Like. At 21 I Made A Fake Press Pass For A Fake Newspaper And Pretended To Be A Real Journalist
I was too dumb to understand the risks and too convincing to be denied. The UN put me on an aid flight out of Zagreb into the besieged Sarajevo.
Image credits: TJH48932
#37 After The Death Of His Friend, Alexander The Great Organized A Contest “To Determine Who Could Drink The Greatest Quantity Of Unmixed Wine”
According to Chares of Mytilene, 35 people died before midnight, and a further 6 from various complications in the days that followed.
Image credits: Independent_Leg_9385
#38 Adrian Carton De Wiart, During Ww1 Was Shot In The Face, Skull, Ear, Chest, And Leg. After Losing A Hand And An Eye He Refused To Retreat, Staying To Toss Grenades
When a doctor was later amputating his fingers he got impatient and pulled them off. – he later said “Frankly I enjoyed the war”
Image credits: Historicalhysteria
#39 In 1888, Vincent Van Gogh Cut His Left Ear With A Razor. He Was Taken To The Hospital, Where He Was Treated By Dr Felix Rey
Van Gogh painted a portrait of Rey and gave it to him. Rey was not fond of it used it to repair a chicken coop, then gave it away. In 2016, it was valued at over $50 million.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#40 On January 24, 1972, Two Hunters In A Remote Area Of Guam Were Attacked By An Emaciated Man
After being captured, he was identified as Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese WW2 soldier who had hid in the jungle for almost 30 years. When he landed back in Japan, he wept “I am ashamed that I have returned alive”
When Shoichi Yokoi was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army in 1941, he and his fellow soldiers were taught “to prefer death to the disgrace of getting captured alive.” So when American forces invaded Guam in 1944, Yokoi fled into the jungle to avoid becoming a prisoner of war. But although he saw the pamphlets dropped above the country announcing that World War 2 had come to an end a year later, he still refused to surrender. Instead, Yokoi spent the next 27 years living in an underground shelter he dug for himself, weaving clothing out of tree bark, and eating coconuts, frogs, eels, and rats. Then, in 1972, two hunters discovered him and turned him in to the authorities, who sent him back to Japan. Even nearly three decades after the war, Yokoi was ashamed that he’d been captured, telling the crowd gathered to greet him: “I have returned with the rifle the emperor gave me. I am sorry I could not serve him to my satisfaction.” At the age of 56, Yokoi initially had trouble assimilating back into Japanese society, but he ultimately got married just nine months after returning home — and spent his honeymoon back in Guam.
Image credits: kooneecheewah
#41 In 1922, A Young Future 3-Star General George S Patton Was In New York When He Saw A Woman Being Carried Into A Truck By Several Men
Patton immediately brandished a pistol & ordered her let out at gunpoint, learning only moments later she was leaving her own wedding, & was exhausted from dancing
Image credits: anon
#42 María García Was Taunted Repeatedly By Her Next Door Neighbor Who Had Brutally R**ed Her Daughter Verónica, With Him Even Asking ‘How Her Daughter Was’ On His Release From Jail
She saw him in a local bar, poured gasoline on him and set him on fire. He died. She was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison.
Image credits: anon
#43 Respect
Image credits: anon
#44 In 1945, A B-25 Bomber Crashed Into The Empire State Building. 14 People Died. An Elevator Operator Named Betty Oliver Survived A 75-Story Elevator Fall
She suffered severe burns, and a broken pelvis, back and neck. It remains the world record for the longest survived elevator fall.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#45 In 1140, When An Enemy Castle Was Captured By King Conrad III, The Women Of The Castle Were Granted Free Departure And Allowed To Take What They Could Carry On Their Backs
Thinking quickly, the women carried the men on their backs. The King kept his word and let the men live.
Image credits: Tink__Wink
#46 An American Philosophical Society Member For 35 Yrs, Thomas Jefferson Was The 1st Scientist Us President
At 23, he went to Philadelphia to be inoculated for smallpox when Virginia discouraged it. He later vaccinated 200 family members & neighbors. This 1806 letter gives praise to Dr. Edward Jenner.
Image credits: anon
#47 A Silent Film About The Titanic Was Made In 1912, Just 29 Days After It Sank
The film starred Dorothy Gibson, an actress who had survived the sinking. To add to the film’s authenticity, she wore the same clothes that she had worn on the night of the disaster.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#48 Carl Herman Unthan A 19th Century Violinist Who Was Born Without Arms
During a concert, he accidentally broke a string; he replaced and tuned it using only his toes. Afterwards, he deliberately weakened a string before each performance so that he could repeat the stunt.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#49 A Thing Can’t Commit Treason
Image credits: Rem_Lies
#50 The First Vaccines Were Invented In 14th Century China. Where Powdered Small Pox Scabs Were Blown Up Peoples Noses
Nasal Insufflation k****d 1 – 2% of recipients which was still preferable to smallpox. This method was brought to Europe in the late 17th century before being banned in the 1800’s
Image credits: Historicalhysteria
#51 Charles Darwin’s Walking Stick Was Made Of Whale Bone And Looked Like A Super Villain’s Cane
#52 The Sad Tale Of Virginia “Gennie” Christian (1895-1912): The Last Female Minor Executed In The United States
Convicted of m*******g her white employer at age 16. Sentenced to death despite no previous arrests and her claims of self-defense. Executed the day after her 17th birthday.
Image credits: Ill_Definition8074
#53 In 1935, An Extremely Drunk Mongolian Socialist Leader Peljidiin Genden Slapped Joseph Stalin So Hard He Broke His Pipe
Stalin & Genden had fallen out over Stalin’s insistence on eradicating Buddhism from Mongolia, with Genden once remarking “On earth there are two great geniuses, Buddha & Lenin”
Image credits: anon
#54
In the early 1920’s, when notorious Russian anticommunist general Roman von Ungern-Sternberg learned one of his lieutenants had sexually a*******d several nurses & looted their communities during one of his military campaigns, he ordered the man severely flogged & burned at the stake
Image credits: anon
#55 Historical “16th Century” Fart!
In John Aubrey’s Brief Lives, it is the story of the Earl of Oxford, who bowed deeply to the first Queen Elizabeth and accidentally farted. Overcome with shame, he vanished from court and spent seven years travelling. On his hesitant return, the queen greeted him with: “My Lord, I had forgotten the Fart.”
Image credits: anon
#56 Irma Grese, A Notorious N**i Concentration Camp Guard During World War II, Gained Infamy For Her Brutal Conduct, Leading To Numerous Accusations
Known as the “Hyena of Auschwitz” and later as the “Witch of Bergen-Belsen,” Grese’s reputation was marked by extreme cruelty and sadistic behavior.
Image credits: senorphone1
#57 Brenda Spencer Shot Up An Elementary School At Age 16, K**ling Two And Injuring Eight Children And A Cop. When Questioned Why She Did It, She Simply Said, “I Don’t Like Mondays”
Image credits: senorphone1
#58 British Sisters Ida And Louise Cook Rescued 29 Jews From The N**is By Sneaking Out Valuables In Plain Sight
For Example, Ida pinned a large diamond brooch to her cheap sweater and officials assumed it was fake. They repeated this trick several times.
Both girls were born in Sunderland, Louise in 1901, Ida in 1904. By 1934 both girls, now considered spinsters, were living together in London and working civil service jobs although Ida would soon be a successful romance author under the pen name Mary Burchell (her first book was published in 1936). Ida and Louise both had a passion for opera and frequently traveled so they could see their favorite operas. That year Ida and Louise were both in Salzburg attending an opera festival. They became acquainted with a Romanian opera singer named Viorica Ursuleac and her Austrian husband, a conductor named Clemens Krauss who were both secretly involved in helping Jews escape from the N***s. The sisters were told about the plight of Jews in Austria and Germany and what they heard moved them so much that they knew they needed to act. Back in Britain the sisters contributed their own money and later donations from friends to help resettle Jews in Britain. Later they agreed to covertly transport expensive jewelry owned by Jews out of occupied territory. This was illegal as Jews weren’t allowed to take any valuable items out of the country so Ida and Louise took a big risk doing this. That’s when Ida had to transport the large diamond brooch and got the idea to pin it to the front of her cheap cardigan from Marks and Spencer’s. It worked so well that Ida and Louise repeated the ruse several more times. On the rare occasions when they were stopped by officials they would “do the nervous British spinster act” and act so crazy that any official would back off. As an example I’ll quote this anecdote from the article “When an Austrian frontier official questioned Louise’s opulent string of pearls that she was wearing along with her otherwise inexpensive outfit, she acted affronted, exclaiming, “And why not?!’ She frantically ran to a mirror and looked at herself, all the while yelling at the inspector, “What is wrong with my appearance? What were you trying to imply?” until the inspector fled Louise’s crazy act.” For their heroism they were awarded “Righteous Among the Nations” from Yad Vashem in 1965.
Image credits: Ill_Definition8074
#59 In 1971, John List M******d His Entire Family, Claiming It Was To Save Their Souls
After carefully arranging their bodies in sleeping bags, he methodically cleaned the scene, removed himself from family photographs, turned on a religious radio station, and vanished.
Image credits: senorphone1
#60 In 1922, A Young Michigan Woman Was Thrown Out Of College For Smoking A Cigarette Despite There Being No Specific Rule Against It
Her case made it the state Supreme Cort, who backed the school and praised them for supporting “lady-like” behavior.
Meanwhile, male students were freely permitted to smoke at the school.
Image credits: The-Union-Report
#61 During A Meeting Called By Holy Roman Emperor Henry Vi In 1184, The Second Floor Of A Cathedral Collapsed
60 German nobles died when they fell through the first floor into the latrine cesspit below. Many died drowning in what was called the Erfurt Latrine Disaster
Image credits: senorphone1
#62 While Traveling Through Present-Day Arizona In 1851, Most Of Olive Oatman’s Family Was Clubbed To Death By The Yavapai
The 13-year-old girl was captured and sold to the Mohave, who she lived with for the next 4 years as a tribeswoman called ‘oach’
Image credits: kooneecheewah
#63 In The Early 1960’s, The Kgb Attempted To Blackmail Indonesian Revolutionary & President Sukarno By Secretly Filming An Orgy Between Him & Several Flight Attendants
Sukarno, who was openly a polygamist with a reputation as a womanizer, was unimpressed, & asked for his own copy of the tape to watch
Image credits: anon
#64 Hans Münch, A Doctor Known As The Good Man Of Auschwitz Because He Refused To Assist In The Mass M*****s
His experiments were elaborate farces intended to protect inmates. He was the only person acquitted of war crimes at the 1947 Auschwitz trials after many inmates testified in his favour.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#65 Solomon Linda (1909-1962) Was A Black South African Musician Who Wrote And Recorded The Original Version Of The Song The Lion Sleeps Tonight In 1939
He sold the song rights for 10 shillings (less than $2), and he died virtually penniless, with his estate not seeing any royalties for decades.
Image credits: Ill_Definition8074
#66
Colonel Gail Halvorsen, a US air force officer who was known as the “Berlin Candy Bomber” or “Uncle Wiggly Wings” because he airdropped candy to German children during the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949. He would wiggle his wings to let them know he was coming.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#67 In 1942, A Dutch Minesweeper Called The Abraham Crijnssen Avoided Japanese Aircraft And Escaped To Australia By Disguising As A Tropical Island
Personnel covered the ship in foliage and painted the hull to resemble rocks. The ship remained close to shore during the day and only sailed at night.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#68 Sometimes History’s Most Legendary Criminals Were Also The Worst
Image credits: hokkuhokku
#69
On April 18, 1930, at 8:45 pm the BBC News evening bulletin announced: “Good evening. Today is Good Friday. There is no news.” For the rest of the 15 minute time slot, the station played only piano music.
Image credits: Str33twise84
#70 The 21st Of January 1795, The French Attacked And Captured A Dutch Fleet… With Horses
The 14 ships were caught in the ice at Helder, and the French general attempted this bold move. It is the only documented occurence of a cavalry charge against ships in History.
Image credits: Tchermob
#71 The Memorial To Heroic Self-Sacrifice In London England
It opened in 1900 and and commemorates the ordinary people who died saving the lives of others and who might otherwise have been forgotten. It has 54 tablets. A new one was added in 2009, the first in 78 years.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
#72 Taffy Iv, A Regimental Goat Of The British Army
He was on active duty in France during World War I, participating in the Retreat from Mons, the First Battle of Ypres and other famous battles. In 1914, he was awarded a medal; the 1914 star.
Image credits: Russian_Bagel
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