Article created by: Jonas Zvilius
Even the most well-educated of people can’t say they know everything there is to know about history; it’s an endless supply of information, fascinating stories, and curious happenings, that would take forever to familiarize oneself with.
So, while we can’t provide you with all there is to know, we can share some interesting facts, to evoke your curiosity at least. Scroll down to find some of the most fascinating little-known facts, as shared by members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community, and see for yourself just how enthralling history can be and just how much there is still left to uncover.
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with an associate professor of history at Southern Utah University, Dave Lunt, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about it and all sorts of historical fun facts.
#1
During prohibition, grape concentrate bricks called Vine-Glo were sold.
On the packaging, it included a very specific warning: “After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine.”.
Image credits: Cassereddit
#2
During the Irish famine the Choctaw Nation from the USA sent financial aid to them and while a small amount at the time it was seen as a great gesture in return during Covid many Irish people donated money to the Navajo Nation to help them. There’s a statue in County Cork to commemorate it as well.
Image credits: Genybear12
#3
The Netherlands sends Canada 20,000 tulips every year for liberating them during WW2. The Netherlands also has a cemetery dedicated to Canadian fallen troops.
Image credits: redman9000
#4
Humans developed agriculture around 12000 years ago. By storing grain, huge numbers of rodents flourished. Cats showed up to eat the rodents, and humans learned that if they took care of the cats, the cats would control the rodents. Therefore, it was the invention of agriculture that led to the domestication of the house cat.
Image credits: redvariation
#5
Mongolian invasion of Japan was stopped by a typhoon. When they tried again, they were stopped by another typhoon. To this day these were the only two typhoons recorded in that place.
Image credits: treearemadeofbark
#6
The Canadian-Denmark whiskey war was probably the most polite war ever. It involved a small island off the coast of Greenland. The Canadians claimed it by putting the Canadian flag and bottles of Canadian whiskey on the rock, and the Danes would replace it with schnapps and the Danish flag. Both sides reached an agreement to split the island in 2022. I’m guessing this is more well known to Canadians and Danes than some of the rest of us.
Image credits: censorized
#7
Ancient Romans would put sandals on the hands of sleeping people then tickle their face so they would slap themselves.
Image credits: WhimsicalWhispere
#8
The Chinese sparrow hunt in 1960. It was to protect crops but it allowed invasions of locusts that no longer had a predator and this caused the great Chinese famine.
Image credits: NismanNoMurio
#9
The reason we have coal is because trees weren’t biodegradable back then, so it just underwent the geological proces and formed underground under pressure and high temperatures.
The fungus that breaks down trees, only evolved 40 million years ago.
Image credits: SpidermanBread
#10
Richard Nixon conspired with Saigon to win the 1968 presidential election. He interfered with the Johnson administration’s attempt at a peace treaty. This was literal treason and I feel that very few people know about it. The NYT wrote a piece about it in 2017.
Image credits: AlertOtter58
#11
Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States of America as an independent country.
Image credits: prosperosniece
#12
A very recent historical fact that is weirdly not talked about as much as it should be — Microsoft had accumulated such a big monopoly over the personal computer market through the 80s and 90s that in 1997 Microsoft was nearly broken apart by the US government. In an attempt to avoid an investigation, Microsoft invested nearly $150 million into a then-failing Apple Computer to give the US government less ammunition in a potential anti-trust case. This saved Apple from bankruptcy and helped them to become one of the biggest tech companies in history. Microsoft, however, profited off of this investment. In 2003, Microsoft sold their shares in Apple for nearly $600 million.
Image credits: bbbbbthatsfivebees
#13
Stegasaurous died out 145 million years ago, T Rex 72-65 million years ago, the Stegasaurous was as old to the T-Rex as the T-Rex is to us.
Grasses evolved about 70 Mya.
Image credits: Ok-disaster2022
#14
Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day.
Image credits: Idea_not_loading
#15
The Pony Express lasted only a year and a half.
TheAndrewBrown: It does seem to have been marketed heavily, but it was also one of the first ways to communicate across the country. It also went bankrupt because the telegraph was invented and made it obsolete, which led to it being romanticized like a lot of other “old west” stuff was that got replaced by newer technology. But it was a huge deal during that year and a half
Image credits: Civil-Resolution3662
#16
Coca Cola still uses coca leaves in their formula but just for the flavor. They are the only US company that is legally allowed to import coca leaves. The processed leaves are then sold to a pharmaceutical company.
Image credits: sn0m0ns
#17
In the early 1900s, the Tennessee Children’s Home Society was an illegal orphanage that kidnapped babies from poor households and sold them.
If you’re interested, read the book Before We Were Yours.
- You Might Also Like: “21 New Humorous Comics By Leigh Rubin To Make You Smile”
Image credits: Reach-for-the-sky_15
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