historical-facts
History
- There's a giant mushroom in Oregon's Malheur National Forest with a root system that covers over 2,200 acres, making it the largest living organism in the world.
- The word clitoris comes from the Greek kleitoris and means the little hill and to rub.
- One volcanic explosion can impact the entire world. Scientists believe the 1815 explosion of Mt. Tambora led to climate change, crop failure, and starvation across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
- Heroin was once a perfectly acceptable medicine. Doctors prescribed it for everything from coughs to headaches.
- Abraham Lincoln was also a licensed bartender.
- Like many ancient royalty, King Tut's parents were related. According to DNA taken from his mummified body, his parents were actually brother and sister.
- Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin were all nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
- At the height of his popularity, Charlie Chaplin entered a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like competition in San Francisco. He came in 20th place.
- In the 1800s, people bought mummies and held "mummy unwrapping" parties.
- Cleopatra lived closer to the invention of the iPhone than she did to the building of the Great Pyramid.
- San Marino is the oldest country in the world. It was established in 301 BC.
- In 1788 the Austrian army attacked itself and lost 10,000 men.
- The Afghan War is the longest war in U.S. history.
- Peter the Great executed his wife's lover, then forced her to keep her lover's head in a jar of alcohol in her bedroom.
- The Titanic's owners never said the ship was "unsinkable".
- Over a million Europeans were captured and sold as slaves to North Africa between 1530 and 1780.
- During the Great Depression, people often made clothes out of flour sacks. Distributors would make their sacks more colorful to help people remain at least somewhat fashionable.
- During Prohibition in the United States, the U.S. government poisoned alcohol.
- The pyramids were built by paid laborers. Not slaves. That's a myth by Herodotus, the Greek historian.
- Harriet Tubman was the first woman to lead a raid during the Civil War.