History is an overwhelmingly broad realm of study. Collecting all of the formative events, by all the influential people, in all of the places in the world--and their interactions--is an insurmountable project.
And that is to say nothing of the minor quirks that, while influential in a niche area of the human story, rarely get much real estate in history text books or discussions.
The task offers internet crowd sourcing a time to shine. One Reddit thread became a common space to collect all those minute happenings from all of time.
The forum assembled a trove of off-hand remarks from teachers, stray paragraphs when a history book author had a little fun, and the commonly omitted marginalized perspectives.
Negative-Pie asked, "What are some history facts that few people know?"
"It's an Honor to Mow for You, Sir"
"Harry Truman was the first US president to have secret service protection after his presidency. He wasn't happy about it and had them do his yard work so they weren't just sitting around doing nothing."
"He was also known to sneak away and go to the bank and by the time they realized he was gone he was on his way back home."
Structural Problems
"Mexico City is technically an artificial island. It was built by filling up a lake with dirt to create an island, and then making a city on top of that. The Spaniards then built a city on top of that city."
"This is why the earthquakes are so severe, because the soil is basically the shlurpy stuff at the bottom of a lake."
-- Aceofkings9
Glad That Stopped Early
"The Soviets trained dogs strapped with Bombs to run under tanks in WWII. The Soviets mistakenly trained them on their own tanks which run on diesel whereas the German tanks ran on gasoline."
"When they field tested the dogs they ran under their own tanks and that ended that insane piece of history."
It's All About Appearances
"The Netherlands has a city or town named Turkey. The story behind it is that way back in the day Spain claimed to go to war with the Netherlands. The Netherlands not being that powerful asked the Ottoman Empire for their support."
"The Ottoman empire gave the Netherlands one Ottoman flag and one soldier uniform and told them to have someone walk around in that with the flag near it's shores for the Spaniards to see as they arrive (cause they told the Netherlands that they'd attack from sea)."
"The Ottoman empire also sent a message to the king or duke of Spain (idk who the leader was and what he was called at the time) stating that the Netherlands is under their protection and so attacking them ment declaring war on the Ottoman Empire, as the fleet saw the soldier uniform and flag, and got word of the letter they fled before a single shot even occurred."
"As a thanks they named a city after the empire and as the empire then became Turkey of today they change the name of the city too. Not many people know this and I mention it as often as I can when a Dutch person badmouths the Ottomans."
-- Connloadth
*Very* Influential Figure
"A lot of people know that during the crusades of Ghengis Khan, he wiped out 10% of the worlds population. What many don't know is that he and his army sexually assaulted so many women and had so many babies that the 10% was actually restored."
"This is the reason that a decent percentage of East Asian people descended from Ghengis Khan (and his army)."
Crossed Wires
"French fries are from Belgium."
"Fortune cookies are from San Francisco."
"Danishes are from Austria."
"Salmon sushi is from Norway."
Hasty Solutions
"During the 1936 Olympics games. Haiti and Lichtenstein both came in with the exact same flag which was blue on top and red in bottom. Up until now both countries weren't aware that they both had the same flag."
"So to stop confusion between the two countries, Lichtenstein added a crown to their flag while Haiti put a white square with their coat of arms inside."
-- Luckycow602
Can't Imagine a Car Chase
"The first car made available to to general public (not just rich people) was the Ford Model T. It was mass produced, keeping it cheap enough for the average working man (and in the process perfecting the assembly line), and it's why everyone has a car nowadays, when it used to be a luxury."
"The catch? Every single Model T was painted black because black was the cheapest paint that dried fastest, so they could get Model Ts off the line faster."
"Every. Single. Car."
"Part of why other car manufacturers eventually became more popular was because they offered a color OTHER than black."
-- ejiciam
Dairy Is Not a Given
"It's reported that one of the many reasons the Vikings were driven out of what is now Canada was the inadvertent poisoning of many of the Native people by trading dairy with them, which they could not digest due to cattle not yet being introduced to North America."
-- larryfellows
How to Spin Violence
"Maybe not super niche, but I'm sure most people have not thought of it in this way."
"The bikini became a brilliant marketing strategy for the US military to deflect from the impact of it's nuclear testing. The very first bikini was named after the nuclear testing in Bikini Atol, that devastated the island chain and displaced its indigenous people."
Close One
"The London Symphony Orchestra was originally booked to perform on the Titanic on its maiden voyage, but they ended up on another boat at the last minute."
"That surely would have been worse than London Bridge falling down!"
-- Back2Bach
A Rare Unity
"May 5, 1945. Battle of Castle Itter. I believe French POWs were being held in that castle, it was a few days after Hitler's suicide."
"The United States and Defected German Soldiers fought alongside each other against the SS into defending the castle. The only time in the war were 2 opponents turned friendly."
History's Back Room Deals
"The Boston Tea Party wasn't about taxes, it was about blocking free trade. The East India Company had previously been prohibited from selling directly to the colonies, they had to go through middlemen first."
"The Tea Act removed that restriction which cut the price of tea in half. This was bad for American smugglers, like Sam Adams, who were importing tea from France and Spain."
-- sykemol
Every Coin is a Portrait
"The eagle on U.S. coinage has a name; Peter."
"In the 1830's the mint in Philadelphia was very rural. The eagle would watch the minting of coins and hung out in the open windows of the mint."
"One day he suddenly flew into one of the presses and was mortally wounded. He later died and was stuffed and placed in the mint as a sort of mascot. He was later used as a model for the eagle on coinage."
-- Numismatists
THE CHAMP
"President Abraham Lincoln is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame. Before he was president, Abraham Lincoln was declared a wrestling champion. The 6'4" president had only one loss among his around 300 contests."
"He earned a reputation for this in New Salem, Illinois, as an elite fighter. Eventually, he earned his county's wrestling championship."
-- Goosekilla1
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
I can't definitively say I've come face to face with the spirits. But I have had some unsettling feelings in the dark. Shadows are just shadows sometimes, but who can be sure.
I hear it...
Nbc Wings GIF by HULUGiphy"I was helping my dad clean my grandma's house after she passed and I went in and was trying to find a song in my phone and before I could I heard a cough plain as day come from down the hallway where her room was. She died of lung and throat cancer it was pretty crazy."
Running Past...
"When I was 5 I remember getting home from my grandpa's birthday party. For context my mom was pregnant with my brother at the time, so my parents had already bought his crib. I woke up in the middle of the night to find a women in a white dress and long black hair standing over my brother's crib. I managed to wake up my dad so he could take me to the bathroom. When I got back it was still there. It was only until morning when it disappeared. Every now and then I see a glance of what I assume is that thing running past the backyard."
The Cat
"My best friend and his wife had moved to a new apartment. I came over to visit a few times, and each time I'd see the motion of a cat in my peripheral vision. Not the image of a cat, but a sense of how a cat moves. Anyway, one day I finally cracked some joke about the ghost cat in the place and his wife was instantly saying "See! See! I told you we had a ghost cat!"
"excuse me"
"I worked graveyard shift in a dementia ward for 4 years and it was anything but quiet. I was working with a nurse one night when we both heard a resident say "excuse me." We looked around and no-one was there. I checked on the resident in question and she was fast asleep in her own room. Many of us also experienced someone whistling in the ward late at night and one nurse even managed to catch a video of it happening. It was unnerving to say the least."
Clueless
Skeleton GIFGiphy"I once saw someone short walk by me in my house. They walked into the laundry room which only has one way in. I walked into it behind them and they where gone. I thought it was my little brother but I went to his room and he was asleep. I still have no clue what that was."
- ImBolio
Now was everyone here positive they were sober? Just asking. Those are certainly spooky moments. I'd like some video footage please. Continue...
Reflections
ghost library GIFGiphy"I was up at 3am when I was maybe 7 or 8. I looked out the window and saw a woman in a white dress run across my yard. I could see through her. She was transparent like the reflections on the window."
"you alright?"
"So, my work place is haunted. I was having a really crap day, and as a cleaner, it's normal that me and my co worker will be the only ones left at night. So I was standing on the second floor, leaning on the banister for the stair case, when I heard this male voice say in my ear "you alright?" Clear as day. I turned around so fast and nobody was there and it scared the hell out of me."
- Rex-the-
Watching Me
"I remember as a young kid I usually use to sit in my bed and watch tv with my room door open while the adjacent guest bedroom next to mine would always have the door shut. I always remember seeing that door fully open and close by itself multiple times a day very slowly and gently. Never really bothered me much now that I think about it… but there were other creepier experiences I had in the same house that made me feel uncomfortable like I was being watched."
Betsy
"I went to the Betsy Ross House as a really little kid in the early 90s. Normal house but I was confused why the tour guide never talked about the woman on the chair crying at the edge of the bed in Betsy Ross's bedroom. So I asked about it. No one else saw the woman at the edge of the bed. I figured it was just a wax museum since there was a wax statue of a man in uniform rolling bullets in the basement."
"Years later, I was looking at haunted Philadelphia tours to go on with a friend and the Betsy Ross House was on it. I was like "woah! I was there!" and looked into it some more. Turns out there is a woman at the end of the bed crying and a uniformed man in the basement that people have reported seeing. There is no way that 8 year old me would have known about either of these things."
hello kitty...
hello kitty lol GIF by Animation Domination High-DefGiphy"I had this hello kitty Balloon In my bed room, it had a string and weight on it. So it was late, I had the lights on just Sitting on my bed. The Balloon turns, faces my door, slowly floats into my hallway and turns and floats into my sister's room. To this day I am scared of balloons."
They are among us and they like Hello Kitty. I'm probably rattling the paranormal cages and they'll come for me next, but I'm ready. I feel like this thread has prepared me.
Boo!
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