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History Buffs Share The Events In U.S. History That People Often Forget

Do we really forget or do we choose to ignore the less pleasant parts of our history? That is the real question. The crux of how America deals with history.

There are so many vital details and so much fascinating information about the forging of this country that we often just study for a moment, then file away in the dead lands of our brains.

Maybe this is why we repeat history, we never learn from it because we choose to forget it.

Thankfully we have historians, teachers and people who crave random knowledge in hopes of one day ending up on 'Jeopardy.'

They'll never let us forget.


Redditor Prestigious_Ad_2322wanted everyone to share some details of this country's past that we need to be reminded of, so they asked:

"What part of U.S.A. history is easily forgotten?"

My pencil is ready.

Well, my fingers at the keyboard are ready.

I'm here to learn and hit up Wikipedia.

New Land

"Conquest of Mexico. Which is how we got Texas, New Mexico and Arizona." ~ amahtez

Giphy

The Great Lakes

"The naval battles on the Great Lakes, piracy on the Great Lakes, and the nazi plot to destroy American aluminum plants during WW2. There was a plot that was failed by the nazis once the soldiers made it to the US. They were dropped off from a submarine off the coast with bombs, guns, and tons of money."

"They were supposed to infiltrate several key locations, such as power plants, damns, bridges, and most importantly a couple of aluminum plants. At the time we produced more aluminum than anyone else in the world and that allowed us to put produce anyone in airplanes by 5:1."

"Anyway, the nazi soldiers fell in love with everything in America and just spent the money acting like average Americans, one of them was caught at the movie theater. It’s a very funny story all together, but lots of people don’t know about it." ~ kudos1007

Casualties

"The Battle of the Wabash in 1791, AKA Little Bighorn on steroids. The Federal Government tried to claim and sell the land of Indians in the Northwest Territory (modern day Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, etc.) to pay off its massive debts. They sent a force of 1000 men to evict the Indians but were met by 1100 warriors of the Northwestern Confederacy. Casualties for the American force was over 97%, about 25% of the entire US Army. Native casualties were about 5%, or 61 casualties in all. It was the worst defeat ever suffered by the US at the hands of Native Americans." ~ Ranger176

An Important Era

"The period between 1790 and 1860." ~ Washpedantic

"Agreed, this period is where a lot of our political and societal norms were established. I had no idea now critical decisions made then impacted the nation. Not to mention the half dozen or so times the nation almost imploded. Heirs of the Founders by H.W. Brands is a great book on the subject." ~ Gregnif

This Little Piggy...

"The Pig War." ~ Ok_Butterscotch1549

"It ended in like around 1860 when the British and US presented their case to the German Empire." ~ JesusHacked

"MyAccountAmerica and Britain asked the German Empire who the islands belonged to, and Germany said America so now they belong to America." ~ NoWorries124

Giphy

Fascinating.

I remember none of this.

Except maybe the pig war thing.

Though I may be confusing stories.

Devious Plans

"The story of the Cherokees! The U.S. took Cherokee land through essentially rigged treaties, disobeying the Constitution in the process. Note there were many people opposed to this taking of land, but still many more who promoted it." ~ The--Morning--Star

Giphy

Aloha

"That Hawaii was a recognized sovereign country, the Queen having been received by Queen Victoria of England in 1887. In support of the Dole Corporation and other businessmen, a contingent of US Marines staged a coup and overthrew the Hawaiian government. Queen Liliuokalani submitted peacefully, expecting the US President wouldn't stand for such imperialist behavior. Grover Cleveland did nothing, and his successor annexed Hawaii in 1898." ~ bdbr

"ORGANIZE!!"

"The Battle of Blair Mountain. Strikers and labor organizers in the coal mining industry were attacked by lawmen and strike breakers and eventually the West Virginia National Guard was ordered in to break the strike. This is the story I mention when people say we don't need unions. Real people gave their lives for the right to organize." ~ abe_the_babe_

These Low Effort Jobs Have Surprisingly High Salaries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

Have you ever worked one of those jobs that paid you to kinda sit there? If you have, you know the joy that comes with watching the entirety of Breaking Bad ...

Welcome Everyone

"Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and English indentured servitude in the mid 1700s while US was still the colonies and then early 1900s when there was a lot of immigration from Ireland and Italy through Ellis Island. Still don’t understand how people were so mean to them back then when a lot of the citizens at the time were descendants of immigrants. Guess that still stands today." ~ tgmarie137

It All Repeats

"Before the Civil War where northern congressmen were often subject to emotional abuse, death threats, duels and assassinations so that they would not legally question slavery." ~ Vidhara

Giphy

The Founder

"The inventor of solid rocket fuel, Jack Parsons, was a devoted follower Aliester Crowley and tried to usher the Antichrist into being with the help of his best buddy, L. Ron Hubbard. Yes, the founder of Scientology. No, I’m not making this up."

"https://nypost.com/2018/06/19/this-sex-crazed-cultist-was-the-father-of-modern-rocketry/amp/"

"Here’s an over view. It’s public record that he took out ads in newspapers calling for bohemians, occultists, and free thinkers to come party at his house. He also left behind detailed journals pertaining to his magical rituals. I also left out that Hubbard essentially ruined his life, stealing his money, his girlfriend, and ruining his already dubious reputation. Parsons died under odd circumstances involving nitroglycerin." ~ CityofCandles

In Philly...

"In 1985 the Philly Police Dept. dropped a bomb on a residential neighborhood murdering 11 American civilians who lived there. Sixty one homes were destroyed. The fire department let it burn. Google the “MOVE bombing." ~ butchstache

CRUEL

"Sharecropping, Carpetbagging...this was a willfully CRUEL time that KEPT African-Americans disenfranchised that NO ONE mentions. In some ways (very few, I'll stress because slavery was obviously horrific) it was WORSE than slavery because during this time, the landowners had no real incentive to keep their indentured 'sharecropper' workers healthy or alive- when they died, they were just replaced and were effectively 'enslaved' by debt."

"THAT'S when people discovered that invisible chains were cheaper that iron ones. This was also the time of the 'robber barons' like Carnegie who ran RAMPANT expanding their wealth pretty much in the same proportion that billionaires are doing today during the Pandemic." ~ PhoenixNamor

Killer...

"That Christopher Columbus was an idiotic mass murderer who thought the world was pear shaped and did nothing but go from island to island slaughtering the native inhabitants." ~ urukslayer13

spanish day GIFGiphy

Red Dead

"Coal Wars. Series of conflicts between miners and the corporations that owned the mines in Appalachia and some in Colorado culminating in 1921. Miners wanted things like safety regulations, a union, and to be paid with US currency so the coal companies hired essentially a small army ran by Baldwin-Felt. Think the Pinkertons from Red Dead. Instead of giving up the miners armed themselves and made fortified locations in the mountains and armed conflict started."

"Ended when the coal companies asked the government for help so the US army started bombing the miners and the towns the miners families lived in. Also just throwing in that the miners didn’t fortify the towns just the army making a point I guess." ~ WeavBOS

Must Know

"Tulsa massacre. I never learned about it until I was in my late 20s. Such a huge and disgusting part of our history and it is almost never taught." ~ GonnAvomit

"This one I think has finally become common knowledge, at least on Reddit, since they made a show about it and it always comes up in these topics. AP history taught it to me in HS but all my friends in the general history classes never learned it." ~ uss_salmon

"Seven Years War"

"The french and Indian war. What even is that?" ~ NoAlternative2913

"A smaller part of the larger 'Seven Years War' which was a global war between Britain and France. The 'French and Indian War' was the British and French using their North American colonies, with both sides also drawing help from various Native American tribes. It was basically a huge, costly war over territory." ~ azizinator25

Forgotten

"Almost all of USA history is forgotten. Burning down stamp distributors houses in a form of violent protest, Whiskey Rebellions, Barbary Coast Wars, that time we thought we could sit out the Napoleonic Wars until the British started snatching up our sailors and the Canadians burned down the White House."

"When we fought Mexico, when we fought Spain, that time William Walker tried to conquer Nicaragua with an army of mercenaries and got his ass thumped after a month or so." ~ Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Genocide

"The genocide of Native Americans followed by all the interventions in Central and South America for the sake of corporations. America's border/illegal immigration problems were created by those interventions and propping up right wing dictators." ~ Viker2000

'Let me tell you a story…'

"I highly recommend listening to History That Doesn’t Suck. It is a podcast by Professor Greg Jackson. He is a professor at a university in Utah and does a phenomenal job of delivering a well researched, accurate telling of American history in the form of stories. His catch phrase at the beginning of every episode is 'Let me tell you a story…' He does a good job of keeping it fair and balanced. Lots of focus on the nuances of controversial figures." ~ wtn06

We have so much to relearn.

And unlearn and learn again.

We need to get studying.

Let's not keep repeating mistakes.


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People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.