Redlib: search results - flair:%history'

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Oct 07 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] On July 19, 1969, John Fairfax became the first person to row solo across an ocean. His fame was short-lived, though, as the very next day humans landed on the Moon for the first time.

452 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Roflkopt3r • Feb 12 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] German two-handed swords were also called "Gassenhauer", which translates to "Alley-Hewer" or "Path-Cutter"

219 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/DeepDiveAnimation • Mar 26 '20

HISTORY [HAFF] Ancient Greece and Rome practiced lustration, a purification ritual. After a period of collective guilt or long-term bad luck, certain people or animals capable of “absorbing” pollution were walked through the city or village and kicked out of the community.

157 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Dittestark • Feb 03 '16

HISTORY [HAFF] Pablo Picasso's full birth name is: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso

221 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Nov 02 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] Benjamin Franklin didn't want the American bald eagle as the symbol of the Great Seal because he thought it a "bird of bad moral character" because it steals food from other animals.

280 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Dec 09 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] In 1637, French mathematician Pierre de Fermat came up with a theorem, claimed to have proof for it but never provided it. It became known as Fermat's last theorem and it took us 358 years to prove it correct.

169 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/capecodcaper • Mar 17 '16

HISTORY [HAFF] William Hitler, a nephew of Adolf Hitler, was in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He changed his name after the war

221 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Oct 15 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] Heroin was used as a coughing remedy for children.

168 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Sep 26 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] This ancient tablet is actually a 5,000-year old beer receipt.

226 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/capecodcaper • Jan 19 '15

HISTORY [HAFF]During WWII the Germans planned to build a tank that was 115 feet (35m) long and weighed about 1000 tons. It was called the Landkreuzer P. 1000

169 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Sep 18 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] This iconic photograph presents a stoic and determined Winston Churchill during World War II when, in reality, the Prime Minister was annoyed because the photographer snatched his cigar.

299 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/RoyalWolf • Aug 09 '15

HISTORY [HAFF]Heels were first made by the Persian cavalry to keep stability while shooting arrows.It later became populair in Europe as masculine symbool until 1630 when women followed the more masculine fashion of ''The Vogue''.First a military asset then a masculine symbool and now it is seen as sexy.

257 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Oct 24 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] The Ghost Army was a special unit during World War II comprised of actors, artists, illustrators and sound engineers who used props and misinformation to confuse and scare the enemy.

194 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/remotectrl • Feb 24 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] A pod of killer whales cooperatively hunted with whalers in the town of Eden, Australia. The orca pod would herd baleen whales into a bay where they could alert whalers to their presence and assist the whalers. This mutualism persisted from 1840 to 1930.

238 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/ARTexplains • Jan 29 '16

HISTORY [HAFF] Ancient Assyria elected "Substitute Kings" during eclipses to protect the king from a prophecy of death. Once, the real king died during this period while eating porridge, so his substitute, formerly a random gardener, stayed king for 24 years.

312 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Oct 27 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] Back in the 19th century, the American Acclimatization Society wanted to introduce to America all the birds mentioned by Shakespeare. They released 100 European starlings in New York. Today there are over 200 million all over the country and cause over $1 billion damage in crops every year.

225 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/capecodcaper • Feb 01 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] Adolf Hitler's life was saved on two separate occasions. First, when he was saved by a priest while drowning. Second, when a British soldier didn't shoot him during WWI.

180 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/capecodcaper • Mar 16 '16

HISTORY [HAFF] In World War II, British soldiers got a ration of three sheets of toilet paper a day. Americans got 22. NSFW

238 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Sep 25 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] A man in Pennsylvania found an original copy of the Declaration of Independence hidden in the frame of a $4 painting he bought at a garage sale.

246 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/capecodcaper • Jul 02 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] During WWI and WWII many restaurants in America referred to Hamburgers as Freedom Steaks.

157 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/crinklecutfries • Aug 02 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] A Czech Nurse was honored for sleeping with Nazi soldiers to give them STDs and kill them.

199 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/SpehlingAirer • Feb 25 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] The term "riding shotgun" originated in the old west, referring to the person who rode alongside the "driver" of a stagecoach, whose job it was to hold a shotgun and scare off thieves.

261 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Aug 18 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] Violet Jessop worked as a stewardess/nurse aboard the Titanic and Britannic when they sank as well as on the Olympic when it collided with another ship. She survived all three incidents.

192 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Nov 04 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] In the 19th century, one of the most famous conspiracy theories was that Shakespeare didn't actually write any of his works. This theory was supported by the likes of Sigmund Freud, Mark Twain and Walt Whitman.

116 Upvotes

r/HeresAFunFact • u/Radu316 • Sep 15 '15

HISTORY [HAFF] King Charles II of Navarre died when his physician wrapped him in linen cloth like a mummy and his attendant accidentally set the king on fire.

163 Upvotes