What Does the Word History Come From

November 29, 2021

11 Mindblowing History Facts

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Think you know everything there is to know about history? Think again. You probably know the stuff that was in your high school and college history books, but those teachers didn't teach you everything. They actually left some of the good stuff out. From who Napoleon's true enemies were (hint: They weren't even human) to the odd — and, quite frankly, disgusting — bodily fluid the Ancient Romans used for mouthwash, these are the history facts you don't learn in school:

Roman Mouthwash

It's a well-known fact that the Ancient Romans did some pretty wild and crazy things, but when it comes to hygiene, they definitely used a product that makes you sit up and take notice. Because they didn't have any Listerine or Scope around, they used human urine.

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Cats and the Bubonic Plague

What's really caused the Bubonic Plague? It's possible it had something to do with cats. Pope Gregory IX equated everyone's favorite felines with the devil and ordered them all to be killed. Unfortunately, this led to an overabundance of rats that spread disease.

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Dinosaurs and Dragons

Have you ever wondered where the legend of dragons came from? Or why dragons and dinosaurs look so much alike? That's because back in the Middle Ages and before, when people discovered dinosaur bones, they thought they were the remains of dragons that once roamed the earth.

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Cleopatra's First

Cleopatra is one of the most famous people in Egyptian history, as well as one of the most famous women in world history. She was part of the Ptolemaic line, Egypt's last dynasty that ruled for nearly 300 years. Despite her family's time in the country, Cleopatra was the only one to speak and understand the Egyptian language.

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Pyramids: Older than You Think

Speaking of Ancient Egypt, when you think of the Great Pyramids, you probably don't realize just how old they are. Both King Tut and Cleopatra would have considered them a part of ancient history in their day. As a matter of fact, wooly mammoths were still alive when the pyramids were built.

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Dancing Plague

Back in 1518, in the city of Strasbourg, France, hundreds of people danced themselves to death. Seriously. In what's now known as the Dancing Plague of 1518, a woman named Frau Troffea took to the streets and began dancing nonstop for a week. Others eventually joined in, and by August, the event had claimed hundreds of lives. No one knows for sure what happened, though some historians claim the dancers were part of a religious cult while others believe they ingested toxic mold.

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Don't Cheat on Peter the Great

Back when Peter the Great was Tsar of Russia, he caught his wife cheating on him. Not only did he kill her lover, but he did something that would never let her forget her mistake. He cut off her lover's head and made her keep it in a jar in her bedroom.

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Hitler's Family Tree

Hitler himself never had children, but his half brother and sister did. As of 2017, there were five living male descendents of the Hitler clan living across the world, from Long Island to Austria. All five men opted not to have children so that their family bloodline would die out forever.

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Napoleon's Rabbits

When you think of Napoleon, you probably think of him as one of the most successful military leaders in history. And while militaries around the world currently study his campaigns, there's one they probably don't worry too much about. After ending the war between French Empire and Imperial Russia, the commander took his men on a rabbit hunt, but they were quite surprised when the rabbits turned around and attacked Napoleon himself.

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Shortest War Ever

If you had to guess how long the shortest war in the history of the world was, 38 minutes probably isn't what comes to mind. But that's exactly how long the Anglo-Zanzibar war between United Kingdom and the Zanzibar Sultanate lasted in 1886.

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Babies for Raffle

Anyone who's gone through the adoption process today knows just how hard it can be to bring a child into your family. Back in early 20th century Paris, it was a little easier though. As a matter of fact, in 1911, a French orphanage held a raffle to raise money, and the prizes were real live babies.

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McWilliam Beerbeen