No matter who you are or what period of history may be your favorite, there are always more tidbits of history out there to learn, and it’s always fun to learn them! So, here are 10 fun history facts I’ve learned recently that I thought were cool enough to share:
1.
Mark Twain’s birth coincided with the 1835 passing of Halley’s Comet, and the author predicted that his death would coincide with the comet as well. In 1909, he was quoted as saying, “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835; it’s coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It would be a great disappointment in my life if I don’t. The Almighty has said, no doubt: ‘Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'” Halley’s Comet reached its perihelion on April 20, 1910, and Twain died of a heart attack the next day on April 21.
2.
In 1137, a 14-year-old girl named Eleanor became the “greatest heiress in the known world.” She was, in her own right, the Duchess of Aquitaine and ruled it independently through her two marriages.
3.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a Japanese man, is the only known person to have survived both the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and of Nagasaki. On August 6, 1945, the day the US dropped the first atomic bomb, Yamaguchi was on a business trip in Hiroshima. While he suffered burns, Yamaguchi survived, and got on a train to return home to Nagasaki the next day.
5.
During the Great Hunger in Ireland, during which about 1 million people died and Britain failed to provide appropriate aid (or stop exporting perfectly healthy potatoes from a starving populace), outside aid was sent by a number of countries, including the Choctaw Nation.
6.
If you’re from the US, you’ve probably heard the tale that the boy George Washington, having received a hatchet as a present, chopped down his father’s cherry tree. When his dad became angry, little George ‘fessed up, saying, “I cannot tell a lie…I did cut it with my hatchet.” His dad then gave him a hug and told him honesty was important. That’s all well and good…except that that story never actually happened. It’s a myth!
7.
The United States’ capture of Guam is one of the more unusual and interesting takeovers of territory in its history. Guam was under Spanish rule at the onset of the Spanish-American War, which broke out in 1898. The USS Charleston was the sole American ship sent to take the island; upon arrival, it shot off several warning shots, but there was no response.
8.
More than 10,000 people lost their lives (and their heads) to execution by guillotine during the French Revolution. France outlawed the death penalty in 1981, and the guillotine lasted almost up until that point. The last execution by guillotine happened as recently as 1977; for context, that’s the year Star Wars came out.
9.
The floor of the Roman Colosseum was often covered in a layer of sand, which was useful for soaking up the vomit and blood of people and animals. The Latin word for sand, harēna, or arēna, became synonymous with the stadium itself; that’s where our modern word “arena” comes from.
If there are any dramatic, interesting, or just plain cool facts from history that you love, please, please, please drop them in the comments! I always like learning more historical info, and I’m sure other people do, too. Or, if you’d rather share anonymous, fill out the form below!