Bring any and all random historical facts you know to this chat! Such as:
That's actually all I got rn sorry. But anyone else can add their own facts!
The tin can was invented in 1810, but the can opener wasn’t invented until 1858! Until then, cans were actually opened with a hammer and chisel!
GoblinKing, I actually just fucking snorted at that
Oh, the things you dig up while planning a regency RP.
Haha true tho
During the battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812, the U.S only lost twenty soldiers
MY TIME HAS COME. this is literally my favourite thing ever. I could go on for pages
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Hitler was scared of cats, but he had a German Shepard that he trained to climb a ladder.
Wow guys. These are all really cool!
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- When former VP Aaron Burr visited the court at Weimar, he offended a princess by mistaking her for a chamber maid. (generally I recommend reading his diaries because they're so hilariously bizarre)
My favorite parts are when he spends $40 on a coconut, when he lit himself on fire t w i c e trying to light a candle by shooting it (or just with gunpowder? I've heard it both ways), when he got a brain freeze and thought he was dying, and, of course,
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Oh my god I just read about the umbrella and wow.
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Oh, and let's not forget about what I have so lovingly dubbed
(oh and the fact that he kinda killed Alexander Hamilton)
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Aaron Burr in general is iconic
(for being a mess)
Anyway James Madison was such a cinnamon roll that he wasn't allowed to be in the military. He also had the nickname 'Jemmie' and his wife could carry him on her back.
The Roman poet Virgil once had a very elaborate funeral consisting of a long eulogy, and many senators and noblemen in attendance for his pet,, housefly.
there was actually a reason tho. he didn't wanna pay high taxes and mausoleums were exempted from those taxes, so he declared his land a mausoleum with the fly's tomb as proof
Tomatoes were thought to be poisonous because people kept putting them on led plates.
Queen Victoria smoked marijuana to relieve period cramps
oh here's one of my favorite history facts-
Freddie Mercury once dressed Princess Diana as a man and took her out to a gay bar in London.
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Queen Victoria is so over the top
This isn't a fact necessarily, but can we take a moment to appreciate 11th century Icelandic storytelling because it is glorious:
Símon told Árni to hit [Snorri]. "Don't hit me", said Snorri. "Hit him", said Símon. "Don't hit me", said Snorri. Then Árni gave him the death wound. Both Þorsteinn and he gave him [Snorri] one.
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Well that escalated quickly.
Fun fact I learned today: apparently there's a lot of evidence to suggest that Europe in the 17th century went through a climate change crisis. Except in their version, the world cooled down (by about 2 degrees Celsius)
Something that maybe some people know, but probably a good chunk of people don’t know:
On this day in Canada, February 20th 1959, the Avro Arrow was cancelled. It was going to be a plane of the 1960s, and designed to be a supersonic interceptor plane. For its time, the Avro was very advanced. The plane, after being taken out of commission; all models were taken apart via torch. The only remaining piece of the Arrow (that isn’t a replica) is a nosepiece.
The day (while we do have the other thing here in Canada, I’m mostly talking aerospace and aviation history here) became known as Black Friday.
and it is something I am still upset over as well as a lot of other Canadians.
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There was a war called the Anglo-Zanzibar war. It lasted 38 minutes.
Before alarm clocks, people were hired to wake people up by shooting dried peas from a blowgun at windows.
In 1923, Frank Hayes won a horse race even though he was dead. He had a heart attack during the race, but his body stayed in the saddle long enough for him to win.
Alexander the Great and Hephaestion were totally lovers, but most historians refuse to recognize this fact
