forum Random/Unusual/Obscure Historical Facts?

Started February 17, 2020 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

Bring any and all random historical facts you know to this chat! Such as:

• Vlad the Impaler (the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula), had a younger brother who was, for years, in a gay relationship with the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. This brother was known as Radu cel Frumos, which translates to "Radu the Beautiful"

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

Abraham Lincoln was inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame

The art school that Hitler didn't get into? Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. (My old history teacher says that almost no one got in although I can't find anything to confirm or deny this.) It still exists today and has 1400 students and is in the top 18% of schools worldwide

O.o

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

• You could be outlawed for writing insulting poetry in 11th century Iceland. because laughing at someone was considered a form of violence
• 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)
• People once brought picnic baskets and opera glasses to watch a battle in the earlier stages of the American Civil War.
• World War I started like it did because an assassin named Gavrilo Princip spontaneously decided to get a sandwich
• Back in Ye Old(ish) days it was totally normal for someone to translate an author's work, publish it, then send the author a note saying "oh by the way I translated your book do you want a copy" because copyright was Not A Thing
• People needed passports to be able to go places, even in the late 18th/early 19th century, but this was before photos were a thing so you just had to write a super detailed description ("flowing brown locks, full handsome face, nut brown eyes") and read it to passport control

Hitler was scared of cats, but he had a German Shepard that he trained to climb a ladder.

OH OH OH! HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN THIS??
Archduke Franz Ferdinand's last word was "Sophie", the name of his pregnant wife, who was also shot
As an unfeeling little shit, when I first looked that up I almost cried

Wow guys. These are all really cool!

• 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,

t h e u m b r e l l a

Making a mental note to read that
Thomas Jefferson's diary is also a hoot but I didn't get very far before I got distracted and stopped

Oh my god I just read about the umbrella and wow.

Oh, and let's not forget about what I have so lovingly dubbed

the bedbug incident of 1809

(oh and the fact that he kinda killed Alexander Hamilton)

THE BEDBUG INCIDENT OF 1809 WAS ICONIC

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.

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.