25 Strange Facts from History You Missed in School

Posted by , Updated on December 14, 2023

From Napoleon being attacked by a pack of wild rabbits to a war that lasted less than 40 minutes, these are 25 strange facts from history you probably didn’t learn in school.

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25

Officially, the longest war in history was between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly, which lasted from 1651 to 1986. There were no casualties.

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24

The Anglo-Zanzibar war of 1896 is the shortest war on record lasting an exhausting 38 minutes.

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23

Albert Einstein was offered the role of Israel’s second President in 1952, but declined.

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22

John F. Kennedy, Anthony Burgess, Aldous Huxley, and C.S. Lewis all died on the same day.

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21

Napoleon was once attacked by rabbits.

weird history facts
20

Karl Marx was once a correspondent for the New York Daily Tribune.

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19

Kim Jong Il wrote six operas.

weird history facts
18

Princeton researchers successfully turned a live cat into a functioning telephone in 1929.

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17

Ronald Reagan was a lifeguard during high school and saved 77 people’s lives.

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16

Lord Byron kept a pet bear in his college dorm room.

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15

In 1912, a Paris orphanage held a raffle to raise money—the prizes were live babies.

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14

A New Orleans man hired a pirate to rescue Napoleon from his prison on St. Helena.

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13

The “D” in D-Day stands for “Day”, in other words, “Day-Day”

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12

The Constitution of the Confederate States of America banned the slave trade.

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11

When the American Civil War started, Confederate Robert E. Lee owned no slaves. Union general U.S. Grant did.

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10

England’s King George I was actually German.

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9

In 1838, General Antonio López de Santa Anna (President of Mexico) had his leg amputated after his ankle was destroyed by canon-fire. He ordered a full military burial for it.

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8

Contrary to popular belief and legend, Daniel Boone not only did not wear a coonskin cap, he detested them. Instead, Boone wore a felt cap.

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7

At the start of World War I, the US Airforce (then a component of the US army) had only 18 pilots and 5 - 12 airplanes.

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6

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

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5

Arabic numerals (the ones used in English) were not invented by the Arabs at all - they were actually invented by Indian mathematicians.

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4

The Parliament of Iceland is the oldest still acting parliament in the world. It was established in 930.

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3

Despite the terrible nature of and damage caused by the 1666 Great Fire of London, only 8 people were killed. This is despite the fire destroying at least 13,500 houses.

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2

Soon after building started in 1173, the foundation of the Pisa tower settled unevenly. Construction was stopped, and was continued only a 100 years later. Therefore, the leaning tower was never straight.

weird history facts
1

Ancient Egyptians used slabs of stones as pillows.

weird history facts