Weird history facts all gathered right here under our history category. Once you have had your fill of history facts head over to our random fact generator to learn more random factoids!
Avocados nearly went extinct 13,000 years ago after large animals like the mammoth and giant ground sloth went extinct. With no means of dispersing the seeds, it was left to early farmers to cultivate the species. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-the-avocado-should-have-gone-the-way-of-the-dodo-4976527/
In 1936, Vladimir Lukyanov built a water (integrator) computer. It was the world’s first computer for solving (partial) differential equations for Russia. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/338106
The first television broadcast took place in 1925. It was a done with a grey scale image in a 30-line vertically scanned format, at five pictures per second using a ventriloquist’s dummy nicknamed “Stooky Bill”. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logie_Baird
During the Great Depression, Arkansas’s treasurer reported a balance of $4.62 for the entire general revenue fund of the state. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/weekinreview/23davey.html
In 1964, a kangaroo got stuck in the elevator at Television Centre during the launch of BBC2. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27033129
In 1969, Astronauts embarking on the Apollo 11 space mission were unable to get life insurance so instead they sent their families autographed & postmarked envelopes. – WTF Fun Facts
Before 1996, travelers were not required to present any form of ID before boarding a plane and a large secondary market for airline tickets existed. It was finally implemented as a knee-jerk response to the TWA flight 800 mystery. – WTF Fun Facts
Japan proposed an amendment to the Treaty of Versailles to abolish all racial discrimination. The US and Australia were the only opposition to it and so it was not included. As a compromise, Japan received a number of Pacific islands instead. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_Equality_Proposal
In the early 20th century, the Prussian rulers prohibited the Danes in the area from displaying the Danish flag. In protest, they bred and displayed Husum Red Pied pigs that’s coloring resembled the flag of Denmark. – WTF Fun Facts
The record for the longest pregnancy is held by Beulah Hunter who in 1945 was pregnant for a year and 10 days, nearly 100 days longer than the average pregnancy. – WTF Fun Facts
Latin had ~800 “dirty” words compared to the ~20 we have in modern English. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.simonandsimon.co.uk/blog/the-intricacies-of-swear-words-in-history
The Japanese word kamikaze, meaning ‘divine winds’, originally referred to the typhoon that nearly destroyed the entire Mongol fleet, effectively preventing the second and last Mongol invasion of Japan, in 1281. – WTF Fun Facts
In 1844, there was a case of hysteria in a French convent of nuns. One started meowing and after a week all the nuns were meowing harmoniously in the afternoons. It didn’t stop until neighbors called soldiers. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://archive.org/details/epidemicsofmiddl1844heck/
Delia Bacon wrote a 682 page book backed by minimal research trying to prove that Shakespeare didn’t write his plays. She showed up night after night at the church where Francis Bacon was buried trying to get access to his tomb where she thought he hid proof of his authorship. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/2008/04/delia-bacon-woman-who-hated-shakespeare.html
During WWII, British scientist R.V Jones figured out how the German’s ‘Wotan’ radar system worked by assuming it used a single beam since Wotan was a germanic god with a single eye. – WTF Fun Facts
Medieval dentists had many of the same skill-sets as modern dentists. They could fill cavities, treat facial fractures, spot oral cancer, and whiten teeth. Additionally, they could make dentures out of cow bone and human teeth. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/4811723
Wedding rings are placed on the left ring finger because in ancient times people used to believe it was the only finger where a vein connected straight to the heart. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.brides.com/story/why-are-wedding-rings-worn-on-left-hand
The origin of being “in the limelight” comes from the days before electricity when theatres had to produce spotlight by directing a flame at calcium oxide or quicklime. This was known as a limelight. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.history.com/news/where-did-the-phrase-in-the-limelight-come-from