Does anyone know cool or interesting fact from the past ?

Question

Ok so I love learning about the past. One of my friends told me how she was in the library and she came across interesting facts about the 50 there was two couples who got married in the cematery. Well that got me thinking about the past so if anyone has anything they would like to share and I don't really care what it is as long as it is interesting I will read it.

Answer 1

I think that balls in the old ages were made by pieces of clothing from animals. CHECK out these sites...

Answer 2

Count Dracula (the 'vampire') actually existed! He was Chequeslovakian, he had the big huge castle and everything! It's believed that he had hydrophobia (rabies) and was mistaken for a vampire, which would, in turn, explain why he was

1) vicious enough to make people claim (whether or not he actually did they is no way to tell) that he was attacking and biting people.

2) wouldn't go out during the day

3) wouldn't cross running water (thus the term 'hydrophobia')

ya you get what I mean... pretty awesome, huh?
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The term 'give them the whole nine yards' came from WW2. The old fashion gattling guns had ammunition belts that were nine yards long, so when they said 'give them the whole nine yards' they wanted them to empty the magazine on their enemy.
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Thousands of years ago, carrots used to be purple.

Answer 3

In the early to mid 1950's the canadian airforce was the only one in europe that had an aircraft capable of taking on the new russian migs. The americans caught up later.

In the mid '50s a russian pilot flew over italy unchallenged and landed at an italian airbase but was refused to defect so he was directed to an american base where he defected.

The canadian F-86 sabre fighters were faster than the american versions. Chuck Yeager got one for the female pilot to break the world speed record for females.

Answer 4

Xian is actually a Christian term and not a derogatory on. The X was used for the Greek letter Chi representative of Christ. The same is true of Xmas.

The skull and crossbones used today to mark poisons used to be a christian symbol of mortality. It may have been adopted by pirates due to the Templar fleet "running amuck" when their order was disbanded.

Edit:
Last one, the pentagram was not associated with the devil until Hollywood popularized it in the late 50's or 60's in their monster movies. Before then it was used in association with the devil in one book published in the late 1700's, but not in any other occult writings

Answer 5

This idea for corn flakes began by accident when Dr. Kellogg and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, left some cooked wheat to sit, while they attended to some pressing matters at the sanitarium. When they returned, they found that the wheat had gone stale, but being on a strict budget, they decided to continue to process it by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of the dough. To their surprise, what they found instead were flakes, which they toasted and served to their patients. This event occurred on April 14, 1894

Answer 6

Howard Zinn is NOT a respected member of the community of professional historians. Be careful in accepting his statements and conclusions. He is basically a rabble rouser who sells books by making absurd conclusions.


During the U.S. Civil War the conclusion of the Battles at
Gettysburg and Vicksburg happened at the very same time, a thousand miles apart.

Answer 7

The first facsimile machine was made in 1843 by Englishman, Alexander Bain.

Answer 8

Christopher Columbus was one of the first responsible for slavery in North America

Answer 9

tomatoes were once thought poisonous or even aphrodisiac

barnacle geese were thought to come from barnacles

potato blight caused the emigration of millions of Irish to the US

henry the 8th kept beheading his wives cause they would not produce a son but as we know it is the male that determines the sex of the child

Answer 10

The first motor vehicle was built in France in 1769