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Humans are silly beings. Even our history books can testify to this fact. In its pages lie stories of wars sparked by a stolen bucket, farmers taking snails to court, and even emperors fleeing from an army of rabbits. These historical events sound so bizarre that they almost don’t seem real, but they are, which just shows how unserious people can be.
Folks under this popular thread had been sharing many more funny events from the past they know, which we gathered below for your entertainment. To find them, all you have to do is scroll down!
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#1
The South African parliament was in sitting and as a guest speaker a prominent author and poet would speak to the parliamentarians.
During his presentation he stated that he understands that language is a difficult concept for some of them to understand, because half of parliamentarians are donkeys.
The were very upset and stated that he needs to retract the statement, he then stated ok, half of parliamentarians are not donkeys.
They accepted the apology.
Dan 3 months ago
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
dsr4gnc9r5 3 months ago
He was CJ Langenhoven, a famous author writing in the Afrikaans language in the late1800s.
Vivian McBride 3 months ago
Well, in the USA, the Democrats have a donkey as their symbol and the Republicans have an elephant. It's never made sense to me.
Michael Largey 3 months ago
In speaking of the honestly of Secretary of War Simon Cameron, congressman Thaddeus Stevens said of his fellow Pennsylvanian "Well, he wouldn't steal a red-hot stove." Outraged, Cameron demanded a retraction. Stevens replied, "Very well, I withdraw my statement that the Secretary would not steal a red-hot stove."
RELATED:
#2
In 1866 when going to war, Liechtenstein's army of 80 men came back with 81 men after making a friend from the enemies side.
#3
In WWII the Germans built a fake airfield (with wooden fake planes) as a decoy in Holland.
When they'd finally finished it, the British dropped a wooden b**b on it.
Mook The Mediocre 3 months ago
Thank you, Panda, for censoring a completely innocuous word like "bómb". You are utterly ridiculous.
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago (edited)
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Nina 3 months ago
This actually happened. Throughout ww2 the Germans built fake airports with wooden planes in several countries (stories of France, Belgium & the Netherlands), which were subsequently bombed with wooden bombs by the English. They were calling it 'Wood for wood'. There are several Dutch articles I found with a simple search.
Virgil Blue 3 months ago (edited)
Its both a hilarious way of keeping the enemy busy with nonsense and showing off your intelligence were on to them all along right after they finished and spent all those resources.
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Michal Dolyniuk 3 months ago
I read somewhere about this story and probably it is just a legend.
Geoffrey Scott 3 months ago
I always like the stories of the inflatable armor they(allies) moved around.
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago
Geoffrey Scott: the deception strategy leading up to D-Day was an absolutely enormous effort. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bodyguard. However, there wasn't actually much in the way of fake military hardware deployed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bodyguard#Visual_deception
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Bryan Wright 3 months ago
It let the Germans know that the British knew what they were doing.
Load More Replies... #4
In 1945 the Americans were pushing through Germany.
General Eisenhower sent General Patton a message, instructing him not to take the city of Trier because it would require 4 divisions to seize the city.
Patton sent a message back saying "Have taken Trier with two divisions… what do you want me to do, give it back?".
General Anaesthesia 3 months ago
Germany, close to the border with Luxembourg. Trieste is in Italy.
Load More Replies... Doofnuts 3 months ago
Spent 24 years in the military. That was not a good way to put that message.
Janissary35680 3 months ago
Once you make it to general, you can put messages any dạmn way you please.
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Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago
Shortstuff: no-one in the Allied high command was "playing games" with lives back in 1945. Both Eisenhower and Patton would have cut you dead with a look for suggesting that *they* were doing anything like that - just a look: I doubt either would have wasted breath speaking to you. Look 'em up.
Load More Replies... #5
In British India there was a little problem with cobras. The obvious solution was to put a bounty on them. The only problem was that the price for each cobra the British were offering was greater than the cost of breeding and raising a cobra. The result was people breeding tons of snakes to claim the bounty. When the government realized what was happening they scrapped the whole program. People raising the now worthless cobras set them loose.
The end result was a big cobra problem.
Phantom Phoenix 3 months ago
Ah the workings of bureaucratic government are a wonder to behold
David Paterson 3 months ago (edited)
If I remember correctly, the Cobra is still killing a lot of people in India, one of the three deadly snakes. But it's now a protected species, it's illegal to k*ll them.
Multa Nocte 2 months ago
Tiny minds have problems understanding simple things.
Load More Replies... #6
Dwight D Eisenhower's wife Mary was known as "Mamie", a nickname that she's acquired when younger. She was called this by everyone she met and insisted on it.
Well, not with everyone.
The Eisenhowers loathed Senator McCarthy and his famous witch-hunts. So this led to a situation when McCarthy was presented to the First Lady at the White House and referred to her as 'Mamie', to which she replied:
"Senator McCarthy, my maid calls me 'Mamie'. The cop in the street calls me 'Mamie', as does the garbageman. You will call me 'Mrs. Eisenhower'".
Chewie Baron 3 months ago
Shame she never allowed a very pregnant Jackie Kennedy a time to sit and rest whilst she showed her around the White House after JFK won the election in 1960.
Cybele Spanjaard 3 months ago (edited)
Go Maimie, a strong woman indeed, and on the opposite pole, the woman who insists she is called by her legal name, the Duchess of Sussex, not success.
#7
Rudy Giuliani at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
GloomyCamel6050:
The best part is that a worker at Four Seasons Total Landscaping received a call from the Republicans asking to book a podium and media backdrop for a press conference and the worker just smiled and agreed. He knew what was happening and allowed it to unfold.
Sian E 3 months ago
The Republicans thought they were booking the Four Seasons Hotel for a press conference, but it was actually a garden centre called the Four Seasons. And the person who took the booking at the garden centre didn't bother to correct the person who made the booking. Thus it made the Republicans look like the morons they are, in front of the whole world.
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#8
Potatoes were not very popular as a food in France. Like they were seen as fit only for animals. A pharmacist named Parmentier knew they were good food and wanted to popularize them among the working class. He got a 2 acre farm to grow potatoes and placed armed guards around it. People assumed armed guards meant something very valuable was growing there so they began to steal the potatoes.
That's how potatoes became popular in France's working class.
Ellinor she/they/elle 3 months ago (edited)
And there is a famous dish named after him, Hachis Parmentier (basically the French name for the Shepherd's pie but without peas and carrots)
Auntriarch 3 months ago
Any dish with Parmentier in the name, there's going to be spuds in it.
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SchadenFreudian Psychology 3 months ago
If you want people to do something, forbid it. If you don’t want people to do something, make it mandatory.
Zig Zag Wanderer 3 months ago (edited)
It's a biy like leaving a fridge outside your house with a sign saying 'free' and nobody takes it. Put a sign on it saying '$10' and it's gone in hours!
M B 3 months ago
Had this happen with giving away furniture and toys on a 2nd hand site. No one wanted it. Placed a price on the toys and people asked for reduction...
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TotallyNOTAFox 3 months ago (edited)
We in Germany had the "Potato Orders" made by Frederick II. (The Great) of Prussia as reaction to famines. He also ordered vicars to promote them among the people and teach them how to grow them
Chrissie Anit 3 months ago
And the same story as described above with Parmentier is also attributed to Frederick II.
Load More Replies... John Dilligaf 3 months ago
apparently he also instructed the guards to take bribes to allow people to make off with the potatoes
BrunoVI 3 months ago
Oh, come on: we all know the French (and NOT THE BELGIANS) also came up with cutting them into long, thin little slices and deep frying the hell out of them.
angelmomoffour62 3 months ago
I can't believe the people in France thought potatoes were for animals. Shame on them.
Auntriarch 3 months ago
Not just France by a long chalk, there were people everywhere thought they were for animals. Or poisonous because they are in the nightshade family. Or only suitable for the poor
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#9
Ancient Korea had special recording officials, whose job was to record everything. They were considered separate from the government, so the emperor of the time wasn’t allowed to give them orders or tell them not to record something.
Of course, some emperors would try anyway.
On one occasion, King Taejong (15th century) fell off his horse while hunting. The recorder nearby wrote it down. The emperor insisted that it be removed from the record, and even tried to have the report destroyed.
This lead to some nonsense as the emperor kept destroying their work, but the recorders kept copying it and hiding it in increasingly obscure places. And of course, recorded the whole thing as it happened.
A few hundred years later, and the only thing that emperor is famous for is trying to hide the fact he fell off his horse.
Tabitha 3 months ago
You mean like trying to cover up the p********a activities of himself and his largest donors?
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Cybele Spanjaard 3 months ago (edited)
hahhahaahhaa and tha many of our western leaders could be recalled for less
#10
The Whisky War will never not make me smile. Hans Island is a tiny rock between Canada and Greenland. When I say tiny I mean like 0.5 square miles. The Danes and Canadians both laid claim to the island because of a weird loophole in a treaty sometime in the 70s, but seeing as how it is literally just a rock sticking up out of the ocean neither really cared. The militaries of the countries took turns showing up, planting a flag and a funny note, and leaving their "enemies" a bottle of liquor (usually Canadian whisky or Danish schnapps). They even took out Google ads good naturedly claiming the island and poking fun at their "enemy". In 2022 they signed a treaty splitting the island between each other, thus technically making the two countries land neighbors.
April Pickett 3 months ago
Splitting the island (rock?) spoiled all the fun for the sailors. Governments should just leave some things alone.
Bryan Wright 3 months ago
Reminds me of the "fight" over Rockall, an islet in the North Atlantic. Both the UK and Republic of Ireland claimed it for themselves ( oil )as did Iceland and Denmark. A few hardy UK people have actually landed on it, with tents etc, and claimed it for the UK. There was a story circulating a few years ago, that the Irish navy had tried to locate the islet and failed to locate it.
#11
In 1982 cartoonist Gary Larson drew a cartoon of a caveman giving a classroom lecture, pointing to the spikes of a stegasaurus dinosaur tail and calling that the thagomizer "after the late Thag Simmons."
That particular arrangement of tail spikes had no name at the time, so scientists who were fans of Larson unofficially named it the thagomizer.
UKGrandad 3 months ago (edited)
In a sketch for the BBC comedy, Not the Nine O'Clock News, Gerald the Talking Gorilla (played by Rowan Atkinson) corrected the interviewer who asked about Gerald's family 'troop' of gorillas by saying 'we don't call it a troop, it's a flánge'. Flánge' is now a generally accepted term for a group of apes or monkeys.
highwaycrossingfrog 3 months ago
Every time someone says the word "wild" around my parents, they will respond "Wild? I was livid!" in honour of this sketch.
Load More Replies... Zig Zag Wanderer 3 months ago (edited)
Reminds me of a group of gorillas being named a 'flânge' because of a funny 'Not The Nine-O'Clock News' skit
Chewie Baron 3 months ago
Gary Larson also drew a cartoon with a wife chimp accusing her husband chimp of “hanging out with that hussy Jane Goodall again”. An assistant of Dame Jane Goodall’s wanted to write a cease and desist letter, whilst she said “No! It means people will know what we do!” Dame Jane Goodall later wrote a foreword in a Gary Larson book, saying how he humanised all kinds of creatures by putting them in normal everyday situations, and she loved it! She also mentioned that the trigger happy assistant had been moved elsewhere!
Mel in Georgia 3 months ago
Jane was the best! While she didn't exactly anthropomorphize chimps, she did give them human names and describe their human-like behaviors, which put them into a whole new light for people, and garnered sympathy for them. "Chimps - just like us!"
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Martin Johann Christian Lorentz 3 months ago
Not unofficially. It is indeed the correct official scientific term for the tailspikes of stegosaurids.
#12
During the Song dynasty, there was a poet and government official named Su Dongpo. One day he sent to his friend Chan Master Foyin, a Daoist priest on the other side of the lake he lived near, this poem:
>Bowing, Heaven within Heaven, I am the light that illuminates the boundless universe. The eight winds cannot move me, who am seated mindfully upon the purple golden lotus.
Foyin sent a response message:
>FART [yes, just the one word, written in massive font that took up the whole page]
Naturally, Dongpo was furious, and immdiately dashed to to Foyin demanding he explain himself. Foyin answered thusly:
>Oh, so the eight winds cannot move you, but one fart sends you across the lake?
#DaoBurn.
Gebidozo 3 months ago
BUDDHIST master, not Daoist! He is a CHAN (禪) master, which is a Buddhist school (the same one Westerners know as “zen”, its Japanese branch). And his name, Foyin (佛印), literally means “the seal of Buddha”! “Seal” as in “something that joins together, locks, and stamps”, not as in “an adorable marine mammal”!
#13
One game where Michael Jordan scored 69 points and Stacey King scored 1, a reporter asked Stacey what he thought of playing in that game and he stated “I will always remember this as the night that Michael Jordan and I combined to score seventy points.”.
#14
Maybe not strictly funny, but I love the idea of professional incompetence resulting in the reunification of a nation: Gunther Schabowski was tasked with informing media of plans to open the border between east and West Berlin. Instead of explaining that this would be a slow gradual response, he said it would be with immediate affect as he hadn’t read the full briefing. Berliners rush the Berlin Wall, border guards can’t reasonably stop them, wall begins to fall, nation reunified. All because a mid level bureaucrat could not pay attention.
Trophy Husband 3 months ago
Does it involve tearing down a more recent wall?
Load More Replies... Apatheist Account2 3 months ago
*effect. I was under the understanding that David Hasselhoff was entirely responsible for the reunification...
The Scout 3 months ago
Not only not briefed, but he had also just come back from holiday and did not even know much about the recent developments. Also he was no politician but a governement official clearly out of his depth. While he later claimed he knew what he was doing, this was a dangerous situation. When people came to the border believing it was open, there was still a shooting order in place. Luckily the border officers decided not to fire and to open up the checkpoint for real. It could have been a m******e otherwise.
Verena 3 months ago
It was a surreal moment to witness and watching one of the documentaries with the border officials explaining their confusion and decisions is worthwhile. They did not even let people pass to the west, but also let them return - without the absolutely neccessary passports and documentation that were mandatory for returning in general and avioding imprisonment in detail. This latter decision is often forgotten, but was so, so important for a peaceful change.
#15
When Belgium broke the record of "days without a government", they celebrated, had a beer and carried on with their lives.
No chaos, disruption or rioting.
The Darkest Timeline 3 months ago
I guarantee you would not come out on top in a situation where there is no government
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Man in the mirror 3 months ago
That period actually saw a decrease in government deficit as there was no one to decide on new expenses.
UKGrandad 3 months ago (edited)
I worked with a Belgian guy who was 6'7" 😉 EDIT: Why has Nikole been downvoted so heavily? In all the time I have been on this site I have never seen her post an offensive comment. If you are confused by an ambiguous comment, don't downvote it, ask for clarification.
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Bryan Wright 3 months ago
If only we in the UK had had the sense to follow suit, we wouldn't be in the dire straits we are now. Fictional blackhole or not.
Strahd Ivarius 3 months ago
France will try to break the record, but it may end with some mayhem... (it is France after all, and guillotines were sold on the local version of eBay a few years back)
#16
When Persian king Xerxes punished the sea for ruining his bridge.
He tried to build a bridge across the Dardanelles to get to Greece faster but storm destroyed the bridge.
>Infuriated with the sea, Xerxes ordered his soldiers to punish it by whipping it with chains 300 times and poking it with red-hot irons. Handcuffs were also tossed into the water to symbolize the sea’s submission to his authority.
Janissary35680 3 months ago
In "The Innocents Abroad" (1869), Mark Twain relates some additional details (originally provided by Herodotus) "“Within the Hellespont [ie Dardanelles] we saw where the original first shoddy contract mentioned in history was carried out, and the "parties of the second part " gently rebuked by Xerxes. I speak of the famous bridge of boats which Xerxes ordered to be built over the narrowest part of the Hellespont (where it is only two or three miles wide.) A moderate gale destroyed the flimsy structure, and the King, thinking that to publicly rebuke the contractors might have a good effect on the next set, called them out before the army and had them beheaded. In the next ten minutes he let a new contract for the bridge. It has been observed by ancient writers that the second bridge was a very good bridge. Xerxes crossed his host of five millions of men on it, and if it had not been purposely destroyed, it would probably have been there yet.”
Cybele Spanjaard 3 months ago
That rings like a current president's style, too. Do what I say or else... so he does, be it seen or not( oh lawd no it must be seen as power). Fear and bullying seem to be winning his rule, too
#17
The King of France annulled his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine because she failed to give him a male heir. The official reason given was consanguinity (they were too closely related.)
She promptly married Henry, Duke of Normandy (future King of England) 8 weeks after the annulment.
Over the following 13 years, they had 8 children together - including 5 boys.
The King of France, meanwhile, only had 1 son by his third marriage.
I will never not find it funny that she popped out 5 boys to her new husband straight after her being cast aside for being unable to have a boy.
Beady El 3 months ago
Quite so. Boys need an X and a Y. Also, only boys can provide a Y.
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Pferdchen 3 months ago (edited)
There were a couple of other potential issues as well. "Eleanor of Aquitaine's uncle, Raymond of Poitiers, was the Prince of Antioch during the Second C*****e. Their relationship became controversial due to rumors of an affair, which arose from their close interactions while Eleanor accompanied her husband, King Louis VII of France, on the cr*sade." IIRC, the king was originally destined to become a monk but ascended to the throne because of the death of his older brother. Legend has it that Eleanor was quite the spirited and amorous individual and the king was not. Incidentally, one of those boys Eleanor had was King Richard the Lionheart.
SkyBlueandBlack 3 months ago (edited)
Also worth noting, the only one of her ten children who outlived her was John.
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Nancy Parker 3 months ago
If in fact they were that closely related, she might have lost a lot of defective fertilized eggs.
Panda'sMom 3 months ago
I continually amazes me that even today, lots of men don't know they supply the s*x of the baby.
#18
The Kettle war. it was the 8th of october 1784.the Dutch kingdom and then Holy Roman Empire had a short naval battle and the only casualty was a kettle full of soup that got hit by a cannonball and that was the only shot that was fired.
#19
The 1904 Olympics Marathon in St Louis. It reads as a mockumentary.
The winner was later disqualified when it was discovered he ended up getting a ride from someone. Only 14 of the participants actually finished as the road they ran on was dusty and dust was causing many of them to not be able to breathe. One of the finishers took a nap. The eventual winner drank a concoction of strychnine, raw egg, and brandy. The designer of the course decided to test a theory he called “purposeful dehydration” so the course lacked water for the participants. The Cuban representative showed up in a long sleeve shirt and pants. Someone assisted him in cutting his pants into shorts. He raised money to make it to St Louis but when he reached New Orleans he gambled it all away and had to hitchhike the rest of the way. He was the one to take a nap after eating rotten fruit during the race and had stomach cramps. One of the racers collapsed and coughed up blood due to dehydration and had to have surgery for a dust lined esophagus. 4th place finisher got chased off course by a dog.
highwaycrossingfrog 3 months ago
It's so much weirder than this. For one thing, the winner drinking strychnine - which was administered by his trainers - was the first recorded use of performance-enhancing d***s. He was carried over the finish line hallucinating whilst shuffling his feet in the air as though he were running. He lost 8 pounds during the course of the marathon. 32 people started the race, fewer than half finished.
April Pickett 3 months ago
I thought the runner being chased off the course by a dog was pretty funny. The rest of it was not funny.
Chewie Baron 3 months ago
The whole 1904 Olympics itself was a fiasco. Chicago had originally won the bid to host, but were asked to give them to St Louis as they were holding aWorld’s Fair. Something Chicago was not happy about. As the Olympics took place over many months, no one knew if they were in an Olympic race or something else entirely.
#20
In the 1800s Rough and Ready, California voted to secede from the United States. It was short-lived as they voted to rejoin the union because they wanted to celebrate the 4th of July and the nearby city refused to sell alcohol to foreigners.
UKGrandad 3 months ago
This is odd. The town of Rough and Ready (named for President Zachary Taylor's nickname) declared its secession from the Union in April 1850 and rejoined on the 4th. July the same year, but California wasn't granted official statehood by the US Congress until September 1850, two months later.
Panda'sMom 3 months ago
My brother (yes, we are an Air Force family) was stationed at Beale AFB. He and his bride lived in a really cute but old house in Rough and Ready California. I visited once, fell in love with the history of that area!
#21
Until 1896, Abyssinia, now known as Ethiopia, had no electricity. The emperor was thrilled by the invention of the electric chair, and ordered 3 of them. But he couldn't get them to work, as the country didn't have electricity. He then used one of them as his imperial throne.
🇳🇬 Asi Bassey 🇳🇬 3 months ago
So, throughout the entire procurement process no one thought to ask how they’d make the chair work.
#22
Everyone mentioning the Emu Wars - not even Australia’s funniest moment in history.
Harold Holt was the country’s Prime Minister in 1967 when he went for a swim in the ocean and went missing, presumed drowned … 2 years later they named the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Pool.
PunnyPanda 3 months ago
The you'll love that the University of Colorado named their cafeteria/student union after Alfred Packer, lol
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Zig Zag Wanderer 3 months ago
The only country to ever just 'lose' a leader. We're quite proud of this! The emu wars, not so much, but we'll win eventually!
Helen Rohrlach 3 months ago
No we won't. Them Basterds are nearly impossible to k**l.
Load More Replies... Cybele Spanjaard 3 months ago
My since passed husband and self sat with Harold at a family wedding, laughing about non-political matters with his colourful, fun ( and very intelligent) wife Zara, a week before. It was such a shock losing a friend without knowing how. A shark, most probably, as he always swam in the early mornings.
#23
Mary Toft convincing a load of doctors and clergymen, including the personal doctor to the King of England, that she could give birth to rabbits.
UKGrandad 3 months ago
Not only that she could, but that she had. There were witness testimonies from doctors, including the royal physician, stating that they had been present as she gave birth to rabbits.
G A 3 months ago (edited)
She is believed to have inserted the rabbits inside herself.....
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#24
During the Salem trials a farmer sued a snail because it was loitering on his land, on Sunday when the snail did not show up it was marked as absent and guilty.
#25
When the Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes were laying siege on the Aztec capitol of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs were holding out a lot longer than expected. Apparently the city being built on a lake, among a complex canal system and out of almost entirely fireproof materials, was something of an advantage to them.
One day, one of the conquistadors with Cortes says, “Hey, guess what. I know how to build a trebuchet. Let’s build one and show these indigenous what’s what.” (I may be paraphrasing here but that was the general sentiment recorded by Bernal Diaz, who was present at the time, in his record of events ‘The Conquest of New Spain’.)
The Aztecs also recorded the incident on their side. They watched from across the lake as a large piece of complicated-looking machinery was constructed from wood on the shore. They weren’t sure what they were looking at, but knew it probably wasn’t good news for them. They watched, nervous but compelled by curiosity, as the payload consisting of a single large boulder was heaved into place on the strange device.
Then the wooden construction began to turn slowly—taking aim? And suddenly the counterweight is let loose—swinging heavily, heaving the boulder into the air!—landing a few dozen yards away in the lake.
The Aztecs continue to watch from afar. Looks like the Spanish are kinda yelling at each other about something. Lots of pointing, lots of raised voices. Guess that wasn’t exactly the effect they were going for.
On the Spanish side, it’s finally agreed that trebuchet payloads are like pancakes, first one is always kind of a dud, we all know that.
The Spanish commence to reload the trebuchet. Now that the Aztecs know what it’s supposed to do (kind of), they clear everyone out of the line of, uh, fire. They have plenty of time because it’s not exactly a speedy process to load it up.
The Spanish release another boulder payload. This one manages to knock a hole in the wall of the (now totally empty) marketplace. Annoying, but not exactly devastating.
The Aztecs watch as the Spanish argue some more, and then finally wheel the trebuchet away in shame. It is never seen again.
Dragon mama 3 months ago
My first pancake is always the best... I thought that was normal... Huh
#26
The Austrian army attacking itself in 1788, also known as the Battle of Karánsebes. It basically started out as a fight over schnapps between different units of the (multi-lingual) army which escalated into a full scale skirmish. Soldiers calling each other "Turci" (used as a slur as the Austrians were fighting the Ottomans at the time), as well as calls to stop the fight ("Halt! Halt") being understood as "Allah! Allah!" didn't help things either. The casualties of the battle are said to be up to 10,000, depending on which account you believe.
#27
Andrew Jackson taught a parrot how to swear and it had to be removed from his funeral because it upset the attendees.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 3 months ago
Andrew Jackson was a dîck. Teaching a parrot to swear was probably the only fun and likeable thing he ever did.
Upstaged75 3 months ago
There's a satirical musical about how awful he was. It's called Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. 😂
Load More Replies... glowworm2 3 months ago
The story about how Andrew Jackson's pet parrot had to be removed from his funeral due to swearing throughout it is absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, this may just be an unfounded anecdote as there was only one eyewitness account about the incident and it was written decades afterwards. Here is a link to snopes.com: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/andrew-jacksons-swearing-parrot-funeral/
Michael Largey 3 months ago
I doubt that Jackson had to teach the parrot to swear. Just being around Jackson would have allowed the bird to pick it up.
Panda'sMom 3 months ago
I am a Choctaw, as a nation we have an extreme dislike of that man! Read a biography of Chief Pushmataha, to get a full understanding of his manipulative and evil ways!
#28
When the Gulf War broke out the Iraqis just rounded up the men and put them in the military. There was an American who I believe was born in Iraq who had gone to visit his mother just before the war started. He was among those rounded up and put in the army. I would suspect he didn't want to say, "but I'm American," for his own safety. He wasn't even issued a uniform. His unit was captured fairly quickly, but when they were all standing there surrounded by the American soldiers, this dude in a Chicago Cubs t-shirt stepped forward and, in English with no Iraqi accent whatsoever, said "what the hell took you guys so long?!".
#29
The con man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice and got away with it.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 3 months ago (edited)
You'd be a fool to fall for that. By the way guys, got a good deal for you, going cheap for a quick sale, anyone want to buy the Eiffel Tower?
Nikole 3 months ago
I will trade you for a lovely bridge I've acquired in San Francisco, plus $5000 from you as it's quite a large bridge.
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Cuppa tea? 3 months ago
Did the ad read: used scaffolding for sale. Disassembly required. Reason for sale - no good use of it.
Anonymouse 3 months ago
My understanding was it was initially built as a temporary landmark, so selling it for scrap would be understandable. "The Eiffel Tower was originally intended to be a temporary structure, built for the 1889 World's Fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution"
JB 3 months ago
And up until relatively recently, it was a giant billboard with "Citroen" written on it in garish lights
Load More Replies... st4x2gt974 3 months ago (edited)
Was he balled with a black coat and heavy Eastern European accent? Did he have little yellow one-eyed men doing the transaction?
Jan Rosier 3 months ago
I have lovely structure on offer which includes 9 giant metallic spheres... great for tourism, might even fit a McDonalds. Need to get rid of it since our country no longer has 9 provinces, but 10 ! Mail me at info@atomium.be
#30
Karl XII of Sweden almost caused a serious diplomatic incident when he, in the middle of diplomatic talks at the Russian capital, disappeared without a trace.
After several hours of frantic searching, angry shouting and accusations, a stableboy finally revealed what had happened:
The king had decided that he didn’t want to waste anymore time with “meaningless nonsense” and decided to ride back to Sweden, alone, in the middle of the night without telling anyone except the stableboy who helped him get his horse ready.
Do note that the main topic of discussion was apparently the potential marriage between a Russian princess and the king so, you know, ouch…
Michael Largey 3 months ago
At the time, the Russian capital was St. Petersburg, much closer to Sweden than Moscow.
#31
The continued existence and political activities of Lord Buckethead and Vermin Supreme.
I will never ever stop finding them hilarious, particularly since their political platforms are frequently *better* than the non-satirical political parties they face.
Here's Lord Buckethead's 2017 manifesto:
* The abolition of the House of Lords, with the exception of Lord Buckethead
* Nuclear weapons: "A firm public commitment to build the 100-billion-pound renewal of Britain's Trident weapons system, followed by an equally firm commitment, privately, not to build it. They're secret submarines, so no one will ever know. It's a win-win."
* Free bicycles for all to "combat obesity, traffic congestion, and bike theft".
* Reducing the voting age to 16 and restricting voting beyond the age of 80
* Instead of Theresa May's commitment to bring back grammar schools, Buckethead would build "gamma" schools founded on three principles: "One, better funding for teachers, to attract bright graduates. Two, increased facilities for children, especially playing fields. Three, if any child misbehaves three times, they are blasted into deep space, with the parents provided with a lovely fruit basket, by way of consolation or celebration, depending on the child. Discipline is key".
* A referendum on whether or not to have another Brexit referendum.
* Legalise the hunting of fox hunters
* Nationalise pop singer Adele
* Exile of right-wing columnist Katie Hopkins to the "Phantom Zone".
* Regeneration of Nicholson's Shopping Centre, Maidenhead.
* The cessation of arms sales to Saudi Arabia so that Britain can purchase laser weaponry from Lord Buckethead.
Rick Murray 3 months ago
People thought Screaming Lord Sutch and his Official Monster Raving Loony Party were frivolous, yet several of his policies were adopted and became law in the UK, so there's hope for Lord Buckethead yet.
Gavin Johnson 3 months ago
H’Angus the Monkey is another one in the line of great and silly political folk. He’s the Hartlepool United mascot and he’s named after the hanging of a monkey sometime around 1800, look it up! Anyway H’Angus ran to be Mayor of Hartlepool, he promised a banana a day for school children and he subsequently won, as soon as he’d won the man inside the suit dropped the act, reverted to being a regular human and he won on two more occasions to be Mayor, extending his majority each time.
#32
During the heights of the Cold War, somewhere deep in the halls of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, intelligence officers came up with the idea to parachute thousands of XL condoms labeled Medium onto the Soviets. The idea behind the operation was to undermine the morale of people living in the USSR by implying that the men of US were superior.
fly on the wall 3 months ago
And the Russians had their belief that the CIA was staffed by a bunch of big pr..KS confirmed
Michael Largey 3 months ago
While the CIA was focusing on this brilliant idea, the Russians had the American ambassador's office bugged using a gift plaque all without the CIA suspecting a thing.
Jude Corrigan 3 months ago
Guess the CIA were influenced by one head, the Russians by another.
Load More Replies... Apatheist Account2 3 months ago
This, if true, is nicking an earlier idea from Churchill. British soldiers used them to protect their rifles in the northern climates, so Churchill ordered the larger version and insisted that they were stamped "Made in Britain" and "Medium size".
Jon-Paul Filkins 3 months ago
The version I heard was that it was Churchill insisting on this. Condoms were supplied to US troops for D-Day to help keep water out of rifles during the crossing (salt water causes rust, also incompressible fluids under pressure when the gun is fired= not good). The Americans refused to supply their own as well, American influencers have a tendency to have a moral apoplectic panic over "that sort of thing".
#33
The 2021 Suez Canal obstruction.
captaintrips_1980:
That was my Halloween costume two years ago. I teach at a high school and had it rigged up with horns, so I blocked the hallways and classroom doors. I almost legit got stuck when I had to go up some stairs.
#34
Shortly after the Allies landed at Normandy, a team of the OSS was dispatched to find a certain cross-section of wine from different regions in Germany and France - vintages from 1939-1943 - as a way to find out whether the Germans were processing Uranium. Uranium gets *everywhere* and even back in the 1940s the tiniest amounts of it would have found its way into the soil, then the grapes, then the wine. So the OSS went around and collected what they needed -- and shipped it back to the office in London.
Where it was promptly drunk, because the guy who received the shipment didn't know what it was for.
So the OSS had to go around and collect it again.
And it showed Germany had done nothing to process Uranium at that point.
TotallyNOTAFox 3 months ago (edited)
At that point it wouldn't have mattered either to enrich uranium since the deuterium production in Norway was put to an hold early on - No heavy water, no nuke
#35
Qin Shi Huang managing to back away from Jing Ke's assassination attempt and managing to outrun him by running down the hallway and circling a pillar until his retainers arrived.
Yakety Sax worthy moment.
Janissary35680 3 months ago
On this week's episode of "Have I Got News For You" (UK edition), there's a clip of some guy in the US on a bike taunting ICE agents with "I'm an illegal alien! You can't catch me!" or words to that effect. Agents pay him no attention. He horses (sic) around too much though and loses his balance. Agents hasten to pounce. There's a brief scramble that absolutely demands a Yakety Sax accompaniment. Guy on bike just manages to get away amidst cheering spectators and bystanders.
StPaul9 3 months ago
Best moment: Jing Ke was fatally wounded and used his last moments to spread his legs wide (showing the king his c****h was highly rude) and then yelled a***e at the king for his last words.
#36
During the Mexican American war there was one particular battle where both sides had cannons and gunpowder, but due to a logistical [mistake] only one cannon ball between them. So they spent the entire battle firing the same cannon ball back and forth at each other.
Edited: wrong war
Edit 2: according to my source, who focused her history degree on the American South West, it was the Battle of Rio San Gabriel.
Wikipedia is vague in their description. They mention that there was issues with the ammo for the cannons, but don’t elaborate. My source is looking for the print sources she originally used.
Uncle Schmickle 2 months ago
" Go to the enemy's side and retrieve our cannon ball " was heard all day. Sounds like a game.
#37
In the 1950s, two guys ended up controlling 98% of the onion market in the US, which was done by convincing the farmers that grew them to sell to them otherwise they would flood the market with onions. A little bit later, they flooded the market with onions to the point where a 50lb bag of onions went for 10 cents, which was less than the bag containing them. These guys ended up making millions off of this, and because of them, trading onion futures in the US is now banned.
Cybele Spanjaard 3 months ago
Really?? The dear old common brown onion or the white? They were very nasty men who should have been shut in a continuous, brightly lit room for a week nonstop, with tons of all types of onions and forced to peel them until they said they would give all the onion growers their real price. Onion heal as well as gasp worthy. Entrepreneurs are limitless.
#38
The small German town of Rothenburg has wheels heavily featured on its coat of arms. In the 17th century it was under attack and faced almost certain destruction. Before the invading army decimated the town the general took a tour through their famously beautiful cathedral. The main hall of this cathedral was covered in the town coat of arms. The general looked around and said something to the effect of “I wish I could take the cathedral back home with me” and without missing a beat the priest said “you can, it has wheels!” The general laughed so hard at that dad joke he spared the town. And you just *know* the priest was absolutely insufferable after that.
Virgil Blue 3 months ago
Priest "You can turn off the steam on tbe motivation engine, friar Hans, he thought it was a joke but left anyway."
#39
That one guy in Pompeii that survived the outbreak of the Vesuvius just to be crushed by this huge boulder hurtling through the air.
It‘s the 79AD version of being crushed by a falling piano.
Peeka_Mimi 3 months ago
At least he died faster than his community. The rest choked on volcanic ash. That had to be awful.
RedHairedDragon 3 months ago
Most people got away, the eruption was not something that happened in an hour . The ones left in the city were the people ignoring the warnings, and their servants.
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Eugenia 🇮🇹🤌 3 months ago
In one house was discovered a man whose skull contained a strange substance that looked like glass. Archaeologists and scientists determined that those were the remains of the brain. The sudden enormouse heat had vaporized it.
Virgil Blue 3 months ago
"Wooohooo! Made it, thought I was a gonner there for a sec... what's that whistling noise?"
#40
When potatoes first arrived in Russia and Peter I ordered people to grow them and eat them. They ended up eating the flowers and many people [perished] because of food poisoning. They began anti-potato protests which really confused the government. After a while Peter I realized what the problem was and then had to send people with instructions on how to eat potatoes.
Geoffrey Scott 3 months ago
Some people in the US follow this logic. Childhood vaxes, circumcision (ffs).
#41
How about Diogenes meeting Alexander the Great?
It was in Corinth that a meeting between Alexander the Great and Diogenes is supposed to have taken place. These stories may be apocryphal. The accounts of Plutarch and Diogenes Laërtius recount that they exchanged only a few words: while Diogenes was relaxing in the morning sunlight, Alexander, thrilled to meet the famous philosopher, asked if there was any favour he might do for him. Diogenes replied, "Yes, stand out of my sunlight." Alexander then declared, "If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes." To which Diogenes replied, "If I were not Diogenes, I would still wish to be Diogenes". In another account of the conversation, Alexander found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave.
Apatheist Account2 3 months ago
Diogenes sounds rather arrogant. Surprised Alex didn't have him k1lled.
Michael Largey 3 months ago
It's Alexander who sounds arrogant to me. He assumed that Diogenes would just have to be impressed by him. Diogenes was pointing this out.
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#42
The last invasion of Britain in 1797:
Upon landing, the French invasion force appear to have run out of enthusiasm for the ‘cunning plan’. Perhaps as a result of years of prison rations, they seem to have been more interested in the rich food and wine the locals had recently removed from a grounded Portuguese ship. After a looting spree, many of the invaders were too drunk to fight and within two days, the invasion had collapsed: Tate’s force surrendered to a local militia force led by Lord Cawdor on February 25th 1797.
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago
It was a diversionary attack in support of what was supposed to be the major action against Britain, a large French force landing in Ireland (don't blame me for history - Ireland was a nominally separate nation at the time which "just happened" 😉😬 to share a monarch with the Kingdom of Great Britain): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fishguard
Load More Replies... #43
A 1631 publication of the Bible caused an uproar when it was discovered that one of the Ten Commandments had been misprinted to read 'Thou shalt commit adultery.'
vektor 3 months ago
Season 4 Episode 22: The More I See You. I just watched it the other night! The edition of the bible is called The Wicked Bible.
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Joe Reaves 3 months ago
A copy of it now resides in a certain bookshop in Soho.
Load More Replies... Nikole 3 months ago
Well it certainly didn't stop shitler. Did his base forget that he paid hush money out of his campaign account to a p**n star to try to conceal their sexual relationship? Oh, they don't care? Yeah that tracks.
st4x2gt974 3 months ago
“Love thy enemy” is also another of the Ten Comnandments. “I hate my enemy and I wish the worst for him” -Shitler, September 2025
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Cybele Spanjaard 3 months ago (edited)
I reckon written by an adulterer without any conscience..
#45
The Emu war.
Zig Zag Wanderer 3 months ago
It's not over yet. We're negotiating an alliance with the cassowaries....
Devon Archer 3 months ago
Why has this not been made into a mockumentary or a movie yet boggles the mind. Could be hilarious. Tika Watiti could play some sort of Emu King. Hey man, I'm the Emu King.
Joe Reaves 3 months ago
Pretty sure most New Zealanders would be upset at the implication he is in any way Australian.
Load More Replies... #46
Fyre Fest.
Everything about that disaster yeilded some of the worlds greatest memes.
Lady Eowyn 3 months ago
"The Fyre Festival was a luxury music festival that infamously failed in 2017, leading to widespread criticism, legal consequences for its organizers, and a cultural phenomenon documented in multiple films." I wish posters gave at least this much information.
#47
In formula one when Taki Inoue's car caught on fire and whilst attempting to put it out he got ran over by the medical car that was coming to save him.
It's the way he looks at the car after getting run over.
Joe Reaves 3 months ago
Then there was the time Jaguar, in collaboration with the makers of Ocean's Twelve, decided it would be a great idea to put a $250K diamond on the nose of their car - the most fragile and easily breakable point - around a circuit, Monaco, known for walls and people crashing into them. Unsurprisingly the car crashed and when it returned to the garage it was minus the diamond. It has never been located.
#48
“They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.”
Last words of Union Gen. John Sedgwick.
UKGrandad 3 months ago (edited)
It was '...at this dist-'. He thought that the Confederate snipers had smoothbore guns which had an effective range of of a couple of hundred yards. Unfortunately for Sedgwick they had rifles - guns with rifled bores that gave the bullets spin and therefore better range and accuracy.
Scott Rackley 3 months ago
Then proceeded to get hit in his left eye from a guy 1000 yards away.
#49
During most of the Roman Republic and Empire, generals would keep several sacred chickens to consult whether to go to battle or not. They'd throw seed in front of the chickens: if they ate, it was battle; if they didn't eat, they'd abstain.
During the First War with the Carthaginians, Publius Claudius Pulcher, a senator and naval commander known for his Larry David-like antics, went to consult the sacred chickens on whether they should attack the Carthaginian fleet. When Pulcher saw that they were not eating, he exclaimed, ‘Since they do not want to eat, let them drink!’ and had them thrown them into the sea. The naval battle was a catastrophe with most of the Roman fleet obliterated, and Pulcher was exiled.
Always abide the sacred chickens.
Edit: Additional antics by our man Clodius (how they haven't made a historical comedy series out of his life, I'll never understand)...
* In 68 BC he went to the East with brother-in-law who was proconsol in the war against Mithridates. Due to a percieved slight to his honor, Clodius started a mutiny among the troops. He then fled to Anatolia (Southern Turkey).
* In 67 BC he is kidnapped by pirates. Clodius demanded he be ransomed for a huge sum, vastly overestimating his worth. When the ransom came in from a local king and alley of Rome, it was a tiny amount. The pirates released Clodius nonetheless as they felt sorry for him.
* In 66 BC after retreating to Syria, he once again needs to flee the proconsol's wrath for formeting unrest among the local troops
* In 65 BC Clodius accompanies the new govenor of Gaul and enriches himself through schemes involving forging wills, then having the wills' heirs m******d
* 62 BC would see Clodius' chef-d'hoeuvre of antics with the Bona Dea scandal. The Bona Dea was a sacred meeting of high-born Roman women and the Vestal virgins to perform holy rites. No men were allowed, their entrance to the event being a sacriledge punishable by death. Our man Clodius, convinced Caesar's wife Pompeia (who was in attendance) had the hots for him, dressed as a woman and snuck into the event. He was quickly discovered an brought to trial. He barely wins the trial through a combination of bribery and calling in favors.
Edit 2: I failed to list my favorite of Clodius' comedic post-Bona Dea actions...
* 59 BC - With the aim of avenging himself against those who stood up to him in trial, Clodius concocts a plan where he is adopted by a Plebeian (lower-ranking) family and changes his name so he can be elected Tribune of the Plebs. Of note, the father in the family is considerably younger than him. Although he sees moderate populist support during his tenure, his plan for revenge, namely towards Cicero, ultimately fails.
Edit 3: I've stupidly confused Publius Claudius Pulcher (chicken anequdote) with his ancestor, Publius *Clodius* Pulcher (rest of the antics) who confusingly was also "Claudius" until he was adopted by Plebs and used the spelling more common to Plebs. The nuns would be lining up with rulers at this point, was I still in high school.
#50
That time Fabio got hit in the face by a goose on a rollercoaster.
Devon Archer 3 months ago (edited)
His nose was all bloody so not very funny to Fabio in the moment, to us though, comedy gold. My uncle had an incident with a bird too, we were on a boat going under a bridge slowly and he said "never look up with your mouth open under a bridge because birds could... they did. He got bird p*o in his mouth and immediately freaked out! I have to say, lesson learned.
Upstaged75 3 months ago (edited)
Nope - it was a goose, which died. But he says it was a piece of metal that hit him. The goose hit the camera. (He was doing a photo shoot): https://people.com/fabio-looks-back-at-rollercoaster-goose-incident-25-years-ago-exclusive-8622713
Load More Replies... #51
The beer riots in Bavaria, Germany.
German people won't upset a lot, but when King Ludwig I of Bavaria decreed a tax on beer in 1844, the crowds of urban workers started a riot and beat up the police. The army did nothing, so the rioters damaged several breweries and governement buildings, etc. Only after decreeding a 10% price reduction of beer, the civil order could be reestablished.
King Ludwig even abdicated after the riots, letting his son King Maximilian II take over the throne.
Judy Reynolds 3 months ago
Do you know the Tom Lehrer song called "MLF Lullaby"? Specifically the line about Germany being a traditional ally to the USA? "We taught them a lesson in 1918, and they've hardly bothered us since then"?
Marsha Brown 3 months ago
I was just about to write that, and luckily read what you wrote. So upvote. (And same album, similar idea, Wernher Von Braun:"But some think our attitude Should be one of gratitude, Like the widows and cripples in old London town, Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.")
Load More Replies... #52
President Jimmy Carter was attacked by a rabbit while paddling around in a rowboat.
The president was minding his own business rowing around a small pond and fishing when a rabbit left the shore and swam deliberately towards the boat, apparently crazed. Carter splashed the rabbit with water, driving it away from the boat. According to Press Secretary Jody Powell:
“Upon closer inspection, the animal turned out to be a rabbit. Not one of your cutesy, Easter Bunny-type rabbits, but one of those big splay-footed things that we called swamp rabbits when I was growing up.
The animal was clearly in distress, or perhaps berserk. The President confessed to having had limited experience with enraged rabbits. He was unable to reach a definite conclusion about its state of mind. What was obvious, however, was that this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat.”
Staff back on shore initially didn’t believe the president’s account, but a photographer managed to capture the moment:
Carter’s political enemies used the incident as fodder to show that he was weak and claimed that his response to the rabbit attack incited the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan that same year.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 3 months ago
Carter was a good human being. We didn’t appreciate him enough.
Nikole 3 months ago
This. Much like W though, he probably shouldn't have been president. And dude, why did they come at him? That rabbit was most likely rabid.
Load More Replies... Jude Corrigan 3 months ago
Just googled 'swamp rabbit' and the write up says they are cotton tail rabbits but they look like they have some hare ancestry as well.
Panda'sMom 3 months ago
Carter was a good man (RIP) but a really lousy President. Accomplished so much good post-Presidency.
#53
Switzerland, a neutral country, accidentally invading our smaller neighbour Lichtenstein.
TotallyNOTAFox 3 months ago
3 - 4 times, the last time undetected until they officialy apologised for the incident
Load More Replies... Rali Meyer 3 months ago
I wouldn't call it invading when a company of soldiers lost their bearing in the foggy mountains and crossed border.
#54
In 1992, then president, George H. W. Bush vomited on the Japanese prime minister.
Geoffrey Scott 3 months ago
And W had shoes thrown at him. W's time in office don't look so bad NOW, does it?
Lady Eowyn 3 months ago
Dubya was a positive genius compared to Orangina.
Load More Replies... Bruce Mardle 2 months ago
It's a Middle East thing, regarded as a grave insult. Letting someone see the soles of your shoes is rude, too.
Load More Replies... #55
Dennis radar asking the police if they could track him through a floppy disk and them replying no so he sends the floppy disk.
General Anaesthesia 3 months ago
He referred to himself as BTK for "bіnd, tοrtսrе, kіll". - wikipedia
Load More Replies... Lady Eowyn 3 months ago
Dennis Lynn Rader (born March 9, 1945), better known as the BTK killer, is an American serial killer who m******d at least ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, between 1974 and …
#56
Lady Agnes, the wife of Canada's first Prime Minister Johnny McDonald, rode the Canadian Pacific sitting in a candle box on the train's cow-catcher for days.
The staff did everything to dissuade her because, you know, that is really dangerous, but McDonald said it was okay. The man really didn't gaf.
Judy Reynolds 3 months ago
She wanted a really good view of the scenery when they were crossing the Rockies.
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#57
In the Spanish Civil War, some Nationalist pilots attached live turkeys to supply drops intended for a garrison under siege, so it would slow the fall when they flapped their wings. And we all know that turkey is also delicious.
#58
How Richard Nixon made Elvis a government agent and Elvis then almost immediately [taking advantage of] that power to stop a plane on the tarmac to pull a guy off and rough him up for stealing jewelry from Elvis at a party.
Panda'sMom 3 months ago
Correction: gave Elvis a FBI bange. Elvis was never "made" agent. The rest is true.
#59
Tycho Brahe. He was known to be exceedingly vain for a guy with a prosthetic nose (lost the real one in a duel). He was attending some kind of awards ceremony in which he was to receive one. He had to urinate, but he didn't want to leave the room and miss his big moment. So he held it until his bladder ruptured.
UKGrandad 3 months ago (edited)
It wasn't an awards ceremony. It was a banquet in Prague. He had consumed a copious amount of wine but refused to leave the table to urinate because it would have been a breach of etiquette, so he was in discomfort for several hours before the host left the room and he could finally go and relieve himself. His bladder did not erupt. He developed an infection in either his bladder or kidney which got so bad that it eventually prevented him from urinating, and he died from the infection eleven days after the banquet. Apart from that, the OP was unerringly accurate.
Panda'sMom 3 months ago
Holding it for too long actually increases the likelihood of infection, which untreated can be deadly.
Cybele Spanjaard 3 months ago
He must have had extraordinary holding powers as the bladder usually leaks when full by nature..
#60
The Pig War (1859)
Devin Schmitt 3 months ago
San Juan Islands, Washington State (U.S.) The cause of the Pig War was a dispute between the United States and Great Britain over the international border in the San Juan Islands, triggered by an American farmer shooting a British citizen's pig that was eating his potatoes. The underlying issue was the ambiguous wording of the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which left the boundary between the two nations in the San Juan Islands unclear, leading to both sides claiming the islands.
Panda'sMom 3 months ago
That story made me giggle during my studies toward a History degree. Still does.
Janissary35680 3 months ago
The incident provided the story line for a "Hey Arnold!" episode. https://heyarnold.fandom.com/wiki/Pig_War
#61
The CIA Spy Cat that was released to eavesdrop on a Soviet agents in a park in DC and was almost instantly ran over by a taxi.
Nikole 3 months ago
I really wish we'd leave animals out of any type of governmental plans.
Load More Replies... Geoffrey Scott 3 months ago
One of the most humorous stories of CIA screwups (Rolling Stone interview with former agent 1980's). Dusted the former head of Indonesian President Suharto's speech with LSD (or other hallucinogenic) to cause him to seem insane. Result: 'Gave one of the most coherent, electrifying speeches of his life'.
Panda'sMom 3 months ago
It is unfortunate how many governments used animals for not so brilliant ideas.
#62
The origin of the story "slower than molasses in January." While sad and funny at the same time, it still makes me chuckle.
Margaret Shannon 3 months ago
It was an awful tragedy. Nevertheless, from it we do know that molasses in January isn’t particularly slow.
#63
Area 51 raid to "see dem aliens and clap their cheeks"
Run like Naruto to dodge bullets.
Ian Dennison 3 months ago
See Netflix for more information - "Storm Area 51".
Load More Replies... Janissary35680 3 months ago (edited)
There's a very funny three part documentary about this. "Trainwreck: Storm Area 51" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36856570/
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What do you think ?
joseph legatt 3 months ago
In the 2000's the U.S.A. elected a narcissistic pathological liar to be president not once but twice. I guess this is only funny if you don't live in the U.S.A.
Major Harris 3 months ago
13 august 1914, lake malawi, africa. one side was german colony, the other, english. there was an armed boat from each country that had been on this large lake for 10 years. the crews and captains had become close friends and drinking buddies. WW1 began and the word was out to engage the enemy. they did not want to fight one another. the german skipper agreed that the english boat was larger, faster and better armed. the english boat sent word that it had sunk the german boat. both continued to party for the next three years! when the admiralty finally caught on, the english boat allowed the germans to remove everything they could and finally abandoning it to be sunk with out loss of life.
joseph legatt 3 months ago
In the 2000's the U.S.A. elected a narcissistic pathological liar to be president not once but twice. I guess this is only funny if you don't live in the U.S.A.
Major Harris 3 months ago
13 august 1914, lake malawi, africa. one side was german colony, the other, english. there was an armed boat from each country that had been on this large lake for 10 years. the crews and captains had become close friends and drinking buddies. WW1 began and the word was out to engage the enemy. they did not want to fight one another. the german skipper agreed that the english boat was larger, faster and better armed. the english boat sent word that it had sunk the german boat. both continued to party for the next three years! when the admiralty finally caught on, the english boat allowed the germans to remove everything they could and finally abandoning it to be sunk with out loss of life.
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