35 Of The Best History Memes For Anyone Wanting To Learn More About Our Past (New Pics)
It’s no secret that humor helps us learn and remember things better—if you’re laughing and having fun, chances are that a fact will stick that much harder in your mind. And we find that one of the best formats for this is creating memes. If you’ve ever thought that history was a dull subject, you might just change your mind at the end of this article.
The r/HistoryMemes subreddit is a sprawling online community of millions of history lovers who create, share, and comment on a very wide range of memes about the past. We’ve collected some of the freshest pics to pique your interest, Pandas, so scroll down, enjoy, and we hope you’re taking notes because this will be on the test.
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I Just Hope The Man She Replaced Ended Up Working As *her* Maid
Washington Washingdogs
Read A Fricking Book For Once!
The sub has been flourishing for more than a decade. Ever since it was founded all the way back in September 2012, it has grown by leaps and bounds. At the time of writing, the group was home to over 7.5 million members (or ‘History Experts’ as the community dubs them).
Members of r/HistoryMemes are encouraged to share memes about historical events, famous historical figures, and trends that were established at least twenty years ago. Moreover, the memes can be related to history class or “the application of the subject of History in real life.” The memes can also be tied to mythology or religious texts, or be ‘meta’ memes about the subreddit itself.
Adams Is Critically Underrated
This Is Why I Failed Chemistry
Insane To Think Charles Darwin And Steve Irwin Both Owned The Same Turtoise
Owned? Yea I don't think so. Harriet just lived and chilled while the silly humans did silly human things around her.
The team running the entire community has outlined its extended rules in great detail. It’s probably best to give those a read (right over here) if you’re new to the community and want to start things off on the right foot.
For instance, some memes and formats are actually banned on r/HistoryMemes. This is done for the sake of maintaining a high level of quality. Some topics that are prohibited include British Museum memes, as well as images related to France supposedly surrendering all the time. These topics have been milked to death.
Same Thing For The Court Dwarfs
I have it on good authority that most political advisors are still a bunch of clowns.
Fly Pig Fly!
Had Me At 360 No Scope
Some other banned meme topics include US oil, nuclear bombs in Japan, Nazi scientists in NASA, and Hitler’s links to art school. Meanwhile, among some of the prohibited formats are Political Compass memes and fake caption-style posts where someone posts with a title that includes the name of an event, its date, and the word ‘colorized’ for comedic effect.
How About Another 4 Years Of Delays?
Not only Rome.... almost every city in Italy. Take a look at the little town of Aquileia, today 3200 people, an ancient times an important city of the Roman Empire
The Race Was Held At 3:00pm On A Sweltering 32-Degree Celsius Day, And Took The Runners Over Dusty, Unpaved Roads. James Sullivan, The Chief Organiser Of The St Louis Olympics, Was Interested In 'Purposeful Dehydration' — An Ill-Advised Area Of Scientific Research At The Turn Of The Century — And Ensured There Was Only One Water Station On The Entire Course. Fourteen Kilometres From The Finish Line, American Runner Thomas Hicks Was In Agony. He Was Fading Fast From The Dust And Heat, And Tried To Lie Down On The Road. Hicks' Trainers, Who Also Believed That Water Diminished An Athlete's Performance, Gave Him Small Sips Of A Toxic Cocktail Which Included Strychnine (Rat Poison) To Stimulate His Nervous System. High On Rat Poison Which Was Mixed With An Egg White And Brandy, The 28-Year-Old Staggered Along For The Rest Of The Course While Hallucinating
Worlds Oldest Complaint
Other banned formats include ‘Those who don’t know/Those who know’ memes, as well as Boys vs Girls memes. The mods also ask the community not to start meme wars or incite drama on the subreddit. Moreover, the images and titles that people post can’t be low-quality. In short, internet users ought to put in some effort in what they share.
Everybody Needs Somebody
Actually Fuming At All The History Books I Could Have Read Smh
I am just thinking about what treasure trove was last when the library of Alexandria cought fire, and what impact it might have had on humanity's development.
The Most Fantasized People In History
And (though it’s common sense) redditors are urged not to deny or defend genocides and atrocities. Anyone going against this rule will instantly be banned, permanently. “Hateful historical revisionists are not welcome,” the mods explain. You’ll also get banned if you compare atrocities to one another.
Again, this is all common sense stuff on what not to do, but if the rule’s there, it means that there are folks who consistently do the opposite.
The Struggles Of Anyone Doing Ancient History
Dod Funding Is The Best Kind Of Funding
Poor Germany
According to one thesis written by a senior student at Yale University, humor really does help us remember facts better. If factual information is paired with an especially funny joke (compared to a non-humorous one), individuals recall the fact better. However, what also helps is if the joke is relevant and somehow tied to the fact itself.
Henry Avery Did Not Have The Most Satisfying Ending To His Plotline
Back in that day vanishing without a trace—-and living a luxurious life in hiding—-was still possible.
She Wasn't That Bad But She Could Also Have Been Better
"sent to a strange country" went as follows: At the border a tent was set up. She had to strip naked and enter France with nothing of her own. She had to leave back everything that was dear to her. Even her dog was taken away. She knew nobody there and I don't remember if she could speak/underdtand French. And then had to wed a guy she never met. She was just a political bargain object, nobody cared about her. If this does not traumatize a 14 year old and triggers strange behavior, what not?
Fine, I’ll Do It Myself
He removed his own appendix using only a .05% solution of Novocain for anesthesia, and the only help he had was another guy holding a mirror and handing him instruments. He recovered and removed his own stiches seven days later.
Meanwhile, Edutopia notes that humor activates the dopamine reward system in our brains which helps with “goal-oriented motivation and long-term memory.” Humor, when used correctly, can help students retain information better, whether they’re still in kindergarten or already in college.
Canadian History Be Like
They're honest about their history, which puts them ahead of the US, here we have people actively attempting to have the ugly stuff left out.
What A Wonderful Time To Be Alive!
Have We Men Changed In 110 Years?
This ad is remembered as the last completely truthful employment listing.
Generally speaking, the average person won’t have the time and energy to check whether every tiny little piece of information that they come across on the internet is factually correct. So it’s best to be a bit skeptical of everything and to consider the source where the info came from.
“When looking at ‘mindblowing’ facts on the internet a healthy sense of skepticism is essential—as is looking at the source. Is this being claimed by Twitter user @fakefacts420 or a Professor of History at the University of Oxford? Are you reading this on a university website or an email your nan has forwarded you?" one moderator from another but related subreddit, r/AskHistorians, told Bored Panda earlier.
Leave, We Don't Want You Anymore, Go Starve On The Desert
They Were Blamed For Everything From Economic Hardship To War And Plague
Now The Bad Thing Would Be If You Were A Christian And The Secret Trap Door Opened
In other words, try to get your information from reliable sources and individuals. Now, this doesn’t mean that they won’t any mistakes ever (everyone’s human after all), but it would be naive to think that all sources are ‘equal.’ What you can do, if you’re particularly bamboozled by a fact or meme, is cross-reference the information from a few reliable sources. You can also check out some sites (e.g. Snopes) that debunk myths and fake news.
According to the mod from r/AskHistorians, some time periods have an unusually large number of conspiracy theories associated with them. "There are probably dozens of potential conspiracies surrounding Sumerian agriculture, but that topic isn’t in the public eye in the same way that something like the Second World War or the Roman Empire is," they said.
Unfortunately, some individuals aim to “exploit past events to push a political point in the present day" by weaponizing history in a sense.
Supposedly, When John Hetherington Invented The Top Hat And Wore It In Public For The First Time, It Caused People To Faint From Shock And A Riot Broke Out. It’s Debatable Whether Or Not This Actually Happened, But I Want To Believe
Why??
Is it because the flags used to represent the costs of arms of the ruling royal families whereas current flags are meant to be representative of the people or country as a whole?
Fortunately, We Have Archeology, But It Will Never Be The Same
Let us know in the comments which of these memes you vibed with the most, dear Pandas. Were there any that made you want to learn more about a time period or historical event? Feel free to share your insights and findings.
In the meantime, for some more r/HIstoryMemes goodness, take a peek at Bored Panda's earlier posts here and here.
Mediteranean Banter
Battle Of Dentists' Tooths
Well someone's got to clean them up, my friends Bodies on the highway Law and order upside down Someone's got to collect their odds and ends As a service to the town!
Just Don't Fall Into A Body Of Water Or Get Stuck In Mud And You'll Be Fine
Many years ago i had to help fish a friend in a full suit of armour out of the moat at Warwick Castle. The photographer said "Back a bit". He went splash. Total cliché.
I Present You, Horse
they weren't. they just had different ideas of their needs
Some Names Were More Creative Than Others
New Zealand is also Aoteroa - the land of the long white cloud. Now want to rename the UK land of the low grey cloud
Canada
In period of 1890-1935 the US had war plans for any war in the region, as well as one in the Pacific or Asian. We had a War Plan Green for Mexico, a war plan for Brazil, one for the UK, etc. Each was given a color, and even plans for wars against multiple nations. There was even a plan for a way against Canada-UK-Japan alliance back in 1910
This Came To Me At 2.30 Am
Giga Chad Sam
Damn unsinkable Sam is cool. However, the both cats have full control over the puny hoomans. That must count for something.
The Soviets Did Not F**k Around
Ancient Civilizations Had Very Specific Hang UPS
Your Religion Needs At Least One Flood Myth To Be Cool
Flood "myths" are cool because they actually happened. Every ancient culture evolved from prehistoric groups that experienced epic flooding as ice ages ended and passed that experience down through the generations as stories that became legend and eventually myths and part of religions.
Learn The Difference!
Not justifying human sacrifice here, but a lot of those sacrifices were voluntary. As part of their core beliefs, sacrificing oneself, or even a part of oneself, to their gods was one of the highest and most noble acts for an Aztec. Spanish conquerors would later portray it as a barbaric act perpetrated only on unwilling participants and downright evil, but reality was not so black and white.
The Monk Refused The Cleric's Offer Of Medicinal Herbs
Visited Enough
It's A Stupid Argument
Thought Some People On This Sub Needed A Clarification
The Last Guillotine Execution In France Was In 1977 And One Month Later Star Wars Was Released
Til The Tower In The 1990's Went Beyond The Limit Of 5.4° Of Lean Which Should've Had It Fall Over And Noone Knows Why It Didn't
That's a BS factoid. The "limit of 5,4°" for collapsing come from a poorly researched NatGeo article. The tower has a base diameter of 15,5 meters and a height of about 55, with the center of gravity close to 26 meter from the ground. The tower's center of gravity would be well inside the base with an inclination of over 13°. The problem was that the tower inclination was growing at increasing speed, so in 1990 a program to reduce it was started, and the tilt was reduced by slowly pumping consolidation material into the recessing side over the course of a decade. The inclination now is well within the 3-4° that the tower had for most of its life and is considered safe.
Can’t Say It Wasn’t A Good Smart Decision
Dole stole Hawaii first, usurping the Queen so he could ignore restrictions on his pineapple plantations. Then he convinced the State Dept that it ws a great place for a base, then Japan and WW2 happened and we took it all the way over.
Let's Be Honest, We Aren't Playing On The Same Level
I Mean, Yeah, It Is Possible That The Car Park Was Where The King Was Buried
"He was discovered under a sign marked 'R', which many think stands for 'Rex', although it actually stands for 'reserved'" - Miles Jupp
God Speaks To Me
Ah Yes, The Ww1, The War To End All Wars!
NO. Soldiers knew at 11:00 the war would cease. Less than a handful of officers insisted their men dying pointless (as borders were agreed) on the last day, not "thousands". Few enough to shame them.
Tents Could Be Very Expensive And Most Peasants Which The Army Consisted Off Could Never Afford One, Only Noblemen, Kings Or Rich Knights Could
Wow, that never occurred to me. I wonder if that was also true in Biblical times. Perhaps the tabernacle was the only tent the armies had, rather than the main tent.
No, I Don't Believe You!
I Mean It’s A Fucking Leaf
Downside Of Being A Brutal Killing Machine
I Guess You Could Say It Was A Job To Die For
well my guess is that the act of having a cupbearer in itself would deter people from poisioning the food. Think about it, your action are highly likely to be revealed, and you will probably not achieve what you want anyway. People would probably have known this if they are just a little smart. So as there remains little reason to do it, and the risk of being a cupbearer would be minimal.
10-Day War Be Like
Being Sent Overseas Was Often A Death Sentence
Real Duels Were Pretty Rare And Most Of The Time Problems Was Resolved In Alternative Ways
Sic Semper Tyrannis Is More A Rule Than A Saying
Enter The Punic Wars
Poor Minotaur Has Got It Rough
Elizabeth Bathory And Vlad III The Impaler Were True Monsters Of Their Days
False. Elizabeth Bathory was literary condemned in a political witchhunt. She was a relative of the Transylvanian ruler AND her lands were continuous between Transylvania and Vienna, meaning that the Transylvanian army could have marched to Vienna without being noticed. Therefore, she was accused of witchcraft and condemned to prison. (Technically, she was enclosed in a tower of her own fortress, but the door was closed with a wall. A narrow gap was left only to provide her food.
“Don’t, Don’t, Don’t, This Will Hurt Someone”
If ya'll look this up... trigger warning. (Pun? Okay, yeah pun!)
Groundbreaking Stuff
China: Suffering From Success
Can't Have Myths Without A Storm God Fighting A Dragon
Hey Drake, Where’s Jesus?
There, I Fixed It
Except Ancient Egypt, since it was passed down through the females in the family.
Udreeeea… My Dudes
My Guy Tyr Was The Biggest Chad In Norse Mythology
*change Team*
Go Ahead Just Place It On The Scale
I really wish posts like these could have citations along with each meme. I think at least half of these either aren't true at all or are showing an angled view as only memes can.
Remember what Abraham Lincoln said "Don't believe everything you see on the internet"
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I really wish posts like these could have citations along with each meme. I think at least half of these either aren't true at all or are showing an angled view as only memes can.
Remember what Abraham Lincoln said "Don't believe everything you see on the internet"
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