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Someone Asks What’s An Event In History That’s So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver
Interview
History is fascinating; from the development of entire continents and ancient civilizations to architectural heritage and stories about events that shaped the world we live in today. There is so much to learn about it, both people who’ve never held a history book in their hands and avid history enthusiasts would find something new to learn every day.
Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently discussed happenings in the past that might have been many people’s “new thing to learn for the day”. When this redditor started a thread about historical events that are so ridiculous they sound fake, netizens shared quite a few stories, ranging from difficult to believe to plain ridiculous. Scroll down to find them on the list below and enjoy a rather amusing history lesson.
Bored Panda has reached out to the OP and they were kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find their thoughts in the text below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
The Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference. It would have been rejected for an episode of Veep because it was so ridiculous.
Libstak 2 years ago (edited)
And then just to hammer home the "You're an idiot" vibe, the universe threw in a nice juicy hair dye stain too.
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Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
One of those occasions when the phrase, 'you couldn't make up stuff like this', was entirely accurate.
Corvus 2 years ago
No, you don't understand, this was a set up by the Deep State to make the good guys look silly. It's all a conspiracy, dude! /s
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 2 years ago
And that's how it was shrugged off by the cult members rather than realising it was sheer incompetence
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thepinkrobot 2 years ago
It really did feel like something out of Arrested Development or Curb Your Enthusiasm. The entire GOP is one big satirical cartoon of itself. Well, reality in general at the moment
frederick clause 2 years ago
The sad part is that almost half the population supports them and their orange leader.
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Jessica Bertram 2 years ago
Sandwiched between a funeral director and a sex toy shop. It was GLORIOUS TO BEHOLD
Patricia Steward 2 years ago
I bought the t-shirt for a MAGA relative. Capture-65...33-png.jpg 
RELATED:
#2
For a very long time the Roman empire was able to acquire silk through trade over 'the silk road' to China, but never able to unlock the secrets of producing it domestically themselves. Until 552AD, when two monks preaching in India then travelled to China, where they witnessed the guarded methods of using the live silk worm to spin the famous thread. Knowing the importance of what they'd learned, the monks returned to Constantinople to report directly to the emperor Justinian. He personally met the monks, heard all the details of what they'd seen, then asked them to return to China and find a way of smuggling these worms back to the empire. They agreed, and prepared for the 2 year ~6,500km (4,000mi) trek back to China on foot, hoof and wheel. Once back in China they acquired either eggs or young larvae, since the adults are too delicate for transport, and tucked them into hollowed bamboo canes for the long journey straight back home. Once the monks made it back to Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), domestic silk production slowly ramped up and the need for long journeys along the 'silk road' ramped down. Over time, this allowed the same type of silk monopoly which China had enjoyed through the prior centuries to now be established in the Mediterranean, becoming one of the bedrocks of the Byzantine economy for the next 700 years.
It's crazy to think about these two guys. 1500 years before you or I were born, making their second multi-year, 6,500km trek back from China, smuggling two bamboo canes full of bugs which would fuel the economy of one of the world's largest civilizations for the next 700 years. I wonder if they knew and understood these possibilities when they went to scoop the worms from their baskets in China...Imagine the anxiety trying to keep them hidden and alive the whole way back!
birdhouse 2 years ago
So the Monks deceived, lied and stole? I thought they were extremely religious and wouldn't do these things?
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
It was for the "greater good"-- the Catholic Church. They've never cared over much about the way they go about things. (For any Catholics I've just offended, I don't mean at the grass roots level. I've met some very decent nums and priests. I mean at the upper echelons, where politics is far more important than faith.
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Mathieu Brouwers 2 years ago
The eggs and young larvae where released from the bamboo canes as soon as they were out of China. They raised several generations of silk butterflies before they where back in Constantinople. (Finding and preserving the young leafs of the mulberry tree the larvae needs is the biggest challange.) PS you can find the silk butterfly in a mulberry tree near the cathedral in Koln, Germany
Nicole Weymann 2 years ago
I still can't help but think that the reward for a job well done (spying out how silk was made) that wasn't even theirs (they were preachers) they got the dubious reward of another job instead of fame and fortunes. Even in this story the monks are nameless and, being monks, I assume they didn't get riches out of it. I really hope they liked the adventure, at least.
geezeronthehill 2 years ago
At least the emperor didn't have them beheaded to preserve the secret.
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Jared Robinson 2 years ago
The entire world as we know it, happened this way. Tiny painstaking step by tiny painstaking step.
#3
Operation Mincemeat.
Basically, the British dressed a random dead guy in a military uniform, put fake invasion plans in his pocket, and dropped him on the shore of Spain. The Spanish found the body (and invasion plans) and informed Germany. Germany, believing the invasion plans were real, sent an army to Greece- which is exactly what the Brits wanted, because they were actually going to invade Sicily.
CanadianDimes 2 years ago
There’s a podcast called “Stuff you should know” that did a brilliant episode on this! The whole story is so intricate and insane.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
Later in the war, the Germans found some genuine plans about the upcoming invasion of Normandy. But they refused to believe they were genuine, thinking it another "Operation Mincemeat"-type ploy. So one hoax fooled the Germans twice!
Taff Thomas 2 years ago
He wasn't "Random" but carefully selected to have certain physical features. The plans were not in his pocket, as he was dropped in the sea. Read Ben MacIntyre's book on the event.
Kiss Army 2 years ago
The Man Who Never Was is a 1953 book by Ewen Montagu about the World War II Operation Mincemeat. Montagu played a leading role in the 1943 scheme to deceive the Germans about the planned Allied invasion of Sicily. The scheme entailed releasing a dead body just off the coast of Spain, where strong currents caused it to drift ashore in an area where a skilled German secret agent was known to operate. The corpse was to appear to be the victim of an airplane crash, the non-existent Royal Marine Captain (Acting Major) William Martin, who had letters in a briefcase that hinted at a forthcoming Allied invasion of Greece and Sardinia, rather than the obvious target of Sicily. Montagu's work formed the basis for a 1956 film by the same title.
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“I decided to ask that question because I was watching a video about rescued animals with my boyfriend, and an emu appeared on screen and he said ‘can you believe we lost a war with these guys?’,” the OP told Bored Panda, revealing how they got curious about the hard-to-believe historical events.
“I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, and he told me about the Great Emu War in Australia where the emus won! I thought it was so crazy and hilarious that I decided to ask Reddit about other crazy historical events.”
#4
The Immovable Ladder.
In Jerusalem there is a tiny christian church called the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that is shared by six different, very old, denominations.
There is so much animosity between the groups that they were forced into an agreement where any change to a common area had to be agreed to unanimously (the Status Quo).
During repairs sometime before 1757 a construction worker left a simple wooden ladder behind on a roof landing.
It has been over 260 years and the church leaders still refuse to agree on how to remove the ladder, so there it sits.
Fun fact: to stop the denominations from fighting over the keys to the front door, the Sultan ruling Jerusalem entrusted the keys to a muslim family that still, to this day, open and close the church.
LinkTheHylian 2 years ago
Imagine holding dominion over a rival religious denomination who can't even visit their church without you because it's enshrined in law.
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Diana 2 years ago (edited)
Eh.. it is not exactly a huge cathedral, but far from tiny. If you look it up on wikipedia you can read about some more 'fun' squables: monks and friars getting into fist fights over a door left open, someone moving his chair to the shade and about who gets to sweep the stairs....
The Original Bruno 2 years ago
Not exactly tiny. It's several acres. The main nave alone holds 8,000 people, and there are dozens of chapels. But every denomination involved IS embarrassed that there exists such distrust, or the fact that such distrust is warranted. Imagine if all three religions (Jews, Muslims, Christians) agreed that they should all have access to the Temple Mount, can you imagine the treaty necessary?
Roody 2 years ago
No, to Palestine's most important church. There was no Israel back then.
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Bidango Smith 2 years ago
OMG - this just sent me on a Google-Deep dive ... this is fascinating!
#5
When America went to war with Spain, the Spanish forgot to tell their territory, Guam. The US sent a single warship to the island where they took 13 shots at the fort. The leaders on the island rowed out to apologize they couldn't return their "salute", they had no gunpowder.
That is why Guam is a US territory.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
As JFK said during the Cuban missile crisis, "There's always some poor son of a b***h who doesn't get the word."
Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
There was also a significant role played by a US citizen who was resident on Guam atthe time.
Lotekguy 2 years ago
Super easy. Barely an inconvenience. (This line is for movie buffs who also spend time on YouTube. )
Elaine Dodge 2 years ago
And this image? America went to war with Spain in 1898. The telephone was only used in Guam in 1903 so there would have been no telephone poles at the time. Not to mention that those are not the uniforms of the American navy in 1898 either.
The redditor was taken aback by the response they received from the online community. “After posting, I was shocked with how many people had different events to share,” they told Bored Panda.
“The great emu war was one of the most common comments, but others like the Great Molasses Flood, Wojtek the Polish soldier bear, and the War of Jenkins’ Ear were also frequently posted and really surprised me. Most of the stuff I read I had never learned about in school so it was a really fun time going through each comment.”
#6
Stanislov Petrov literally saved the world from nuclear destruction by not calling in a missile launch when he was in command. He figured it MUST be a malfunction even though all his computers told him it was not.
It was a malfunction. Had he called it in, there would have been several billion dead.
The Scout 2 years ago
Not knowing whether to give the man a medal (for preventing a nuclear war) or to shoot him (for refusing orders), the Soviets decided to completely ignore the incident. Petrov later was promoted, though, for his completely unrelated "improvements of nuclear facilities"...
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
I'm glad he didn't have to die for preventing a war.
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Chrissie Anit 2 years ago
His name and that of Vasily Arkhipov should never be forgotten, but held in great honour.
Markus Holstein 2 years ago
The Soviet early warning system had mistaken sunlight reflected by clouds as a missile launch and reported a nuclear attack by the NATO with "high reliability". Petrov actually had to feign a malfunction to justify not acting on the readings to the rest of his crew
#7
Hannibal saved his army by tying torches to the horns of 5,000 cows and driving them one direction. The Romans thought they were the enemy army and converged on them, while Hannibal quietly snuck his 10,000 man force out of the valley by another route.
Panda Kicki 2 years ago
I wonder how many it took to tie and light all that. I can imagine it was pretty hard after the first few ones caught fire.
Kiss Army 2 years ago
Genghis Khan was first to use animals in warfare. In a feint he offered to end the siege of the well fortified city of Volohai if he was paid a “tribute of one thousand cats and one thousand swallows”. Genghis Khan then set them alight and released them in one great rush of living fire. The wretched animals set the city alight in hundreds of places simultaneously. While the defenders fought the flames, the Mongols breached the walls of Volohai.
“I’d also like to add that even events that were very commonly known were also posted a lot, like the moon landing, World War II, and the Manhattan Project,” the OP pointed out. “But while most people learned about these events in school and they seem like everyday historical facts, when you really process these events and rethink them, it is kind of mind-boggling that they actually happened.”
#8
Ancient Egyptians went on strike building a royal necropolis in the year 1152 BC and were the first to ever strike. And in a pleasant turn of events, the workers received higher wages and returned to the project.
To be clear, they were not slaves or anything, just the craftsmen of their time, but I still found it odd that even thousands of years ago there is documented evidence of striking being successful rather than companies attempting to squash down modern strikes.
The Scout 2 years ago
Those were no simple workers, though. They were highly qualified specialists. And as, according to the religious beliefs of the time, the wellbeing of the universe depended on the king being properly sent off into the afterlife, they were very conscious of their importance. That being said, their work conditions were extremely good for the time. Free healthcare, unlimited sickdays, free housing and food... "Wages" is a word that does not match fully, though. They were mostly paid in beer and bread.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
And the pharaoh was smart enough not to say "No one wants to work anymore."
RosenCranzLives 2 years ago (edited)
The really big 'civil engineering events' were mostly worked by the local populace in the non-growing season. Slaves were expensive and had to be maintained. Farmers took care of that stuff on their own. Same thing with the 'Druids' and Stonehenge. (May not have actually been druids.)
#9
The Battle of Pelusium. In short, Persians held cats hostage, forcing an Egyptian pharaoh to declare war to save them.
Sergio Bicerra 2 years ago
Persians: "We have your wife, your mother, your children, your best friend..." Pharaoh: "You shall not intimidate me" Persians: "... and Fluffy and Mr. Whiskers" Pharaoh: sends army, ships, 16 catapults and two dementors.
CatLady 2 years ago
I don't understand why dudes think "cat lady" is an insult. It's a confirmation that your company is less desirable than that of a furry animal that shits in a box. So you're really insulting yourself.
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#10
When two perfectly working pistols failed to fire on US President Andrew Jackson who then beat his would-be-assassin so badly that the presidential security detail had to pull him off to save the man's life.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
There was no presidential security detail present there. The people who intervened were bystanders, including then-congressman Davy Crockett (also someone not to mess with).
Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez 2 years ago
The security detail part of the story comes from another assassination attempt - it was Truman who was pulled off of a would be assassin by the Secret Service.
Load More Replies... DB 2 years ago
Pfft. If the Secret Service had let him, Reagan would have kicked Hinkley's a*s.
Pie 2 years ago
You ok? Hinkley nearly killed Reagan. He went directly into surgery. "If the Secret Service had let him" Reagan would have bled out in the limo.
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Riley Quinn 2 years ago
It's a real shame this disgusting racist wasn't assassinated. His ethnic cleansing was devastating for the Indigenous peoples.
Stephanie Chapman 2 years ago
Wish he had died. He set up the "Trail of Tears" and forced many 5 tribes of Indigenous People of their land and many their terrible deaths. He sounds like a real douche and shouldn't be on currency.
Back in St. Olaf 2 years ago
It was later found that the guns were functional. They both just misfired.
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unfilteredCigarette73 2 years ago
Also didn't his pet parrot have to be removed from his funeral because the bird wouldn't stop swearing?
Load More Replies... Back in St. Olaf 2 years ago
What makes it all the more remarkable is that AJ was 68 years old at the time.
Back in St. Olaf 2 years ago
It was later found that the guns were functional. They both just misfired.
Load More Replies...The redditor with a newly found passion for somewhat bizarre historical events shared that their favorite one of them all has to be the Dancing Plague of 1518. “This one fascinates me a lot because I love mysteries and I’ve always wanted to know what caused it.”
“It was mentioned under my post a couple times, but it doesn’t seem like as many people know about it, which is crazy because it is such a bizarre occurrence. I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever have answers to the cause.”
#11
In 1982, Larry Walters strapped a bunch of weather balloons to a lawn chair and flew 16,000 feet in the air over LA. That's about half the height of commercial airline cruising altitude. Just a guy up there in a lawn chair taking in the sights. And he landed safely.
Jon Steensen 2 years ago
Sure and when the FAA caught him they were quite sure that he has busted some kind of aviation law, but it took some time to figure out exactly what to charge him for. But I guess that you still cannot enter controlled airspace without a clearance, eventhough you are sitting in our lawn chair.
Robert A Reider Jr 2 years ago
I remember this. (You certainly wouldn't forget, would you?) Wasn't he in radio contact via walkie talkie? I seem to recall he was somewhat panicked he climbed higher than expected, was freezing cold, and and the air was a bit thin for his taste.
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Manuel Delgado 2 years ago
A Brazilian priest did that stunt and the winds took him over the Atlantic Ocean. He now rests with the fishes.
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martymcmatrix 2 years ago
From wikipedia → On July 2, 1982, Larry Walters (April 19, 1949 – October 6, 1993) made a 45-minute flight in a homemade aerostat made of an ordinary patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. The aircraft rose to an altitude of about 16,000 feet (4,900 m), drifted from the point of liftoff in San Pedro, California, and entered controlled airspace near Long Beach Airport. During the landing, the aircraft became entangled in power lines, but Walters was able to climb down safely.
Oskar vanZandt 2 years ago
A truly reckless stunt... Could have been fatal to people and animals on the ground.
Steve Hall 2 years ago
He was fined $4000 but ended up only having to pay $1500. He shot himself and died 11 years later.
#12
Cadaver synod. New pope digs up the old pope, puts him on trial, finds him guilty, and punished the corpse. For whatever reason they don’t teach you about that in catholic school.
TheGoodBoi 2 years ago
"WHAT SAY YOU OLD POPE!?" "....." "AHA! GUILTY! SENTENCED TO...MORE DEATH! Well that settles it."
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Jared Robinson 2 years ago
It basically was just a way for the church to say see it wasn't the church it was just this one guy see you can still trust us, promise we won't rape your children.
Mustafa Kiziroğlu 2 years ago
This also happened to Oliver Cromwell in England. Good take on this, humanity is not getting dumber. We just found cheap and easy ways to give out our stupidity.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
Considering that it was an isolated incident that had no effect on anything, why would they?
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Multa Nocte 2 years ago
Popes didn't become "infallible" until 1869-1870, and that is only when they are speaking "ex cathedra."
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#13
Stephen King was so obsessed with the song "mambo no.5" that his wife threatened to divorce him.
Nicole Weymann 2 years ago (edited)
Still is. This post just cancelled Mika's Grace Kelly loop in my head. 😭
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Alberto Alves 2 years ago
A-well-a everybody's heard about the bird B-b-b-bird, b-birdd's the word A-well, a bird, bird, bird, bird is the word A-well, a bird, bird, bird, well-a bird is the word A-well, a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word A-well, a bird, bird, bird, well-a bird is the word A-well, a bird, bird, b-bird is the word A-well, a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word A-well, a bird, bird, bird, well-a bird is the word A-well, a bird, bird, b-bird's the word A-well-a don't you know about the bird? Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word
UpQuarkDownQuark (he/hey you) 2 years ago
I would brave any sinking ship or burning building to save my wife, but I’d threaten divorce, too, over that song.
#14
The Erfurt Latrine Disaster.
The Erfurt latrine disaster occurred on 26 July 1184, when Henry VI, King of Germany (later Holy Roman Emperor), held a Hoftag (informal assembly) in the Petersberg Citadel in Erfurt. On the morning of 26 July, the combined weight of the assembled nobles caused the wooden second story floor of the building to collapse and most of them fell through into the latrine cesspit below the ground floor, where about 60 of them drowned in liquid excrement.
Auntriarch 2 years ago
You're just trying to cheer me up (picture in my head of the houses of parliament)
Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
I've been known to say that God has a weird sense of humour, but, sometimes, he just nails it.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
This would not happen to modern legislators. Liquid excrement is their native environment.
The Original Bruno 2 years ago
Wikipedia makes a similar claim about this incident in the opening summary (that they drowned in liquid exrement), but then walks it back a bit: they drowned, or succumbed to fumes (er, fart?), or were killed in the fall, or crushed by collapsing structure. Still just as crazy.
#15
The 1904 Olympic Marathon in St. Louis.
32 athletes took part, but only 14 were able to finish - there was only one water station in the entire 26-mile course. The “winner” was later disqualified because they found out he drove half the race in his car. The new winner (the guy who came in second) had to be carried over the finish line by his trainers because they’d been dosing him the whole time with a strange mixture of strychnine, brandy, and egg whites.
Several people almost died of internal injuries. Multiple runners stole things from passerby. Most people in the race weren’t even Olympic-level athletes, just amateur runners, many of whom didn’t even have to run a full marathon to qualify.
Lene 2 years ago
It does. And I love it! I sorta want to try and make a short story about it some day. Lol
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arthbach 2 years ago
Strychnine was commonly used as a medicine at that point. Runners used it as a stimulant. The brandy was to help disguise the bitter taste, and the egg whites for protein. The substance DOES improve performance, and was added to the list of banned performance enhancers in sport. In 2019, a Kenyan marathon runner, Felix Kirwa, was given a 9 months ban after he tested positive for strychnine. Weight lifters have also been given bans.
Andrei Marentette 2 years ago
This is what I want. The Average Olympics. Random people do Olympic sports
DumYum 2 years ago
And average people dying or breaking their necks competing. 😂
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Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
If the current Olympics included the doping of athletes with concoctions of strychnine, brandy, and egg whites at random intervals throughout the events, i might be more inclined to take an interest in it
Mocha the Lion 2 years ago (edited)
you missed the best part, some dude came in through an apple orchard halfway through the race, and promptly passed out from eating a rotten apple after being fed nothing before. also there was so much dust on the road that someone tore their stomach lining open
Khall Khall 2 years ago
The lack of water was on purpose because they believed too much water intake would be bad for the athletes.
#16
That time Denmark and Canada (I think) had a "war" over an island. Everytime a Navy vessel drove by they picked up the flag of the over nation, planted their own and left a bottle of alcohol.
I heard it stopped not that long ago.
Bored something 2 years ago
I believe they now share it and still leave a bottle of alcohol whenever the island is visited.
CatLady 2 years ago
Many a soldier has gotten a good buzz on thanks to the Danes.
Load More Replies... arthbach 2 years ago
Hans Island! When boarders were being drawn up, Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark agreed the border would run through the middle of the Nares Strait in the high Arctic region. Unfortunately it went right through the centre of Hans Island. It is an uninhabited island, and no one thought much off it. The native peoples of both countries sometimes used it as a place to stop during fishing trips. Things kicked off when a Canadian petroleum company started doing research there. The Danes were not impressed. Every so often, a team from one country would go there, hoist their flag and leave either whisky or schnapps. It became common only to care about island during election time. .... It's all be resolved. The border goes through the island, and is one of the shortest international borders in the world at 1.3km. It also gives Canada a land border with 2 countries.
SuperChicken 2 years ago
The "Whisky War." The most polite war (?) or dispute (?) between the two countries. Now, if only all wars are like this... then again, there shouldn't be one, to begin with.
Stygtand 2 years ago
Its how civilized nations solve their problems. America watch and learn from your wonderfull neighbour.
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Paul Pienkowski 2 years ago
Is this about Hans Island? Most polite war ever. If the USA wanted the island, someone would definitely get shot.
CatLady 2 years ago
Well, to be fair, both militaries have probably taken a lot of shots... from the bottles they found. Much more pleasant to get drunk than to use guns, though.
Load More Replies... JB 2 years ago
We could have kept the war going, but Russia being a d**k made us sort it fast.
CatLady 2 years ago
We were modelling how to be civil. Putin didn't take heed.
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R. McTavish 2 years ago
It stopped because Russia invaded Ukraine. Even though it was 100% friendly (The "invasions" generally happened during each nation's election years, as a PR stunt), it was deemed problematic for two nato members to have a territorial dispute of any kind, given the bigger-picture.
#17
The first chancellor of modern day Germany, Konrad Adenauer, traveled to Moscow in 1955 to treat with Chruschtschow. He achieved his main goal of ~10000 POWs returning to Germany. The legend goes that this feat was made possible because he outdrank Chruschtschow because he drank a lot of olive oil before which mellowed out the effects of the vodka they were drinking.
So 10000 people got to go home because one dude knew how to handle booze
The Scout 2 years ago (edited)
Certainly one of the strangest German politicians ever. His ways to deal with leftover nazi staff in his administration and with what passed as the political right wing at the time was debatable at best, his political views complicated, his demeanor not very appealing. But also there are stories like this, which is absolutely in character. He had also been an unsuccessful inventor before the war, owning the patents for more or less unusual products like one-use trousers, vegetarian soy sausage (well, he simply was a few decades early for this to catch on), a see-through toaster, insect tasers (this one was rejected because it would have killed the insects but also the user) and a timer-controlled nightstand lamp. He only got his patents through in Austria and Britain, though. The only thing German patent authorities accepted was his cornbread receipe.
Auntriarch 2 years ago
I might have to look this chap up, sounds fascinating
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Mustafa Kiziroğlu 2 years ago
If you want to try this, don't forget some people vomited or had to release pressure from other hole like a fire hose as side effect.
DarkGlassSphere 2 years ago
I just saw how Chruschtschow writes in English, LMAO! I couldn't even spell it, if I don't know the name.
Stannous Flouride 2 years ago
For Americans and other westerners, that Soviet leader is the one we call Nikita Kruschev. I imagine the above spelling is a more accurate transliteration of the Cyrillic spelling.
#18
The Boston Molasses disaster
Francis 2 years ago
wikipedia is my friend: The Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster, was a disaster that occurred on Wednesday, January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A large storage tank filled with 2.3 million U.S. gallons (8,700 cubic meters) of molasses, weighing approximately[b] 13,000 short tons (12,000 metric tons), burst, and the resultant wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour), killing 21 people and injuring 150. The event entered local folklore and residents claimed for decades afterwards that the area still smelled of molasses on hot summer days.
Multa Nocte 2 years ago
This was on "Drunk History." It is embarrassing how much history I learned watching both the American and the English versions of that show. https://charlesbreiner.com/video/molasses.html
Jared Robinson 2 years ago
Honestly it's horrifying to think about. That molasses was boiling hot, imagine slow moving liquid napalm except it's not on fire, but it still burns through you.
Biofish23 2 years ago
It is horrifying, but the molasses was fairly cold, the victims drowned in thick sticky sludge, they didn't burn.
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3 Trash Pandas in a Trenchcoat 2 years ago
I read the “I Survived” book about this! Such a hilarious yet still extremely dangerous disaster
#19
The Great Emu War
The Scout 2 years ago
Even more interesting due to the fact that the well-equipped Australian artillery actually LOST. Yes, a modern army lost to a bunch of wild emus: "By 8 November, six days after the first engagement, 2,500 rounds of ammunition had been fired. The number of birds killed is uncertain: one account estimates that it was 50 birds (...) The Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics, and its unwieldy army soon split up into innumerable small units that made use of the military equipment uneconomic. A crestfallen field force therefore withdrew from the combat area after about a month." (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War).
Rayne OfSalt 2 years ago
It was 3 Artillery SOLDIERS, armed with 2 lewis guns and surplus ammunition, not artillery. Hardly what you'd call "well equipped".
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Bored something 2 years ago
I think most on BP are familiar with the fact that there was an emu war.
Auntriarch 2 years ago
About once a fortnight, and to be it's quite difficult to forget
Load More Replies... Libstak 2 years ago
Given that the current day emus are the descendants of those fast and agile enough to dodge spears and boomerangs, I'm really not surprised. Have you seen emus run and scatter? They swerve and pivot like a bunch of drunks on speed, Ninjas couldn't match them much less a bunch of soldiers.
David Paterson 2 years ago (edited)
I read something about the great emu war recently. All is not what it seems. There were two reasons why the emus won against the Australian military. One is that even before shots were fired the emus dashed hither and thither through the grain crops doing more damage than if they had been left in peace to eat the grain. The other is that bullets fired horizontally travel a long way and became serious hazards for neighbouring farmers and their stock.
3 Trash Pandas in a Trenchcoat 2 years ago
Oversimplified has a wonderful video about it on YouTube
#20
The Dutch ate their Prime Minister. And his Brother.
Lisa H 2 years ago
I'm a vegetarian and also a US citizen. I will go full cannibal if I need to.
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the harbinger of doom (she/he) 2 years ago
can yall come help america out PLEASE
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Michael Largey 2 years ago
Just to be clear, this is NOT where the phrase "Dutch treat" came from.
Riley Quinn 2 years ago
Not saying right-wing fanatical christian politicians in the US shouldn't be eaten, but I'd worry about food poison given their level of hatred.
CatLady 2 years ago
We can turn them into animal food. Pigs, lobsters, bears.... lots of animals will eat that.
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Jan van den Broek 2 years ago
We stopped doing that, it doesn't help. Eat one, two new ones show up.
CatLady 2 years ago
Jan Van den Broek, yours are still, for the most part, better than ours. The Netherlands is a lovely country, and y'all actually care about citizen quality of life.
Load More Replies... Multa Nocte 2 years ago
😱 https://www.historydefined.net/when-the-dutch-murdered-and-ate-their-own-prime-minister/#:~:text=Look%20at%20the%20example%20of,that%20of%20his%20brother%20Cornelis.
#21
During one of the first Japanese delegations to the US, one of the Japanese guys was in culture shock (first time seeing the US) and confused about how to conduct himself politely, so at a fancy dinner when he finished his cigarette he put it up his sleeve to not appear rude leaving it out and set fire to himself
Multa Nocte 2 years ago
Easily my favourite fact on this list. I mean, who hasn't accidentally set fire to him or herself to avoid an awkward social situation?
CatLady 2 years ago
Japan, like most countries, has a horrid history of wartime atrocities. But one has to respect the everyday emphasis on manners and courtesy, as well as how generously they share their culture.
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#22
That thing at Kitty Hawk where 2 guys in a bike shop cobbled together a glider and attached an internal combustion engine and started flying?
Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
Not to mention that the engine was of their own design and construction.
Bill Swallow 2 years ago
Add to that a very efficient propellor, also of their own design. And their advances in aerodynamics (verifying and correcting Octave Chanute's data), building a wind tunnel, and learning and implementing effective means of control.
Load More Replies... Multa Nocte 2 years ago
Why does everyone seem to forget that their sister Katharine helped make all of that possible ?
JB 2 years ago
Because it generally isn’t considered important enough to teach, ignoring the fact they may never have got off the ground without her. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/katharine-wright-wright-sister#:~:text=Wright%20was%20of%20strong%20character,obtain%20funding%20and%20promote%20sales.
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George Simmons 2 years ago
The only reason, we say that it was Kitty Hawk was because that was the location of the telegraph station the telegraph informing the world was sent from as the actual location was a few mile away from Kitty Hawk!
Adam Jeff 2 years ago
Well, there were several years of tests by them and others hidden in that 'cobbled together'...
Me, Myself, and I 2 years ago
And the bulk of the work was done before they went to Kitty Hawk.
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Ralph Watkins 2 years ago
They must have tried to copy the success of Gustave Whitehead who had several flights in a powered aircraft a few years before them. His first endeavor was in 1899 & had a very successful flight in 1901. The Wright brothers had reporters there for their low, short flight.
Stannous Flouride 2 years ago
And they chose the remote location in North Carolina by consulting Weather Service data charts for the most consistent wind speeds and directions they needed for lift.
BrownTabby 2 years ago
“A couple of dumbos down in Kitty Hawk took some sticks and some old pants and glued them together and THEY F*****G FLEW! And no one knows why!” -College Humor
#23
The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, the largest ($ value, inflation adjusted) heist in Canadian history
Multa Nocte 2 years ago
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Canadian_Maple_Syrup_Heist
BarkingSquirell 2 years ago
Over the course of several months in 2011 and 2012, a team of thieves stole approximately 2,700 tonnes of maple syrup from a strategic maple syrup reserve maintained in Quebec (see Maple Syrup Industry). The theft has been popularly dubbed as the Great Maple Syrup Heist. At the time of the heist, the stolen maple syrup was valued at nearly $18 million. The heist may be one of the largest thefts in Canadian history. (From the Canadian Encyclopedia)
CatLady 2 years ago
It was a product that offers nutritional value that nobody was killed or enslaved producing. Not a bad national treasure.
Load More Replies... LinkTheHylian 2 years ago
Jeez Canada, you get robbed of your maple syrup, your current PM was decked by the late, great Matthew Perry when they were kids, and your money looks/looked like it came from Monopoly. What kind of country are you?
nancy 2 years ago
We are like Americans, but with manners, fewer guns, and accessible healthcare.
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Tracy Wallick 2 years ago
Casual Criminalist did an episode on this that was fantastic-- this is the most painfully, blatantly Canadian thing ever
CatLady 2 years ago
It really, really isn't the most valuable thing, but I see nothing shameful about a quality product that can be sustainably produced and provide nutritional value. Unfortunate it was stolen, but it's still a great product. Our wines are also spectacular. We have our own diamond mines that don't enslave people. We have as much oil as the Saudis. We have somewhat accessible health care. We have one of the highest quality of life ratings in the world (FAR above the US). We have the biggest supply of fresh water on Earth. The quality of a child's education doesn't depend on family income; the public school system is decent. Most of the national budget is invested in the quality of life of the people in Canada, not in the military-industrial complex. Personally, my favourite part of my country is the fact that we value our children more than we value firearms.
Load More Replies... #24
The Gombe Chimpanzee War. It sounds like something right out of a Planet of The Apes movie.
Lotekguy 2 years ago
Why say history? There are still several wars among us, making them current events, as well.
Load More Replies... Passerby 2 years ago
I know they said that brevity is the soul of wit, but a further explanation would have been nice.
RandomEpiBioPerson 2 years ago
Quick summary, especially since I haven't thought about it in a while so I don't remember all the details: Village in Africa (I'm pretty sure Africa) living fine. Due to habitat loss, the natural territory changes of chimpanzee tribes, and other factors, a company's troupe moves in nearby. Chimpanzees are pretty aggressive, especially since they just see humans as just another ape to be dominant over, and very territorial. Chimps raid the village, find fermenting alcohol and love it, keep raiding, humans fight back, both start killing, or at least hitting each other. I'm not sure who truly killed first, but now it's a thing, or at least was.
Load More Replies... John Dilligaf 2 years ago
The synopsis from Wikipedia: The Gombe Chimpanzee War, was a violent conflict between two communities of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in the Kigoma region of Tanzania between 1974 and 1978. The two groups were once unified in the Kasakela community, but splintered in 1974, with a large group moving into the southern area of Kasakela and were renamed the Kahama community. The separatists consisted of six adult males, three adult females and their young. The Kasakela was left with eight adult males, twelve adult females and their young. During the four-year conflict, all males of the Kahama community were killed, effectively disbanding the community. The victorious Kasakela then expanded into further territory but were later repelled by two other communities of chimpanzees. A 2018 study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology concluded that the Gombe War was most likely a consequence of a power struggle between three high-ranking males.
Riley Quinn 2 years ago
One of my science subscriptions sent me an article about chimpanzee wars. At the end of the article, I realized, once again, humans really haven't evolved much.
Becky Samuel 2 years ago
Considering that we didn't evolve from chimpanzees, your inference is invalid.
Load More Replies... pep Ito 2 years ago
Chimpanzees are known for their herd wars. They organize border patrols with other herds. Before infiltrating into another herd's territory, they watch from above to detect the situation of the enemy herd. They make incursions into enemy territory where they kill other chimpanzees, take away females ...
Bryn 2 years ago
Just for your knowledge, it's a mob of chimpanzees, not a herd :) Herds are hoofstock
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#25
Roman emperor Caligula declared war on Neptune, god of the sea, and ordered his troops to "fight the sea waves" to show Neptune whos boss. I can only imagine the soldiers faces while listening to such absourdity.
The fact that some madman was the most powerful person in the Roman empire at some point in history is fascinating.
Lotekguy 2 years ago
Don't forget about Dubbya and his handlers invading the wrong country at the wrong time.
Load More Replies... JayWantsACat 2 years ago
Well, some a*****e who wanted to bomb hurricanes with nukes, thinks wind turbines cause cancer, wanted people to inject themselves with bleach (a shame even his dumbass followers weren't dumb enough to do it, which would've solved us of their idiocy), thought raking leaves in forests would prevent forest fire,. etc etc etc became President of the US, so...
TotallyNOTAFox 2 years ago (edited)
Despite his prime minister saying "Neigh" to the whole plan
Michael Largey 2 years ago
Caligula did appoint a horse to high office. But at least he appointed both ends of the horse.
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MontanaMariner 2 years ago
Nero is about to fire up that fiddle here in Amercia, I can't wait for the show to start.
#26
In the 1600s, Japanese Samurai fought with Mexican soldiers in Acapulco. We know this because it was recorded by the grandson of an Aztec king.
thepinkrobot 2 years ago
TBF they were not Mexican soldiers bc Mexico was not a country yet. At the time, the colonizers had named it Nueva Espana - or New Spain. The Aztecs called it Anahuac in Nahuatl. Anahuac means "land surrounded by water." and even now, we all call it Mexico but it's actually The United Mexican States.
pep Ito 2 years ago (edited)
This is false. Mexico did not exist then. There was the Virreinato de Nueva España and they were Spanish soldiers.
CP 2 years ago
Why were you downvoted? It was the Spanish not the Mexicans.
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#27
The last guillotine execution in France took place after the first Star Wars movie was released.
Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
PLEASE NOTE: correlation is NOT necessarily indicative of causation.
MontanaMariner 2 years ago
Sure. Dude saw Star Wars, thought it was dumb, demanded a refund, lost his head instead.
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LeftEyedAsmodeus 2 years ago
When i remember correctly, Christopher Lee was a witness of that.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
Gravity is classified as a force. For that last guy, the force was against him.
Chrille 2 years ago
I'd rather have that than the electric chair. Fun fact: the head can probably see and think for a minute after it's severed from the body.
Kat 2 years ago (edited)
So...would you rather they hold your severed head up to show the crowd and you can see everyone there -or- would you rather they let your head fall into a basket, keep some kind of dignity, but your last minute is spent staring at someone's weaving skills Also, do you think the head registers pain?
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marianne eliza 2 years ago
Still the best method for execution. No drug failures. No need to check for heartbeat. One and done.
#28
Russia sending their baltic fleet to fight the Japanese Navy. Yes, the Baltic is on the other side of the planet. No, the baltic sailors had never seen ocean, or naval war, ever. Yes, it was a sh*tshow. It lasted for months, they attacked everything from Danish fishing vessels to each other, again and again. Thinking the ship next to them was a Japanese torpedo-boat, outside of F**** Nigeria, it wasnt, it was also Russian. Luckily they were so inept that 99% of all shots fired went into the ocean.
Jon Steensen 2 years ago
What were the Danish fishing vessels doing near Japan? ...or were the just so unsure of where they were that that the thought they had almost completede the journy by the time they passed Denmark?
John O'Donnell 2 years ago
They were going from the Baltic to Port Arthur in The Bering Strait. It was a complete mess, they attacked British trawlers in the North Sea, killing two fishermen. The British responded by activating 34 Battleships of The Home Fleet, and were very close to declaring war. Fortunately for the Russians, that didn’t happen, and instead had to travel for months, around Africa and across the Indian Ocean, only to get wiped out by the Japanese.
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ConstantlyJon 2 years ago
There's a really great video on youtube by BlueJay that recounts this whole ordeal. I believe when the fleet did eventually make it to Japan, they got absolutely destroyed.
Russell Rieckenberg 2 years ago
"... 99% of all shots fired went into the ocean." Would have made Caligula happy.
Adam Jeff 2 years ago
Sending the Baltic fleet was certainly a mistake but it's not quite how it's made out here. This sounds like the Russians were sending kids from the local boating pond. Actually, the Baltic fleet were a serious force and perfectly capable of crossing ocean. It's true that they were less practiced in gunnery than the Japanese and that they 'had never seen naval war' - which thankfully is true of most sailors throughout history when war breaks out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima
Mike Crow 2 years ago
They were not a serious force. They were conscripts in obsolete ships.
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Major Harris 2 years ago
the entire russian fleet was destroyed/captured in the battle of tsushima straight. it was the last time a fleet of warships surrendered in battle. japanese admiral togo, in command of the japanese fleet is revered in naval history for his performance that day.
bill marsano 2 years ago
The Japanese, on the other hand, were superior marksmen--and tacticians. The let the Russian fleet sail blithely in their trap and wiped it out in short order.
Shane Clark 2 years ago
For a detailed video of this fiasco https://youtu.be/9Mdi_Fh9_Ag?si=hnrPVgPiZEHEtQv7
#29
The Great Windham Frog War.
In 1754 Windham, Connecticut was still a frontier settlement. One hot night the residents awoke to gruesome sounds that convinced them that the local Indians were attacking. Throughout the night they strove to drive off the attackers with steady gunfire. In the morning they crept out, to find thousands of dead frogs who had spent the night competing for the dwindling water.
Rather than being ashamed, this has become a central part of the town’s character. The town’s symbol is a frog and the bridge is decorated with large frogs at each corner.
Joshua Macdonald 2 years ago
Used to drive by this every time id go to rhode Island to the beach as a kid. Laughed every time
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
Well, apparently frogs aren't as good of soldiers as emus.
Impasta (she/they) 2 years ago (edited)
Why the downvotes? it's an honest question ( I think). Usually we refer to the people native to America as Native Americans unless they ask otherwise. Edit: spelling
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WoodChuckCouldChuck 2 years ago
Tall tales are rampant. “Steady gunfire” from muskets killed thousands of FROGS? Yeah, ok.
Java Addict 2 years ago
I don't think they meant they killed the frogs with the guns.
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Mike Loux 2 years ago
Nowadays Windham is the county name, and the town (probably a city) is Willimantic. The spools of thread they sit on are symbols of the town's nickname as Thread City. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog_Bridge
Jackie Lulu 2 years ago
There was a huge thread factory - American Thread - there.
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Actively Lazy Cat 2 years ago
It's the frog bridge!! I live not far from there, always liked seeing the giant frogs when I was a kid..still do lol
#30
The Field of the Cloth of Gold, where an English King and a French one tried to out-bling each other. The fact that two monkeys covered in gold leaf were far from the most ostentatious display is a good indication of how tasteful it was.
Dammian 2 years ago
I don't know, but to my untrained eyes... it's pretty similar to the MET Gala or the Oscars for some of the participants...
Fora Nakit 2 years ago
I just read a wiki page about this event. MET and the Oscars are not even close to this event. NOT EVEN CLOSE.
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rnaD86 2 years ago
As I recall, the two kings also had an impromptu wrestling match in which the King of England got his behind roundly kicked by the King of France.
Jean Thompson 2 years ago
I read that Henry had several fountains set up that ran with wine, not water.
Robert Bois le Duc 2 years ago
Reminds me of the fake billionaire with a tower in NYC & his apartment has gold toilets.
#31
The Mongol Invasions of Japan In the 13th century the Mongols were an absolutely unstoppable force wherever they turned their attention. The had captured the Korean Peninsula and were threatening Japan, putting together an enormous invasion fleet. While sailing the relatively short distance to Japan they were struck by a typhoon and the fleet was absolutely devastated, sparing Japan from invasion. Only seven years later the Mongols put together an even larger invasion force with larger storm-worthy ships. They were utterly destroyed by another typhoon.
Ali H M Salehuddin 2 years ago
The Mongols vessels are not actually storm-worthy due to differences in bottom hull design. Sea-going ships need to have deep hull where significant part of the hull is underwater. This provides stability from rocking sideways during strong winds. The Mongols, coming from land-locked country, used shallow hull ship design. This design is great to travel on rivers as they are less likely to get dragged on the bottom of shallow rivers. They are terrible for windy sea condition.
bill marsano 2 years ago
The typhoon--or both of them--were referred to as Kamikaze, Divine Wind. The name was later applied by the Japanese to their waves of suicide bombers in WW2.
Bob Brooce 2 years ago
As if they'd never heard of typhoon season? At least they didn't build a spaceship and send it to the sun during the day.
#32
The Peking to Paris race. It was a car race from Peking China to Paris France in 1907. The winner was the Italian team lead by Scipione Borghese. In honor of the victory the color of his car, rosso corsa became the standard color for Italian race cars and the primary reason most sports cars are red.
Mario Strada 2 years ago
I cannot tell you how pretentious the name "Scipione Borghese" sounds today. Also, the Borghese family were stupid rich. Not quite the Medici, but close.
Terran 2 years ago
Borghese wrote a book about the whole story and I can absolutely recommend it! Their journey was absolutely wild. For much of the way roads weren't a thing. They got stuck in the mud in Mongolia and had to ask Mongol riders to help them pull the cars out. Borghese is a bit of a dubious character as he was a futurist and later became a supporter of Mussolini and a fascist.
Mario Strada 2 years ago
I have been an antifascist all my life, but being italian I actually studied this guys and what we call "Il Ventennio", or the "20 years of Fascism". The futurists were very fascist and so were people like Scipione Borgese, Gabriele D'annunzio, etc. There is one thing I can say about the OG fascists in Italy: they were intellectuals. No the thugs that beat up people and made them drink castor oil as reprisal, but they had quite the intellectual bent for a while. Google the "Gabriele D'annunzio house". It's something else. The guy was a poet, aviator, adventurer, artist. You name it. Too bad he was also a fascist. That said, I can't avoid comparing the OG Italian fascists with the current US MAGA fascists and the intellectual difference. It doesn't make their ideology any less disgusting and reprehensible, but our current fascists have a hard time writing 2 sentences without stumbling. Even their leader is a certified idiot.
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 2 years ago
It's been redone several times now with both modern and vintage vehicles.
#33
The guy who founded Scientology once engaged in a multi-day naval battle with a log. He would then go on to commit an act of war against Mexico.
Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
L. Ron Hubbard was a fruitcake of monumental proportions. But, by crikey, he was also a terrific swindler.
thepinkrobot 2 years ago
He was right on the money when he said that if you wanted to get rich and powerful, you build a religion
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The Scout 2 years ago
From a purely amoral utititaristic point of view it is kind of genius: If your science fiction novel is unsuccessful as literature, turn it into a religion instead. I am unable to comprehend why that actually worked.
Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
Because people will believe, as part of a religion, stuff that no science-fiction writer would ever dare try to get away with,
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Amy Dunaway 2 years ago
When South Park has to put a disclaimer on screen about the fact that this is what they actually believe, something is wrong.
Shark Lady 2 years ago
When he died after a series of strokes, his deputy Miscaviage (sp) announced it to the faithful by saying that he no longer had use of his earthly body and had successfully transformed into the next stage of life, or something like that. Very odd organisation.
Rick Seiden 2 years ago
A successful science fiction author founded a religion that believes an alien came to Earth millions of years ago and left souls in a volcano....
pep Ito 2 years ago
No one would say that he was a successful science fiction author.
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Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
That's good, because that's precisely what he was.
Load More Replies... Major Harris 2 years ago
he was in command of a small patrol boat off of san diego and upper mexico. he fired on what he believed to be a japanese submarine for aa few hours. it was a rock protruding from the water. his rank was lt. jr grade and then full lieutenant. for those who do not know, army captain. mid grade officer.
UpQuarkDownQuark (he/hey you) 2 years ago
BREAKING NEWS! Founder of Religion is World Class Nut Job!
Synsepalum 2 years ago
He also stole Jack Parsons' (rocket scientist, founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and famous occultist) girlfriend and all of Parsons' money.
#34
Video of President Bush Vomiting on the Prime Minister of Japan Kiichi Miyazawa, January 8, 1992.
Actually, there is one event which occurred back in January of 1992, which I as a senior in High School knew would sound like a far fetched tale after enough time had passed. President George Bush, who was 67 years old at the time and on an official visit to Japan engaged in trade talks, would on the morning of January 8, 1992 play a game of tennis doubles with the Emperor of Japan and the prince. Yet just hours later on the same day during dinner with the Prime Minister of Japan Kiichi Miyazawa, suddenly vomit onto the Prime Minister’s lap and then faint. The Prime Minister of Japan was dumbfounded but remained calm. President Bush regained consciousness but took several minutes to do so, he was able to leave banquet on his own, though the secret service personnel were trying desperately to assist. The next morning President Bush would try to down play the event and resume his schedule. Yet the image of the President Bush vomiting in Japan never left the media in 1992. In fact since it was a campaign year, it became an image which was exploited. For the rest of 1992 the image and video would become a source of jokes and though this occurrence of gastric distress really was not humorous in any mature way.
As time progressed the election ended in a defeat for President Bush, the image and memory of the event began fading. By the mid 1990s it was something you could bring up and most people would remember it. Today, the event is hardly known to many people who grew up long after this time. When I was discussing this event not too long ago, a person thought it was just something being stated as a joke rather than a true historic fact. I realized than, I had indeed been correct when I told my father all those years ago that people would never believe this happened years from now.
Sunny Day 2 years ago
Reminds me of another weird custom. Back when Europeans were first interacting with the Arab countries, both sides were being polite & making nice (before the Crusades, obviously). The Arabs had a custom - they would show their guests the eyes of the critter butchered for dinner, to assure them it was fresh meat. The Europeans, upon being offered the eyes, thought they were an Arab delicacy. Not wanting to offend, they ate them. The Arabs were shocked and horrified that their new friends ate eyeballs, but didn't want to offend, so they continued to serve their European guests their favorite dish.
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DB 2 years ago
If I remember correctly columnist Art Buchwald referred to it as the "ceremonial barf of friendship".
K1tt3n 2 years ago
"Ceremonial barf of friendship" ahahahahaahaha that's too amazing hahahaha
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Sky Render 2 years ago
Amusingly, this lives on in Japanese colloquialisms as "Busshu suru" (roughly "to do a Bush").
Dave M 2 years ago
When I was a Navy recruiter the Air Force recruiter in the next office was the medic that was on scene when it happened. He took President Bush's vitals and made sure he was ok. He had a framed letter of appreciation from the Secret Service hanging in his office and well as the stethoscope he used.
CatLady 2 years ago
Did he say if they figured out what caused it? Puking and then fainting is generally not a sign of robust health. Did he have a flu bug or bad food or what?
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Shannon Mallory 2 years ago
Friends and I made our own board game based off of "Life," and I remember one of the squares you could land on read "puke on Japanese PMs shoes. Lose turn and face."
CatLady 2 years ago
The Japanese stayed so calm and polite through the debacle. Can y'all imagine what Danger Yam would have done had a foreign leader yakked on him? NUKES! NUKES!
FaceTime Audio 2 years ago
My grandma told me about this when I was around 8 and I nearly died of laughter.
Randy Klefbeck 2 years ago
It was repeatedly satirized by a rerun video with Dana Carvey on SNL also.
DumYum 2 years ago
bet if sushi was served, it was incredibly delicious and fresh. However, for Bush it may not agreed with him.
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#35
When they blowed up that whale and it just made things worse.
Flamingo Croquet 2 years ago (edited)
"The blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds." The commentator will forever have a special place in my heart. Edit: video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34
Justin 2 years ago
Apparently for many years afterwards, most of the calls to the Oregon state highway division were asking if this story was actually true. It was.
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Florence O'Grady 2 years ago
It happened in Florence, Oregon, in November of 1970.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 2 years ago
A complete misinterpretation of what whalers mean when they say "Thar she blows!"
Jared Robinson 2 years ago
Most american thing ever though. You wouldn't of heard a peep out of me when someone said "well, lets blow it up"
Major Harris 2 years ago
this happened in mendocino county, ca. in the late 60s. a man's car was destroyed by a rather large piece of dead whale when it fell on it.
Scott Rackley 2 years ago
That car belonged to the explosives guy, no lie
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One legged Steve 2 years ago
That was the very first thing I downloaded and watched when I got my first personal computer back around 93-94?
WoodChuckCouldChuck 2 years ago
Zero context and garbage English within a photo and garbage within a dozen words. This list just keeps getting worse.
thepinkrobot 2 years ago
There was a beached dead whale on a beach in Oregon. They didn't know how to get rid of it or move it, so they blew it up and it rained chonks and it was a horrible ordeal.
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#36
The Straw Hat Riot of 1922 was a riot that occurred in New York City at the end of the summer as a result of unwritten rules in men's fashions at the time, and a tradition of taunting people who had failed to stop wearing straw hats after autumn began. Originating as a series of minor riots, it spread due to men wearing straw hats past the unofficial date that was deemed socially acceptable, September 15. It lasted eight days, leading to many arrests and some injuries.
Multa Nocte 2 years ago
Like women wearing white after Labor Day in the US, although I don't believe there was a riot, just modest social shaming. 😉
Sunny Day 2 years ago
Can we do that with people over the age of 12 wearing pajamas in public?
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#37
The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) Hong Xiuquan, who failed the imperial exam for the third try to become a civil servant, had a breakdown and dreamed that he was the brother of Jesus Christ. He later led a revolution resulting between 20 and 30 millions of deaths. That's the bloodiest civil war in the world and the toll of death surpass the totality of casualties in WW1. British diplomats at the time wanted to support the revolution but later discovered that Hong Xiuquan literally never read the bible and they thus deemed it would be disastrous if he were to get the throne. This historical event feels like a fever dream everytime I hear about it.
Multa Nocte 2 years ago
That Jesus fellow is everywhere, it seems, and it frequently ends the same where he shows up.
Donald 2 years ago
Not for nothing its every major religion. Not many Christians in Gaza and we see whats going there.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 2 years ago
Today we have Christian religious leaders who apparently have never read the Bible either.
#38
Fats Domino was kidnapped by the mafia to play at the Don’s birthday, we woke up the next morning on a street corner, hung over with a bag of money
David MacLuna 2 years ago
That was Fats Waller that was abducted, and it was to play for Al Capone.
gerard julien 2 years ago
"FATS WALLER was kidnapped in Chicago while leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by Al Capone. Waller was ordered inside the building and found a party taking place. With a gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano and told to play. A terrified Waller realized he was the "surprise guest" at Capone's birthday party and was relieved that the kidnappers had no intention of killing him."
Crescent 3 2 years ago
Get your facts straight. It was Fats Waller, NOT Fats Domino. 2021_0814-...235527.jpg 
arthbach 2 years ago
Oooh! I hadn't heard of this, but there's a parody of it in the film "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story". 'Madonna' is captured by agents of Pablo Escobar, who is a huge fan of Al and uses the kidnapping to coerce him to play at his fortieth birthday party.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
Now, you know Weird is entirely and completely true, other than that Yankovic really did play with Queen for Live Aid. A shame Madonna murdered him. (Has she ever mentioned what she thought about the movie, as they didn't actually have a relationship?)
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Donna Peluda 2 years ago
You'd think they would leave him on Blueberry Hill, that would be a thrill.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
At least he didn't have to go walking to New Orleans.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 2 years ago
And he didn't have pay his agent the usual 10%.
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#39
Pepsi becoming a world superpower has to be up there right? .
Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
None of them were nuclear. Even the Russians weren't that crazy in 1989.
Load More Replies... Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
This MIGHT be true, if you only consider submarines. It MAY have been the sixth largest submarine fleet in the world. In 1989, Pepsi 'acquired' 17 subs, 1 cruiser, 1 destroyer, 1 frigate. 20 vessels. For an example, Australia had 3 large destroyers, 6 frigates, 14 patrol craft, 6 submarines, 2 landing/helicopter ships, 6 minehunters/sweepers, 2 fleet tankers, and several survey/other ships, for a total of about 50 commissioned ships. This placed it at about 40-45 in the rankings of world naval fleets. A fleet of 20 vessels in total would have put Pepsi at about 80-85
White Sauce Hot Sauce 2 years ago
They were old and decrepit ships that Pepsi received as payment from the Soviet Union. Pepsi never took ownership or possession of the fleet. The vessels were all sent to a Norwegian shipyard to be scraped, with the proceeds going to PepsiCo.
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What do you think ?
David Paterson 2 years ago (edited)
Troy. Menelaus was so incensed at the loss of his wife Helen after a diplomatic mission from Troy that he sent a huge army to Troy. When he asked Troy to give Helen back, he received the reply "she's not here". Menelaus destroyed the city to recapture Helen. The Trojans were telling the truth, Helen had never been in Troy, she was in Alexandria. Menelaus sailed on to Egypt and brought back Helen. Menelaus the Greek had destroyed the wrong city, and totalled an entire innocent civilization, by accident.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 2 years ago
The Vice President of the United States shot a guy in the face and that guy apologized. This wasn't that long ago.
Meta Veldkamp 2 years ago
I think I read somewhere that there was a global Flat Earth convention somewhere 😂😂😂
Eva Verde 2 years ago
Modern history. In 1962 two polish boys-twins play in a movie "The two who stole the Moon". In 2005 one of the boys, Lech Kaczyński, becomes a president of Poland, and his brother Jarosław is a leader of Law and Justice party. In 2010 on his way to visit Russia, Lech dies in a plane crash together with a half of Polish government. His brother stays in politics and becomes éminence grise of polish government when Law and Justice party comes to power, even the president follows his orders. Since 2015 L&O far right government ran Polish economy to the ground, almost got Poland kicked out of the EU, limited women's rights, hates lgbt, doesn't follow the rule of law etc. In October 2023 polish people outvoted this government and the left wing opposition will take over in November. Kaczyńscy brothers should've become actors, not politicians.
Ronnie Beaton 2 years ago
A French PoW escaped from the notorious Colditz Castle by the simple method of waiting until the guards backs were turned and calmly walking out of the front door. He then walked to the nearby town of Colditz and, despite the suspicions of the station master, caught the first train he could back to neutral territory. His escape wasn't discovered until roll call the following morning, when the guards discovered a cheeky note on his bed, "Dear Commoandant, If you are reading this, I have successfully made my escape. Please be so kind as to forward my belongings to the French Embassy in Geneva."
mysterious(all pronouns) 2 years ago
James Boswell, the man credited with writing the first offical biography, although there is some speculation, as he wrote it mostly annecdotaly, and about a man (Samuel Johnson) who he only knew in the later years of Johnson's life. Anyways, James Boswell died with STD's in the double digits, and married his cousin.
David Paterson 2 years ago (edited)
Troy. Menelaus was so incensed at the loss of his wife Helen after a diplomatic mission from Troy that he sent a huge army to Troy. When he asked Troy to give Helen back, he received the reply "she's not here". Menelaus destroyed the city to recapture Helen. The Trojans were telling the truth, Helen had never been in Troy, she was in Alexandria. Menelaus sailed on to Egypt and brought back Helen. Menelaus the Greek had destroyed the wrong city, and totalled an entire innocent civilization, by accident.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 2 years ago
The Vice President of the United States shot a guy in the face and that guy apologized. This wasn't that long ago.
Meta Veldkamp 2 years ago
I think I read somewhere that there was a global Flat Earth convention somewhere 😂😂😂
Eva Verde 2 years ago
Modern history. In 1962 two polish boys-twins play in a movie "The two who stole the Moon". In 2005 one of the boys, Lech Kaczyński, becomes a president of Poland, and his brother Jarosław is a leader of Law and Justice party. In 2010 on his way to visit Russia, Lech dies in a plane crash together with a half of Polish government. His brother stays in politics and becomes éminence grise of polish government when Law and Justice party comes to power, even the president follows his orders. Since 2015 L&O far right government ran Polish economy to the ground, almost got Poland kicked out of the EU, limited women's rights, hates lgbt, doesn't follow the rule of law etc. In October 2023 polish people outvoted this government and the left wing opposition will take over in November. Kaczyńscy brothers should've become actors, not politicians.
Ronnie Beaton 2 years ago
A French PoW escaped from the notorious Colditz Castle by the simple method of waiting until the guards backs were turned and calmly walking out of the front door. He then walked to the nearby town of Colditz and, despite the suspicions of the station master, caught the first train he could back to neutral territory. His escape wasn't discovered until roll call the following morning, when the guards discovered a cheeky note on his bed, "Dear Commoandant, If you are reading this, I have successfully made my escape. Please be so kind as to forward my belongings to the French Embassy in Geneva."
mysterious(all pronouns) 2 years ago
James Boswell, the man credited with writing the first offical biography, although there is some speculation, as he wrote it mostly annecdotaly, and about a man (Samuel Johnson) who he only knew in the later years of Johnson's life. Anyways, James Boswell died with STD's in the double digits, and married his cousin.
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