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34 Historical Events So Fascinating You’ll Read About Them For Hours
History is a fascinating subject. The history of humans spans over 300,000 years and has been marked by victories, tragedies, and all kinds of drama.
But history happens all over the world, and some events interest history buffs more than others. Recently, enthusiasts shared their fixations after one netizen asked: "What is the one event in history you're obsessed with and can't stop researching?"
The answers ranged from events in 16th century England to the present decade. So, if you're prone to going down the rabbit hole of history, be warned: the entries in this thread might cause an involuntary obsession.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
History’s Darkest Secret
The persecution and extermination of native Americans, and the annexation of their lands by the US government. Probably the most shameful chapter of US history and most people don't even know about it.
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#2
When Ancient Civilization Hits the Delete Button
The Bronze Age Collapse.
Around 1200 BC, every sophisticated culture around the Mediterrean fell apart. The Greeks, the Hittites, the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, everyone. They were either completely wiped out or decimated to the point where it would take centuries to recover.
No one knows exactly what happened, but there are vague references to "sea people" and famines and droughts. The Iliad and the Exodus may both be a twisted race memory of this event.
#3
When History Feels Like a Family Drama
The last Russian royal family— Nicholas, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexis. From incredible privilege to violent extinction, they were a loving but tragic family overtaken by extraordinary circumstances. There are so many family photos, written accounts (including their own letters) and official portraits to view, you really get a sense of them as people. I started reading about them in the 80s, long before their remains were found. It was one of the biggest historical mysteries back then. I always wonder why Nicholas didn’t at least get the girls out while there was still a chance.
It's nice to learn something new about history. If not for your own amusement and interest, then to learn more about certain events and perhaps even debunk widely-believed stories. After all, being be able to wag your finger at other people and say: "Um, actually..." can be pretty satisfying.
For example, did you know that Marie Antoinette never said, "Let them eat cake"? This one fun historical fact might've gotten lost in translation. What she actually said was "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche," which translates to "Let them eat brioche."
While we may not think brioche to be that bougee nowadays, back in those days, it was considered to be a luxury food as it contained butter and eggs.
#4
When Invisible Danger Feels Like a Curse
The Chernobyl Explosion.
AlterEdward:
Yeah, I find this so fascinating. It's got a bit of everything - corruption, technology, tragedy, heroism, conspiracy. And the concept of radiation as an invisible, silent k****r is so creepy. There are so many echoes of paranormal and mythological threats - to people that don't know any better, radiation poisoning sure does look like a curse, or a dieties wrath.
#5
Still Waiting for the Wake-Up Call
Might be a little too recent but January 6th and the massive parade of fraud and incompetence that lead to it and followed it.
I have no idea why it’s not a bigger deal to the average American. Also I can’t help but wonder what would have happened or where we’d be if one Democrat failed to evacuate.
What's more, no one might've said, "Let them eat cake" at all. This anecdote appears in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, and Marie Antoinette was still a child when the book came out. Rousseau recounts that "a great princess" uttered the phrase, but historians don't know who that was exactly.
Some speculate that revolutionaries, whom Rousseau greatly inspired, picked up this quote and falsely attributed it to Marie Antoinette. Yet contemporary researchers disagree, as there was never any actual evidence in newspapers, pamphlets, or any other revolutionary-published materials.
#7
Wait, I Thought That Was True Too
As an ExMormon, Mormonism. I can’t believe how incorrect I was about what I claimed to believe for three decades.
#8
Wait, That Was Nature’s Mic Drop?
Krakatoa eruption.. absolutely huge. One of the loudest sounds ever heard, massive Tsunamis, ash filled the sky around the world for years causing red sunsets and darkness. Global temperatures dropped.
#9
Wait, the Lost Colony Wasn’t So Lost After All?
The disappearance of the Roanoake colony.
Delaneybuffett:
I just watched some history clips on YouTube saying they have solved what happened to the colony. I want to read up to see if what they say is true. They said the colony basically split up, part combined with a local Indian tribe on Croatoan island ( which is now known as Hatteras. Other members went inland. Supposedly they have found pottery and skeletal remains to confirm these theories. Again, not saying it’s 100% solved just interesting and something I want to read more on
When we think of Salem, the burning of witches probably comes to mind, right? However, during the infamous Salem Witch Trials in 1692, no people were actually burned at the stake. That only happened in Europe during the medieval ages. In Salem, they didn't burn the witches at the stake, but hanged them instead.
#10
Survived by sheer stubbornness
The story of the Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes and was stuck there for 2 months. The details are mind boggling.
#11
Not Your Average Nature Hike
Marburg virus originating from Kitum Cave in Kenya. 90% mortality rate virus you can just get from visiting a cave. Scary and intriguing.
#12
Art You Can Melt For
Did some research on the history of snowmen after I learned that the earliest recorded piece regarding snowmen was from 1380, and I absolutely LOVE that it's something that has continued and evolved with time. It's such a cool little piece of history that you don't think too much about, but has brought so much joy to people for hundreds of years.
Befor the 1950s, snowmen were more often on the elaborate side, created by artists as art for art's sake, but also used for things like protesting (like the miracle of 1511). The man who sculpted Abraham Lincoln's tomb created a stunning snow and ice statue in 1857 that became very famous. Art supplies have always been very difficult for many people to acquire through history and artists used whatever they could to create their art, and snow was something that was easily accessible for many, so it was its own special medium for awesome sculptures that people had access to, regardless of income or status. It wasn't until the 1940s that snowmen became an activity that children took part in, and we have Ruth Herman's book Snowy The Traveling Snowman to thank for what the western world now recognizes as a snowman.
Snow sculptures obviously didn't last and people often put so much work and time into them regardless, and I feel like that is such a wonderful and human thing. The urge to create something special, even if it won't last long.
#13
Peace, if only for a moment
The Christmas Truce in WW1. There is something so beautiful about it. Ignore what happened the next day.
#14
“No Cap, She Was a Total Boss”
Joan of Arc, and in general these young saint girls from the middle ages who claimed they talked to god. But Joan especially. Her story is beyond belief and we know so much because much of the documentation remained.
This f*****g 17 year old peasant girl went to see Charles VII, dauphin of France, to tell him that God sent her and that alone seems like a big deal but isn't (plenty of girls claimed to be inspired by God then); the big deal is she told him God sent her not to bless him, but to lead his army to break the siege of Orleans and then drive him to be crowned King of France.
This is not fiction or exaggeration, is precisely what happened (and through no small risk or pain for herself, cause when at home she insisted with her parents that she needed to go join the army, her father assumed she would end up a camp prostitute, and to avoid the shame, he considered drowning her).
Now imagine a 17 year old girl today going to Volodymir Zelensky and telling him "hey buddy, God says you need to make me commander in chief of your troops; I'll take care of the rest". That's what happened.
Except it was 1429 and back then this s**t was taken seriously. Charles VII was no idiot, he thought: "maybe this girl is just nuts". Here's the issue though, that would never cross our mind today, but it absolutely did in 1429: "What if she's not nuts?"
So what do we do? We test her. So Charles sends her to be examined by priests and general wise men. Who conclude three things: 1. Joan is not crazy. 2. Joan is a good catholic and 3. Joan is virgin (and that's a big deal)
"f*** it", says Charles, he gives armor, a weapon, a horse, a banner. And an army. It's still unclear how this 17 year old girl who barely ate was going around in platemail, but she was. And the b***h rides to Orleans, breaks the siege as promised, but not before sending to the english the most f*****g badass letter of warning ever which I encourage you to read but says (and I paraphrase, but not by much): "King of England, pull back your troops and leave, because I am a war leader and I am sent by God; and as long as your troops leave I will show mercy, but if they do not I will wipe the f*** out of them wherever I see them".
And all of this is the LEAST known part of her story since her trial by the I*********n is the most well known. Trial in which they have a hard time accusing her of anything because despite an i*********n tribunal entirely bent on burning her at stake (on orders from the english and with the tacit approval of the french who betrayed her), for whatever reason this peasant girl who we cannot tell for sure if she can even read is able to avoid all the rhetorical traps in which they try to lure her. She handles herself so well in looking like a good catholic that the only way they manage to condemn her is because she dresses like a man (immoral and heretic, for the time).
Even so, the way the i*********n work is not that they just condemn you and burn you; you always have the possibility to admit your guilt, recant and be freed (as long as you don't commit the same sin you recanted, in that case you go straight in the fire).
Joan is shown the pyre as a threat, and she decides to recant. She asks and receives forgiveness and should be freed, as long as she stops wearing men's clothes.
So what happens? We don't know. She is found dressed like a man in her cell again. A theory is she is threatened by the guards of r**e and she feels safer dressed like that; she should be, after all, prisoner of the church and guarded by priests but she is (against i*********n rules) in military custody. Maybe they just left her men's clothes and she naively wore them. Whatever the case, they get her and she burns. It's said that in later years, as her legend endured and grew, her executioner went desperate that he'd go to h**l for having k**led a holy woman.
But what are your recent history obsessions, Pandas? Don't hesitate to share them with us in the comments and potentially inspire other Pandas to find their new fixations! And, if you're looking for more interesting facts about history, check out our previous post here, here, and here!
#16
When History Hits Different
Hiroshima. I visited there a few weeks ago and as an American, it feels odd going to a place like that. The Peace Park Memorial is beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.
#18
Guess Who Didn’t Really Disappear?
The Maya and other Meso or South American cultures. Always new and interesting things being discovered. The event I used to be obsessed with was the "disappearance" of the Maya... except they didn't disappear and there are millions of Maya alive today, big misconception.
I really like the work of Ed Barnhart after seeing a few of his series on The Great Courses.
Wired Tech Support
He also has a fun Podcast called ArchaeoED.
#19
Recession Lessons No One Talks About
The 2008 recession. Everything about that era explains , LIKE A MAP, how we got to this point in US history. I am obsessed with it.
#21
When History Class Runs Out of Drama
Anything involving the CIA overthrowing some s**t that was absolutely not their business. Banana Republics especially are just crazy to me. That whole section of history was not that long ago and was absolutely skipped over in my history classes at least. To me, it highlights the danger of letting big business get too powerful and turning capitalism into dictatorship.
#24
Medieval Drama That’s Peak Soap Opera
It's not a single event so much as the entire reign of one king, but Edward II of England is absolutely fascinating. If your only knowledge of him is the wimp in *Braveheart* (not remotely historically accurate), then please do look up the real guy. He butted heads a lot with his father (Edward I, a.k.a. Longshanks--not quite the psycho *Braveheart* depicted, but tyrannical toward his conquests like the Welsh... though the English friggin *loved* that dude), though they were both martially talented, and was... for all intents and purposes, extremely modern for medieval royalty. For one thing, he floated the idea of actually granting Scotland independence (pre-Battle of Bannockburn), just to see what they'd do with it. He was also as close as a medieval Englishman could get to being openly bisexual, which caused its own problems among the [Lords Ordainers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinances_of_1311) (lead by his own cousin Thomas, 2nd Earl Lancaster, because the Plantagenets were one effed-up family).
Edward, Queen Isabella, and Piers Gaveston (depicted in *Braveheart* as the guy Longshanks tossed out a window--absolutely did not happen) actually seemed to have a nice little polycule going before the Lords Ordainers destroyed it--which caused a schism, since there were several who were *very opposed* to executing Gaveston on trumped up charged. This cleared the way for Hugh Despenser the Younger to become the new favorite, and Hugh... well, I'm pretty sure he's actually who George R.R. Martin based Littlefinger on (he was greatly inspired by *The Accursed Kings* book series, which ends with Edward II's "problems" spilling over into France). Hugh ices out Queen Isabella, and this leads to a brutal civil war.
And who ends up on top in the end? Why, the chief Lord Ordainer's little brother who kept his nose relatively clean until he couldn't afford to stay out of London anymore, and who had a disability (*torticollis*). In the Middle Ages.
It's a crime that this hasn't been a movie or TV show yet.
#25
Too real to forget
The Nanking event. It's just so inhumane and atrocious I can't stop thinking about those poor innocent people.
#26
Always Bet on the Engineers
The Challenger disaster. I was three months old when the first Space Shuttle went up in April of '81. I was 5 when Challenger and its crew were destroyed due to gross negligence.
Every time I find out something new, or someone makes a new video/documentary, I'm always interested in case there's something else I didn't know. Nothing can change it or change my mind about what happened and why it happened, but I just have to collect as much info as possible.
Always listen to the engineers, not the bureaucrats.
#27
When Nature’s Glow Fades Too Fast
The North American chestnut blight :( the old growth forests in the north eastern part of what is now the u.s were surreal. Those ecosystems were what fairytales are made of. We can hardly imagine the world it would have been then, knowing what it is now… I think about it almost every day, it’s not healthy, lol. so much lost to the insatiable greed of colonial expansion, the chestnut trees not even the worst of it.
#28
Mob Rules and Mafia Feels
For me, it's Italian organized crime in America from the formation of the five families and the commission by Lucky Luciano until the mob was gutted by RICO in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I'm just fascinated by the power these guys had at the turn of the century. Obviously, this isn't a particular event, but I can't get enough.
#29
S****m Level: Next-Level Dark
The administration of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Epic s**t show. Of all the psychopathic 20th-century dictators, Saddam didn't have nearly the highest body count, but I think he was the most sadistic. His sons were just as evil.
#30
History’s Darkest Mind-Blower
American Slavery
I've been in a YouTube wormhole for months learning about the slave ships, how they were sold, their daily lives, diets, living quarters, a***e, breeding, t*****e etc.
It's just so profoundly wrong, I find it hard to believe it went on for so long. All for cotton, sugar and tobacco.
#31
History’s unspoken spooky chapter
The dark ages. I know this has been debunked but that era still feels so eerie and dark to me. It comes right after the fall of the Roman empire and before modern history.
#33
Why Is This Revolution So Undercover?
The Mexican Revolution. Every few months it comes back into my head and I try to go digging for it. There just isn’t enough good english-language material on it and my Spanish [be bad] to bad to try to translate with any confidence.
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