Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
30submissions
1week left
Created His Own Church: 30 Of History’s Biggest Revenge Moves
Humans just love a good tale of revenge. There is so much inherent drama, wrongs being righted, betrayal and catharsis. So it stands to reason that throughout human history, there have been many cases of people taking matters into their own hands to resolve their differences.
Someone asked “What was the biggest "[s***w] you" in history?” and netizens shared their best examples. So get comfortable as you read through, if you happen to have a nemesis, perhaps take some notes, upvote the best ones and be sure to add your own thoughts and favorites in the comments below.
Click here & follow us for more lists, facts, and stories.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Mother Nature's big FU to the Chinese in response to the Great Sparrow Campaign. The campaign encouraged the Chinese to k**l sparrows by the truckload because supposedly they were eating seeds from planted crops. Well, the campaign was such a success that plant eating insects that the sparrows also ate were able to thrive and totally ruin crops which lead to famine.
RELATED:
#2
Olga of Kiev. Some jerks called the Drevlians killed her husband and tried to have her marry their Prince. She fooled them into sending their most important men to prepare for the wedding and trapped them in a building and burned them alive. When they tried to apologize she requested pigeons from the citizens and *rigged the birds with sulfur bags*. The birds flew back to their original homes and when they roosted it burned down all of their houses. The official bad b***h of the year 890. She's also a saint.
#3
Ferruccio Lamborghini was a rich man owning his company that built tractors, he talked to Ferrari about the imperfections of his car and how to improve them and they basically laughed at a young tractor mechanic trying to tell them about sport cars, so he decided to start making luxury sport cars to compete with Ferrari and thus, the rivalry was born. So i'd say the middle finger of this guy to Ferrari was pretty noticeable.
#4
The Rats of Tobruk.
An Australian garrison in Tobruk during WWII that became infamous during an 8 month siege against an armored German/Italian Afrika corps.
The tactics of the soldiers surprised the Germans in that usually when the lines are pieced by armored forces the enemy retreats. Not so the Tobruk Garrison, who instead advanced and attacked the infantry running behind the tanks while letting the armored division over-extend itself without support.
>" I cannot understand you Australians. In Poland , France and Belgium once the tanks got through the soldiers took it for granted they were beaten. But you are like demons. The tanks break through and your infantry keeps fighting."
Eventually they got a N**i war propaganda specialist to broadcast radio messages in Radio Berlin in an attempt to lower morale and deride the defenders, calling the soldiers in Tobruk 'cornered rats' because of their tactics in using tunnel networks to flank and steal supplies, and their supply ships 'floating scrap iron'.
But rather than be demoralized the Australian's started calling themselves Rats and their supply ships 'the scrap iron flotilla'. Because in typical Australian dry humor they figured it is more insulting to the Germans to be beaten back by a bunch of rats. They gave themselves unofficial rat medals with metal from a scrapped German bomber shot down with stolen German guns.
I like to think it was a long 8 months of Australians and their allies holding a giant middle finger to the Axis.
#5
George Bernard Shaw: I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend—if you have one.
Winston Churchill: Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second—if there is one.
#6
Queen Gorgo of Sparta when asked why only Spartan women were equal to their men:
"Because only Spartan women give birth to Spartan men.".
#7
The invasion of Belgium during WW1 comes to mind.
Basically, the Germans were on a strict timeline and needed to move their massive army through Belgium in order to flank the French defenses along their own border. In order for this to be successful, they were counting on the Belgians kind of just stepping aside and letting them use their roads and rails and bridges and such. After all, the Germans could destroy Belgium in a war with relative ease, but they didn't have time for that. The Germans asked the Belgians not to sabotage any of the infrastructure so they could pass through and leave them alone.
In response, the Belgians gave a resounding "f*** you". They blew up the bridges and the tunnels and the rails, and they gave a fantastic resistance against the Germans at a series of forts along their border with Germany. They really f****d s**t up.
#8
Not the biggest, but:
Molotov said he wasn't bombing Finland, he was bringing them food. In actuality, he was bombing them. Finns got cheeky and called the bombs "Molotov Bread Baskets." Finns made the Molotov Cocktail as "a drink to go with the bread."
A Molotov Cocktail is p much flammable "poor man's grenade" meant to set someone on fire rather than just flat out k**l them.
It might not be a huge f*** you, but it's one of my favorite historical facts.
#9
Singapore getting kicked out of Malaysia in 1965, making it the only state in the world ever to gain its independence involuntarily.
There is a video of Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew crying on TV right afterwards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj6iKXMIiOg
The reason Singapore got kicked out, was that then governor, and ethnic Chinese, Lee Kuan Yew did not agree with the racially discriminating policies put in place by the mostly Malay government. These policies grant Malays significantly more rights than any other of the many ethnicities that live in Malaysia, in an apartheid like manner.
Of course, we know that it went very well for Singapore from then onwards, but back in the day virtually everyone thought that this decision would be the country's death penalty. I mean, it really wasn't much more than a Malaria infested swamp in 1965...
The even bigger "f*** you" is that history in Malaysian school books has been rewritten to say that a mutual understanding had been reached and that Singapore left voluntarily. What's more, historical facts have been "amended" gradually, in order to justify the special rights that ethnic Malays get.
While I am not a Malaysian myself, I have lived in the area for several years now and it griefs me to still see ethnic Chinese and Indians in Malaysia who are forced to keep quiet over political and personal issues, in order to avoid serious consequences.
#10
When Julius Cesar was kidnapped by pirates and his men paid 50 talents as a ransom.
He went back home , took his time to raise a fleet and go after his kidnappers. He crucified them and got his 50 talents back.
#11
Republicans refusing to hold a hearing for President Obama's supreme court nominee with nearly a year left in his term.
#13
The Greeks saying a huge resounding "No" to Mussolini's ultimatum to allow the axis forces to enter the Greek territory in 1940.It forces admiration,it takes a special kind of b***** to say the equivalent of "f*** you " to Hitler's minions at that time of history.
#14
Not the biggest but still a great "f*** you" was delivered by Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin. His invention was copied all over the South and 20 years of lawsuits all failed in the Southern courts. He wound up broke. The new south became incredibly wealthy from his invention. That new "empire" felt itself put-upon by the North and decided to become an independent "empire". Eli Whitney then went and invented inter-changable parts for weapons with assembly lines and allowed the North to quickly arm hundreds of thousands of men with which to crush that would-be empire. He created and crushed an empire.
#15
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. Famous German general from World War I.
From his Wikipedia article:
Later, when Hitler offered him the ambassadorship to the Court of St James's in 1935, he "declined with frigid hauteur."; the suggestion for the nomination as ambassador to the Court of St James had come from retired Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen during a visit to Berlin. During the 1960s, Charles Miller asked the nephew of a Schutztruppe officer, "I understand that von Lettow told Hitler to go f*** himself." The nephew responded, "That's right, except that I don't think he put it that politely."
Very few people lived through telling Hitler that. But he was a decorated, historic officer. He survived, taking no part in the 2nd World War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_von_Lettow-Vorbeck.
#17
Winston Churchill, in the face of what appeared to be utter and inescapable defeat only briefly delayed through the largest evacuation in military history.
*Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of N**i rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.*
*We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.*
edit: [Here is the audio of his parliamentary address](http://audio.theguardian.tv/sys-audio/Guardian/audio/2007/04/20/Churchill.mp3) Above quote starts at 10:30.
EDIT: TLDR; "f*** you Nazis, we'll sacrifice EVERYTHING to beat you -- our lives, our country, our empire, and even if we fail our valour will inspire future civilizations to rise up and defeat your descendants.".
#18
Anthony McAuliffe was the United States Army general who was the acting division commander of the 101st Airborne Division troops defending Bastogne, Belgium, during World War II's Battle of the Bulge, famous for his single-word reply of "Nuts!" in response to a German surrender ultimatum.
#19
Hannibal crossing the Alps. Rome was not expecting a Carthaginian army to come from that direction especially with elephants. So I guess it's also the biggest "SURPRISE M**********R" of history as well. Bringing elephants didn't help much in terms of military might, but it did show Rome that Carthage could deploy it's most intimidating weapons wherever they [darn] well pleased.
#21
The Mongols were essentially the Borg of the middle ages. They would show up at your city gates with a massive, stinking army of hardened killers and demand that you surrender, be integrated into the Mongol empire and pay tribute. If you didn't do this immediately, they would simply k**l every person in the city, relentlessly and brutally. The Mongols actually had quotas for how many people each member of the army was responsible for killing. It's believed that the Mongol Conquests were responsible for the death of over 5% of the world's population. If you did join the Mongol empire, they were actually pretty tolerant as far as the Middle Ages go.
#22
During the Siege of Tobruk, the Australian soldiers would listen to German propaganda they would pick up on their radios, especially someone they named Lord Haw Haw.
At the start of the siege, he called them to surrender because they were "caught like rats in a trap" and living in the ground, so the Aussies started calling themselves the Rats of Tobruk. As well, the ships that were supplying Tobruk were old at the time and were described as "piles of scrap iron" so were named the Scrap Iron Flotilla.
The Aussies also pretty much said f*** you to the whole being in a siege thing. They would often have games of cricket going that would only stop during air raids, but keep going during shell fire. They would also go out of the perimeter and sneak into German and Italian camps and steal their artillery and other weapons and would use it against them, becoming known as the "bush artillery"
The Aussies and Brits then went on to deal the Germans with their first defeat on land and by holding Tobruk, allowed Montgomery to stockpile the tanks and weaponry required for the Battle of El Alamein.
#23
The reply of the Cossacks, though it is most likely legend. Below is the original response and reply.
Sultan Mehmed IV to the Zaporozhian Cossacks:
As the Sultan; son of Muhammad; brother of the sun and moon; grandson and viceroy of God; ruler of the kingdoms of Macedonia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Upper and Lower Egypt; emperor of emperors; sovereign of sovereigns; extraordinary knight, never defeated; steadfast guardian of the tomb of Jesus Christ; trustee chosen by God Himself; the hope and comfort of Muslims; confounder and great defender of Christians - I command you, the Zaporogian Cossacks, to submit to me voluntarily and without any resistance, and to desist from troubling me with your attacks.
--Turkish Sultan Mehmed IV
Zaporozhian Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan:
O sultan, Turkish devil and d***** devil's kith and kin, secretary to Lucifer himself. What the devil kind of knight are thou, that canst not slay a hedgehog with your naked a**e? The devil [poops], and your army eats. Thou shallt not, thou son of a [jerk], make subjects of Christian sons; we have no fear of your army, by land and by sea we will battle with thee, f*** thy mother.
Thou Babylonian scullion, Macedonian wheelwright, brewer of Jerusalem, goat-f****r of Alexandria, swineherd of Greater and Lesser Egypt, pig of Armenia, Podolian thief, catamite of Tartary, hangman of Kamyanets, and fool of all the world and underworld, an idiot before God, grandson of the Serpent, and the crick in our d**k. Pig's snout, mare's a**e, slaughterhouse cur, unchristened brow, screw thine own mother!
So the Zaporozhians declare, you lowlife. You won't even be herding pigs for the Christians. Now we'll conclude, for we don't know the date and don't own a calendar; the moon's in the sky, the year with the Lord, the day's the same over here as it is over there; for this kiss our a**e!
- Koshovyi otaman Ivan Sirko, with the whole Zaporozhian Host.
#24
After years of his fathers torment, Joseph Stalin's son tried to k**l himself in Stalin's house. When Stalin's wife informed him of his son's attempted s*****e by gun, Stalin's comment, loud enough for his son to hear, was "He can't even shoot straight!!"
Afterwards his son, who was lieutenant in the red army, got captured by the German army in 1941 and when they tried to trade his release for a field marshall of their own. Stalin responded "I won't trade a marshall for a lieutenant.".
#25
In 1347 the port city of Kaffa in the Crimea was under siege by the Mongols. The Mongols were forced to end the siege when their forces were depleted by the Bubonic plague. Before withdrawing the commander, Jani Beg, ordered the corpses catapulted over the city walls. The plague spread westward across Europe eventually killing 30 to 60 percent of the population.
#26
Roman Emperor Caligula, reportedly had a favorite saying (Oderint dum metuant), which roughly translates to:
"Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.".
#27
So - France basically won the American Revolution against Britain. The best selling APUSH book puts it this way:
To say that America, with some French aid, defeated Britain is like saying, "Daddy and I killed the bear."
So - we had promised France that we would not betray their friendship by making a separate peace with England. BUT! England was so eager to undermine the territorial ambitions of France in North America after France had so deviously denied them 13 of their own North American colonies that England offered the new US all the land from the sea to the Mississippi. We took it, and in doing so, helped our enemy (England) screw over our most important ally (France).
You'd think the Philippines would have seen it coming when we did it to them later.
#28
After 100 years of fighting the Carthaginians for dominance of the Mediterranean, the Romans finally conquered Carthage and then evacuated and enslaved the entire population, burned the city to the ground, and p***** over the fields with salt to ensure that no civilization would ever arise there ever again.
#29
When Australians declared war on rampaging emus and slaughtered thousands of them in trench warfare style.
#30
When Arminius led Varus into the trap at Teutoberg forest in 9 A.D. and defeated three roman legions.
You might also like: Forgotten history: 83 rare images that reveal how people used to live
Add Your Answer! This post is a community curated
Add Your Answer!
Related on Bored Panda
