50 Historical Facts And Events That Not Many Talk About

It sank in 1628 less than a mile into its maiden voyage and was recovered from the sea floor after 333 years almost completely intact. Now housed at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

This was the most liked picture on the History Season Instagram page in 2022.

In Ancient Rome, dogs had many important roles. They were used in warfare, helped with hunting, and guarded homes from wild animals and thieves.

But dogs weren’t just workers—they were also beloved companions. Just like today, the Romans saw dogs as loyal friends and valued them deeply.

Romans kept all kinds of pets, from cats to monkeys, but dogs were by far their favorites.

You can spot dogs all over Roman art—painted on walls, featured in mosaics, and even mentioned in poetry.

The Romans even wrote books on how to breed, train, and take care of dogs. Some Roman dogs even wore fancy collars, decorated with gold and other details.

Romans didn’t forget their dogs after they passed away either. They sometimes built tombs for them, complete with touching inscriptions. Here are a few examples of what those engravings said:

“Never can you be contentedly in my lap. In sadness, I buried you, as you deserve. In a resting place of marble.”

“Myia never barked without reason, but now, he is silent.”

“I am in tears, while carrying you to your last resting place as much as I rejoiced when bringing you home with my own hands 15 years ago.”

“My eyes were wet with tears, our little dog, when I bore you [to the grave]. So, Patricus, never again shall you give me a thousand kisses.”

“More sweet than a hundred maidens rolled in one, Rarer than wealthy India’s precious stone. She is pet of Publius, Issa dear, She whines, a human voice you seem to hear.”

In the Arctic, spending hours in sun can lead to a condition called snow blindness — a sunburn on the eyes caused by ultraviolet light reflecting off the snow and into the eye. This sunburn can be very painful and result in temporary blindness.

For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples across the Arctic, including the Inuit and Yupik from Canada, Greenland, Siberia and Alaska, have used snow goggles to combat this issue.

These goggles were traditionally made from locally available materials such as whale bone, driftwood, walrus ivory, or antler. A narrow but wide slit was cut into the material to limit how much light could reach the eyes, shielding them from the bright glare.

But these snow googles didn’t just protect the eyes—they actually helped improve vision too. Just like a pinhole camera, the slit focused the light, making faraway objects look sharper.

To further reduce glare the googles were made to fit tightly against the face and were lined with dark material on the inside.

The goggles were worn during hunting and while navigating dangerous terrain. However the googles weren’t just functional—they were also adorned with carvings and artistic designs.

The oldest known Indigenous snow goggles were discovered at a 2,000-year-old Inuit archaeological site.

The arctic people such as the Inuit and Yupik have always been masters of resourcefulness, using whatever materials were available to survive and thrive in one of the most extreme and harsh environments on Earth.

(This was 9th most liked picture on the History Season Instagram page this year)

These trees were also armored to protect the observer from enemy fire. They were invented by the French but were used extensively by both sides during the war.

The construction process began with a military artist identifying a tree in no man’s land. The artist would then take photographs, make detailed measurements, and draw sketches of the tree.

This information was taken to a workshop, where a team of artists created an exact replica out of iron. At nighttime, under the cover of total darkness, the original tree was cut down, and the metal replica was installed without anyone noticing.

Trees like these were employed by both sides of the conflict.

August 28, 1950. Haktong-ni area, Korea.

In the background a corpsman can be seen methodically filling out casualty tags.

The Korean War lasts from 1950-1953. When North Korean troops invaded South Korea on June 25 1950 it was the first military action of the Cold War.

In the U.S. the conflict has been called “the Forgotten War” because of the lack of attention it received compared to conflicts like World War I and II and the Vietnam War

Most kids started working as young as 5 to 8 years old. They worked the same long hours as adults—sometimes even more—but for far, far less pay.

Many of these children toiled in cramped, dangerous coal mines. Mining companies liked hiring kids because their small size made it easier for them to squeeze into tight spaces. And, of course, they were much cheaper to employ.

One of their main tasks was hauling coal carts through the mines. Some worked alongside family members, but others spent up to 12 hours completely alone in the dark, surrounded by nothing but dust and rock.

These photos were taken by the American sociologist and photographer Lewis Wickes Hine. Hine was one of the most influential documentary photographers of the 20th century.

He’s best known for capturing the lives of poor and disadvantaged people, always portraying them with dignity and compassion.

In the early 1900s, Hine was hired by the National Child Labor Committee to document the harsh realities of child labor in the United States. His powerful images didn’t just tell a story—they helped change history, playing a key role in the fight to end child labor laws in the country.

1,600 year old socks. (Approximately)

These pairs of socks were made in ancient Egypt and were discovered in burial grounds sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

They were designed to be worn with sandals, which is why the big toe is separated from the other four—to fit perfectly between the sandal straps.

These socks weren’t knitted like the ones we have today. Instead, they were made using a technique called nålbindning, or single-needle knitting. It’s a slow and detailed process that takes a lot of time and skill.

Even though Egypt is known for its hot climate, the nights can get chilly, and winters are often damp—so socks came in handy. However, only wealthier Egyptians could afford to wear them.

Humans are thought to have worn socks since the Stone Age, though back then, they were made from animal skins or pelts rather than fabric.

These ancient Egyptian socks have survived all this time thanks to Egypts dry climate, which helped preserve them.

The socks are displayed at Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum and at the National Museum of Scotland.

For six months in 1969, North America’s most iconic waterfall was purposely “de-watered.”

This was done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a geological survey of the falls’ rock face. They were concerned that erosion was destabilizing it.

To achieve this, the Army had to build a 600-ft (182-m) dam across the Niagara River. This dam consisted of 27,800 tons of rock.

In November 1969, in front of 2,650 spectators, the temporary dam was dynamited, restoring the flow of water.

Sources: Rare Historical Picture and Smithsonin Magazine.

LAN parties peaked in the 2000s. In basements and rooms across the world, people connected their computers to play games together.

Split-screen games had existed since the 1970s, but in the ‘90s and 2000s, new games made it possible to play multiplayer games with one person per monitor.

A massive revolution in PC gaming came in 1993 with the release of Doom. The game introduced a new kind of multiplayer gameplay, which excited many gamers who wanted to play with their friends. However, to play together in Doom, you had to be on the same local network. This meant carrying your computer to a friend’s house and setting it up. Doom was, in large part, the reason LAN parties began.

In the early 2000s, there were plenty of multiplayer games to play, but finding a stable online connection was difficult. The solution was LAN parties.

LAN stands for Local Area Network and refers to gathering a group of computers in a room, often linking them together using Ethernet cables. This setup allowed them to run on the same local network instead of using individual internet connections to play wirelessly.

LAN parties grew in popularity in the 2000s as games became more sophisticated and PCs became cheaper and more powerful.

Games like Half-Life, Doom, Counter-Strike, Starsiege: Tribes, StarCraft, WarCraft, and Unreal Tournament were often played.

The parties often involved fast food and potato chips, and some LAN parties lasted several days.