36 Remarkable Photos That Show The Unknown Side Of History

Naturally, we were first curious to know what sparked these experts' interest in history.

"I was always fascinated by stories of the past, and it’s those stories - myths, legends, and true stories that sound fantastical - that I adored hearing about. My parents really encouraged my reading, and as I grew up in a very historic city (Canterbury, England), I was always surrounded by physical reminders of multiple cultures," shares Emily Murdoch Perkins, historian and USA Today bestselling author.

"I inherited my love of history from my parents, who took me to castles, country houses and battle re-enactments as a child," Danielle Burton, history blogger at Voyager of History, tells Bored Panda. "Whilst I still love those things, I have since developed my own love of history, which has expanded from that introduction."

Meanwhile, Jessica Storoschuk, historian and founder of An Historian About Town, tells us that what sparked her interest in history was a specific book.

"I was 10 when I read my first Royal Diary book, the Anastasia diary—it was a series that created fictional diaries for different teen royals and I loved them. It made me realize at a young age that history isn't these aliens that we can't understand but rather just people like you and I.

I also read it right around the time when the animated Anastasia movie came out, which only further cemented my interest in history. (A lot of people focus on military history and political history, larger movements, but I tend to focus on individuals in history- it's so easy to forget that these people were... just people.)"

Since history is so dear to these experts' hearts, we also asked them why they think it's important for people today to understand our history.

"History doesn’t just ask the question ‘what,’ it asks ‘why.’ Understanding how things happen, why individual choices matter, and spotting the patterns means that we start to not only understand each other better but also try to purposefully and consciously shape the world of tomorrow," Perkins explains.

"It’s important to remember and understand our past to understand how we got to where we are now," says Burton. "It is also important to remember it is both good and bad as a tribute to those who have come before us."

"To quote one of my profs, 'History doesn't repeat itself perfectly, but it comes fairly close,'" adds Storoschuk.

"We are seeing an eerie trend of extreme movements and ideas from a century or more ago making a return, and we know how those played out. There were often huge amounts of loss—in human life, in the economy, in the arts, in knowledge, the list goes on. It is bad news for everyone, and it is frustrating that so many people seem to know so little of the world's recent history. Knowing the history would not prevent everything but I think more people would at least pause to think."

Of course, we couldn't let the history experts go without them sharing the most interesting history facts they know.

"I think the fact that always astonishes people is that the invention of the spectacles, or reading glasses, can be traced back to the thirteenth century," shares Perkins.

"One of the earliest examples we have is from 1284. But the fork, a piece of cutlery many of us can’t imagine our lives without, didn’t reach England until the early 1600s. For around three hundred years, people in England who could afford spectacles could see their food clearly, but didn’t eat it with a fork. Mind blowing!"

"Captain Bartholomew Roberts not only wrote down the Pirate Code, but also only allowed to be drunk on board his ship," Burton says.

"Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark was so popular that women across Britain copied her limp that she was left with after being ill. She also wore chokers regularly, most likely to hide a scar from a surgery, and chokers became incredibly fashionable," Storoschuk adds.

With so many events that happened in our past, people inevitably can get things mixed up. So we asked the history experts if there are any misconceptions that they find themselves often correcting.

"Much of my historical focus is on untold women’s stories, and it’s astonishing how often people assume that women had absolutely no power, agency, or opportunity in the past," said Perkins.

"Yes, access to those things has evolved over time, but there have always been women determined to make their own way in the world. For example, take Æthelflæd in England. She designed towns, led armies, negotiated treaties, signed contracts, raised her daughter to rule after her…all before the year 1000."

The misconception that Burton wanted to squash about history is that the medieval period was colorful and not just full of browns.

Lastly, Storoschuk shared some myths surrounding the British royals that more people should know aren't really accurate.

"Firstly, Queen Mary I—often referred to as "[darn] Mary"—was no more "[darn]" than her father, King Henry VIII, or her sister, Queen Elizabeth I. Mary's executions were often carried out for religious reasons, but because Elizabeth chose to execute people for political reasons, people tend to give her a pass. Henry's execution numbers surpass both of his daughters', though."

"Secondly, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are not the ultimate "couple goals" that many people like to portray them as. They both had a lot of issues stemming from their childhoods and families, and those manifested in some very problematic and difficult ways. For instance, Albert would often infantilise Victoria to wear her down and would capitilise on her suffering from postpartum depression to seize more control."

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