‘Weird History’ Is An Account That Shares Interesting, Odd, And Funny Things That Happened Throughout History
Andrew Rader, PhD, is a lot of things. The man is a SpaceX mission manager, MIT-credentialed scientist, game designer, author... And he's also a history fan. In fact, he's so fascinated with the subject, he even created a Twitter account to share the weirdest and most wonderful history-related content he stumbles upon.
Appropriately called 'Weird History', the page regularly features everything from interesting facts to amusing memes you wouldn't normally find in a textbook and has accumulated over 145,000 followers since its inception in 2011. Continue scrolling and check out some of the most popular posts 'Weird History' has had!
More info: Twitter
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But why bother with history in the first place? Well, Peter N. Stearns, a professor at George Mason University, said that even though people live in the present and plan for the future, they still need to learn about the past.
"In the first place, history offers a storehouse of information about how people and societies behave," Stearns wrote. "Understanding the operations of people and societies is difficult, though a number of disciplines make the attempt. An exclusive reliance on current data would needlessly handicap our efforts. How can we evaluate war if the nation is at peace—unless we use historical materials? How can we understand genius, the influence of technological innovation, or the role that beliefs play in shaping family life, if we don't use what we know about experiences in the past?"
The professor highlighted that some social scientists attempt to formulate laws or theories about human behavior but even these recourses depend on historical information, except for in limited, often artificial cases in which experiments can be devised to determine how people act. "Major aspects of a society's operation, like mass elections, missionary activities, or military alliances, cannot be set up as precise experiments. Consequently, history must serve, however imperfectly, as our laboratory, and data from the past must serve as our most vital evidence in the unavoidable quest to figure out why our complex species behaves as it does in societal settings."
This, fundamentally, is why we can not stay away from history, Stearns said. "It offers the only extensive evidential base for the contemplation and analysis of how societies function, and people need to have some sense of how societies function simply to run their own lives."
So the next time you're browsing 'Weird History', don't think it's just random trivia; it's also broadening your worldview!
His name is Chiune Sugihara. From Wikipedia: "In 1985, the State of Israel honored Sugihara as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions. He is the only Japanese national to have been so honored. The year 2020 is "The Year of Chiune Sugihara" in Lithuania. It has been estimated as many as 100,000 people alive today are the descendants of the recipients of Sugihara visas."
Wonder what they looked like before he painted them over. *ba dum tss*
this feels like a screenshot from a video game :D what a crossover.
Living to be over 90 years old back then was quite the accomplishment. She was already 30 when the Declaration of Independence was signed!
I can imagine the hipsters of theses times, stopping on the street to conspicuously consult it.
Nicosia, Cyprus, is the only capital in the world that is still divided :(
The V1's were made in Normandy and had a magnetic compass and gyroscope that was set with precision. They then launched off a ramp towards London form the forests around Rouen and when they ran out of fuel they crashed and exploded - precisely over London. All the time they were making a noise people would stop and watch them. So actually pretty safe - just awesomely skilled. Dangerous for the south coast! My gramps used to watch the 'doodlebugs' fly over the downs.
well thats going to be a necessity for survival when global warming hits inland :P
Yeah but Zeus raped Hera and she only married him to avoid being shamed. This is a wee bit distasteful.
The fun fact is correct, but the sculpture is not of mr Bluetooth, but Ogier the Dane
Scary. Know what else is scary? The 1st Harry Potter film is 20 years old next year.
And if one were to commit treason one could be drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. Allegedly.
Same! Maybe they could’ve turned it into a giant slide. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
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Wrong caption. These are proposed designs for "The Great Tower of London" which was in response to the Eiffel Tower. Which is why some of them look like the Eiffel Tower with extra stuff added to it to make it look different. The actual design they selected was similar to the Eiffel Tower, but more slender and taller. It was called the Watkin's Tower, and construction was started but never finished, and eventually demolished.
Look at a modern version of it in Panama City, Panama. The F&F Tower.
The third one looks very similar to the current one but more metal. I like it
The third one looks much better than the recent one in my opinion.
Eiffel also was responsible for the inner supporting structure of the Statue of Liberty.
some of these look like spaceships. That scene in tomorrowland could actually come true if the right one was chosen
One of these looks like the Empire State and another looks like the Tower of London
Note: this post originally had 113 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
It's a welcome break from the "Look how I photographed and photoshopped something into incredible art", " She did something and it went viral with 50 random people on the internet" and "Look how cute this is."
Or 'Girls will relate to my daily struggles'.
Or look at these redrawn Disney princesses
But when people are thinking out the box it's... not ok. Not enough, not the right way, not right, not OK...so
‘ I Photoshopped 50 Random People Into Incredible Art And Look How Cute She Turned Out. ’
Agreed, this was a rare treat.
I found many of the comments in this post were just as interesting to read!
As soon as I saw this post I was on it and reading away. These were interesting
I used to foist such factoids on my students. Sometimes, years later, they would say that those were the only things that they remember. -Dr M, retired history professor
Really interesting article - thanks BP!
I am a simple fun-fact geek, I saw the headline, I click
I really loved this, best one yet
Positively, very interesting, more please !!!
Finally, a very interesting and mostly informative item.
Why is this called "Weird history"? most of it's nothing to do with history.
I have always loved history... not the dates and special events or whatever, but the social aspect of it.
So *many* of these are factually, historically, inaccurate. Please at least do some minimal Wikipedia-based research before posting things like this.
anyone can alter a wikipedia page...
It's 2020 and people are still saying this like it's news or actually means Wikipedia must be horribly wrong all over. It isn't.
Wikipedia pages often contain sources, use those.
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That's false.
Oh, Which are? Didn't notice any of your comments on them. Perhaps they were just voted down?
Wikipedia is not as safe as you think
No, but one can always cross-reference facts or go straight to the sources as John Doe AKAetc points out.
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Would have been better if it wasn't full of false information
It's a welcome break from the "Look how I photographed and photoshopped something into incredible art", " She did something and it went viral with 50 random people on the internet" and "Look how cute this is."
Or 'Girls will relate to my daily struggles'.
Or look at these redrawn Disney princesses
But when people are thinking out the box it's... not ok. Not enough, not the right way, not right, not OK...so
‘ I Photoshopped 50 Random People Into Incredible Art And Look How Cute She Turned Out. ’
Agreed, this was a rare treat.
I found many of the comments in this post were just as interesting to read!
As soon as I saw this post I was on it and reading away. These were interesting
I used to foist such factoids on my students. Sometimes, years later, they would say that those were the only things that they remember. -Dr M, retired history professor
Really interesting article - thanks BP!
I am a simple fun-fact geek, I saw the headline, I click
I really loved this, best one yet
Positively, very interesting, more please !!!
Finally, a very interesting and mostly informative item.
Why is this called "Weird history"? most of it's nothing to do with history.
I have always loved history... not the dates and special events or whatever, but the social aspect of it.
So *many* of these are factually, historically, inaccurate. Please at least do some minimal Wikipedia-based research before posting things like this.
anyone can alter a wikipedia page...
It's 2020 and people are still saying this like it's news or actually means Wikipedia must be horribly wrong all over. It isn't.
Wikipedia pages often contain sources, use those.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That's false.