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It makes me wonder how we’ve been able to evolve and dominate the earth starting from our days as cavemen, and now we’ve populated the planet pretty well, but what about the times that we’ve subtracted from that number and done some really bad things?

One night, during a dive into the depths of the internet, I came across a question on Quora that asked what the deadliest hour in human history was. I got me wondering about the deadliest second, day, week or month.

Turns out, a lot of things can change in a short amount of time, and it’s kinda terrifying.

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During the mid-1800’s, hot air balloons were all the rage when it came to the circus. Albeit nothing super special nowadays, during these times anything to do with flight was simply jaw dropping. Furthermore, some circuses would perform tricks while floating in air balloons, even going as far as bringing wild animals aboard.

A big part of the circus is the live animal shows. However, animals performing tricks in front of a live audience didn’t start with the circus. Elephants were initially part of live plays that were highly successful in London before circus acts started using them as a way to bring in larger crowds. Eventually, lions, bears and the like were added into circus acts.

The father of the modern circus, Philip Astley, had initially referred to his show as ‘The Amphitheatre.’ He chose the name because it sounded sophisticated. However, the term ‘circus’ became more and more prominent after famed showman Charles Hughes put on a show he called ‘The Royal Circus.’ Over time, the name stuck.

John Wilkes Booth, president Lincoln’s assassin, was born in America because of a fight his father had with a circus performer in Liverpool. The fight resulted in some bad injuries, which prompted J.B. Booth to flee to the states with his wife, where they would then give birth to John.

Although nowadays we expect a lot out of circus performers, back in the day, leaping was all the rage. Yes, leaping. Jumping over animals, people, and large objects was something that proved to be one of the main attractions of a circus. It also introduced one of the great old tricks of the circus: hidden spring boards and trampolines.

During the early days of the modern circus (c. 1760s) it was not uncommon for the pre-circus parade to be even more of a spectacle than the show itself. Parades were held as the circus made its way into town to set up the tents, and were so massive and entertaining that some guests wouldn’t even attend the actual show as they felt they have gotten enough from the parade.

By the mid-nineteenth century, circuses consisted mostly of clowns, contortionists, jugglers, animal acts, and acrobats.

A massive tent fire in 1944 that took the lives of 168 people resulted in the implementation of fire exit regulations as well as regulations for temporary structures. Since that massive fire there have been zero lives claimed in a commercial tent fire.

The circus received more printed press and advertising than any other form of entertainment in America before it. It was said that the Ringling Bros were posting nearly 10,000 posters a day by 1915 in order to promote their show. In fact, there would even be little ‘turf wars’ between rival circuses over who gets to post where.

At one point during the mid 19th century, there was a floating circus that travelled up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Until it was shut down due to the civil war, the floating show featured all the perks of a regular circus, with a lot less packing and unpacking for the performers.

The song ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!’ by The Beatles was written nearly word for word from an old circus poster that John Lennon owned.

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1. Jimmy Hendrix – $18,000

2. Blood, Sweat and Tears – $15,000

3. Joan Baez – $10,000

4. Creedence Clearwater Revival – $10,000

5. The Band – $7,500

6. Janis Joplin – $7,500

7. Jefferson Airplane – $7,500

8. Sly and the Family Stone – $7,500

9. Canned Heat – $6,500

10. The Who – $6,250

11. Richie Havens – $6,000

12. Arlo Guthrie – $5,000

13. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – $5,000

14. Ravi Shankar – $4,500

15. Johnny Winter – $3,750

16. Ten Years After – $3,250

17. Country Joe and the Fish – $2,500

18. Grateful Dead – $2,250

19. The Incredible String Band – $2,250

20. Mountain – $2,000

21. Tim Hardin – $2,000

22. Joe Cocker – $1,375

23. Sweetwater – $1,250

24. John B. Sebastian – $1,000

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If I knew even half of these facts in school, I would have been slightly more engaged in my classes and probably would have tried a little harder at writing a decent paper. But instead, history class was boring as shit.

Let’s make learning history fun again, shall we?

The first recorded submarine attack was in 1776.
The Turtle, invented by David Bushnell, was a one-person submersible vehicle that would allow the occupant to attach a powder keg to a British ship in New York Harbor.

The U.S. Army tried on several occasions to attack anchored British ships this way, but they all failed, due to a wide variety of factors.

President Lyndon B. Johnson once pulled out his penis during an interview.
As mentioned in THIS post on NSFW history facts, former President Johnson really loved his penis, which he affectionately called “Jumbo.” According to see sources, when he was being interviewed about Vietnam, one reporter kept on berating him asking why the troops were even over there. Apparently, he kept on pushing and pushing until Johnson pulled out his dick and said, “THIS IS WHY!”

Maybe it happened, maybe it didn’t. Either way, that’s how you administer Johnson politics.

The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp.
Sure, the official copy of the Declaration that still survives today was written on parchment, which is a treated animal skin, but not all copies are like that. Earlier drafts of the Declaration were written on hemp paper, which I’m sure made the process of drafting of all the pillars of America a wild ride. In fact, up to 90% of all paper made before 1883 was made of hemp, and while it’s derived from a cannabis plant, it’s a less potent strain. In all seriousness, it’s not like you could roll up a copy and put on “Ye Darkest Side of the Moon,” and party with your other forefathers.

There once was a fourteenth colony in the U.S. called Franklin.
In 1784, some citizens in North Carolina voted to secede from the state, naming their new state “Franklin” in honour of good old, senior-lady loving Ben. Sadly for the colonists inside of Franklin, Congress wouldn’t let them join the union. They continued as an independent republic for a few years, but eventually got absorbed into Tennessee.

Paul Revere was actually a dentist.
Paul Revere was actually trained as a silversmith, but when there was a recession in the 1760’s, he turned to dentistry to make ends meet. It was while he was working on a majors new dentures, he was asked to go on his infamous midnight ride, to let people know that the British were indeed coming.

Lord Byron actually kept a bear in his dorm room.
When the poet became a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1805, he was told pet dogs were banned. So he brought a (tame) bear to live with him, instead.

I’m sure that meant some confusion when Byron told his bear, “I’m gonna bring some honeys back to the dorm for some poetry and chill. Make yourself scarce.”

Napoleon was once attacked by swarming bunnies.
The French emperor’s chief of staff collected hundreds of rabbits for a rabbit hunt that Napoleon wanted to hold. But when the bunnies were released from their cages, they swarmed Napoleon and his guests. Napoleon ended up running away from his rabbits instead of hunting them.

A baboon was made a corporal by the South African army in 1918.
The baboon, who was found and ‘adopted’ by a farmer/soldier named Albert Marr, was named Jackie. Jackie actually saw battles in World War I, and would warn his regiment of the enemy approaching.

After he got injured by shrapnel and discharged, he was awarded a medal of valour.

Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ordered a full military funeral for his leg.
After having his leg taken off by a stray cannon ball in 1838, he decided he wanted to give is leg a full military funeral and burial.

Forty years later, after living in the US in exile, he came home to have the rest of himself buried with the same honours.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert received a giant block of cheese as one of their wedding presents.
Though it looks like they’re fighting, they were actually quite happy with the gift of cheese. The half-tonne cheddar began life in June of 1839, and was presented to the Queen in spring of 1840, a few months after her wedding. She said she preferred a more aged cheddar, and it was returned for more aging. However, the cheese never made it back to Victoria and Albert, and may eventually have been fed to pigs. Bet they were cheesed about that.

President Franklin Pierce was once arrested for running a woman over with his horse.
This actually happened during his presidency and the charges were eventually dropped. Frankly the whole term went just as well as this incident – as in not very smoothly.

At the start of Wold War I, the US Air Force only had about 18 pilots.
Those 18 pilots had to share 10 planes. After training with the RAF, they got access to more hardware and slowly built up their fleet. Now there’s over 5,000 aircraft in the US Air Force.

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill smoked up to 15 cigars a day.
Surprisingly enough, he lived to the ripe old age of 90 and died of a stroke – not lung cancer.

7-Up used to contain Lithium.
By now, you’ve probably heard that Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine, but did you know that its citrusy cousin, 7Up, used to contain lithium, a mood-stabilizing drug now used primarily to treat folks with bipolar disorder? Lithium was in the recipe all the way up through the 1950s.

No wonder my grandparents always seemed to happy in old photos.

Albert Einstein was once offered the presidency of Israel.
He declined it, however, saying that he didn’t have the people skills that would be needed to run a country.

The ancient Greeks and Romans used urine as mouthwash.
They believed it could help stave off a number of diseases and whiten their teeth. As ammonia is an active component in urine, it actually was believed to do the trick. Apparently, it was so popular that it was imported from all over the Empire, as people had different ‘preferences.’ Gross.

The Austrian Army once attacked itself and lost.
In 1788, the Austrians were scouting for forces of the Ottoman Empire near the city of Karansebes, but two different sections mistook each other for Ottomans, and fired on each other instead. 10,000 soldiers died, and two days later, the Ottomans showed up and captured the city.

President Jimmy Carter once filed a UFO Report.
While serving as the Governor of Georgia, he filed a report claiming to have seen a UFO. Wonder what he did when he finally was President and got to see all the secret files.

Wonder if he was right?

Mobster Al Capone started one of the first soup kitchens.
Sure he was a mobster, dodged his taxes, etc… but during the Great Depression he was doing more for unemployed people than the Government. It’s said that he served over 120,000 needy Chicago citizens. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy at all.

King Tut’s parents were brother and sister.
According to DNA tests, Tutankhamen’s mother and father had the same dad. Gotta keep it in the family, I guess.

Journalist and Civil rights activist Ida B. Wells once bit a conductor on the hand.
In 1884, a conductor was attempting to force Wells to give up the train seat she paid for to a white man, and she refused. She later sued the railroad company and won.

The CIA once filmed a porno with an Indonesian general lookalike, for blackmail purposes.
Both the CIA and the KGB wanted to have him on their side during the Cold War, as Indonesia was a key staging area in the East. Both sides tried to blackmail him with fake porn films, and he instead, wanted copies made to take home to show his country.

See, isn’t learning cool facts about history fun?

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Egyptians started intentionally mummifying bodies around 2600 B.C. during the fourth and fifth dynasties. While the methods and quality of mummification varied throughout the years, it’s generally accepted that the best-kept mummies come from around 1570 – 1075 B.C. between the 18th and 20th dynasties. That’s when King Tut was mummified, for

Firstly, we should understand why the Ancient Egyptians would mummify the bodies of dead people. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of someone who has passed would leave the body for some time, only to return to it again once the body had been buried. In order for the soul to be able to identify the body, it needed to recognize it. So Egyptians came up with a method to preserve bodies well enough that the soul would be able to find it. Pretty cool eh? Now onto the process.

The process of properly mummifying a body took 70 days. Only qualified priests (who had full knowledge of both the proper prayers to use and an understanding of the human anatomy) were qualified to perform the mummification of bodies. They were called ‘Embalmers.’ The first thing that they did was remove all of the internal organs to avoid having them decay within the body. The brain was removed through the nostrils with long hooked instruments. All other organs were removed through an incision on the left side of the abdomen. Everything but the heart was removed and placed in Canopic Jars.

The next step was to completely rid the body of any moisture. After completely washing out the inside of the body with wine and spices, it was time to dry it all out. Embalmers did this by both covering the body in natron (a type of salt) as well as filling it with natron packets. When the body has been completely dried out, embalmers would then clean it entirely and fill it with linens to get rid of any sunken areas. The embalmers also added fake eyes to make the body look more life-like.

Then came the most famous part of mummification, the wrapping. A mummy required hundreds of yards of linen, as even fingers and toes were individually wrapped. During the wrapping process, extra care was taken in order to protect the body and soul from any harm via prayers written onto some of the linen as well as amulets being placed onto the body. A mask was often placed over the face of the body. Towards the end of the wrapping process, the body would be coated in a warm resin and then wrapped some more. Once the linen was all used up and secured in place, the mummy was considered to be complete and ready for burial.

While the embalmers were working on mummifying the body, craftsmen were working just as hard in creating the tomb and sarcophagus (provided the mummy was someone of very high status.) The tomb was often filled with things like furniture, prayers, and art work. The tomb was very elaborate and decorative to ensure that the spirit of the body was comfortable and well prepared for the afterlife.

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Men working in the rigging of the three-masted steel barque Garthsnaid, 1920

Thelonius Monk, 1959

Members of the Harlem Hellfighters in 1919

Shortest, tallest and fattest men in Europe play cards. 1913

A 17-year old Frida Kahlo poses for a family photo wearing a traditional gentleman’s 3-piece suit, 1924

8th grader Kurt Cobain playing drums at an assembly at Montesano High School, 1981

Private James Hendrix of the 101st Airborne, playing guitar at Fort Campbell Kentucky in 1962

Earliest known photo of Elvis Presley, with parents Gladys & Vernon in 1938

Samurai in Training, 1860

Enlisted men aboard an American ship hear the news of Japan’s surrender. 1945

A photo taken in secret of the Supreme Court in session, one of only two ever taken. 1932

The only known photograph of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, before giving his famous address. November 19, 1863

A large crowd, made up of many African Americans, mourn the death of Abraham Lincoln outside the Courthouse in Vicksburg, Mississippi

Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin, 1931

In 1939 20,000 Nazi supporters held a rally in Madison Square Garden

Times Square, 1957

Paper boys at 2 A.M. about to start their morning rounds. February 12, 1908

The Mona Lisa stolen from the Louvre, 1911

A war-weary French woman pours a British soldier a cup of tea during the fighting following the Allied landings in Normandy. 1944

Adolf Hitler speaking with Princess Olga of Yugoslavia, 1939

Prince Charles and Princess Diana on vacation in Bahamas, 1982

Source

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In 1977, Terry discovered a malignant tumour in his right leg, which was then amputated about 6 inches above his knee.

Before the amputation, Terry read about a man named Dick Traum, the first amputee to successfully run the New York City Marathon. Inspired by this, Terry decided to start training for a marathon of his own. However, during his stay in the hospital he grew more and more frustrated with the lack of funding dedicated to cancer research. That’s when he came up with the idea for the ‘Marathon of Hope.’

Terry planned to run across Canada to increase cancer awareness and raise some money for cancer research. During his training (which started in Feb 1979) he ran over 5,000 km (3,107 miles) on his artificial leg. In October of 1979 Terry wrote a letter to the Canadian Cancer Society, saying: “I’m not a dreamer, and I’m not saying this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer, but I believe in miracles. I have to.”

On April 12th, 1980, The Marathon of Hope began as Terry dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean. Starting at St. John’s, Newfoundland, Terry would begin his journey with the intention of running 42 Km (26 miles) a day through 6 Canadian provinces.

5 months later, Terry stopped outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario, after running a total of 5,373 Km (3,339 miles.) It is there that he learned that the cancer had spread into his lungs. As major a set back as this was, Terry said: “I’m gonna do my very best. I’ll fight. I promise I won’t give up.” He then went back to B.C. to begin his treatment. By the time he ran to Thunder Bay, Canadians had helped raise over $1.7 million for cancer research.

Shortly after Terry had to stop his marathon, Isadore Sharp, Chairman and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, contacted the Fox Family and assured them that he will organize a yearly run that will be used to raise money for cancer awareness in Terry’s name. In his message he wrote: “You started it. We will not rest until your dream to find a cure for cancer is realized.”

On September 9th, 1980, CTV televised a 5 hour long telethon that raised over $10 million dollars.

Terry Fox passed away in New Westminister, British Columbia, at 4:35 a.m. PDT on June 28, 1981. His family was with him.

Despite his death, his legacy grew larger and larger and to this day he is known as one of Canada’s greatest heroes. Every year, schools and communities all across Canada partake in annual ‘Terry Fox Runs’ that raise a ton of money for cancer research. As of May 2016, there has been over $715 million raised to support Cancer research in Terry’s name.

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Back in the 1930s, a group of manly men made names for themselves by shaving either themselves or other equally manly men with a tool usually reserved for tree murder.

There was Oregon lumberjack Leonard Wallulis, who performed the stunt to get to the finals of a Ripley’s Believe It or Not contest.

Other men had a more business-minded approach to the masculine feat. Paul Criss, a traveling ax salesman, would shave with his wares to promote “The Perfect Axe” from the Kelly Axe Company. Spectators gathered from far and wide to watch Criss, who humbly referred to himself as “The Spectacular Axe-Man.”

This guy only eats food that had a mother.

When a dinner guest asked for his steak to be cooked well-done, this guy politely yet firmly told him to leave.

This guy calls tissues “weakness paper.”

And this guy calls period blood “sex ketchup.”

And these guys saw Logan and only teared up a little bit.

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B-17 bombardier heading toward Germany, 1940’s

Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900. Left to right: Britain, United States, Australia,India, Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Japan

A Group of Samurai in front of Egypt’s Sphinx, 1864

The final moments of a Japanese Dive Bomber, 1945

A police officer issuing a woman a ticket for wearing a bikini on a beach at Rimini, Italy, in 1957

English archaeologist Howard Carter entered the sealed burial chamber of King Tutankhamen 1923. Curse of the Tutankhamun? The first of the “mysterious” deaths was that of Lord Carnarvon. He had been bitten by a mosquito, and later slashed the bite accidentally while shaving. It became infected and blood poisoning resulted. … Skeptics have pointed out that many others who visited the tomb or helped to discover it lived long and healthy lives. A study showed that of the 58 people who were present when the tomb and sarcophagus were opened, only eight died within a dozen years. All the others were still alive, including Howard Carter, who died of lymphoma in 1939 at the age of 64. The last survivor, American archaeologist J.O. Kinnaman, died in 1961, a full 39 years after the event.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses American paratroopers prior to D-Day. Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944. Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking

Kon-Tiki, a raft built by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl in an attempt to prove that pre-Columbian South Americans could reach Polynesia. He succeeded 1947

Two black students are harassed by classmates on their way to school – Little Rock, Arkansas 1957

12 year old Lo Manh Hung who was probably the youngest photo journalist in South Vietnam, February 18, 1968

Reagan meets with the Afghan mujahideen, 1983

Bobby Fisher playing 50 opponents simultaneously. He won 47, lost 1 and drew 2. 1964

A Mongolian woman sentenced to die by starvation reaches out from the porthole of a crate in which she is imprisoned, c. July 1913. This photo was taken in July 1913 by French photographer Albert Kahn. Albert Kahn was a millionaire banker who pioneered color photography using the process invented by the Lumière brothers. During his trip through exotic countries, Albert Kahn visited Mongolia where he took this picture of a woman who was condemned to slow and painful starvation by being deposited in a remote desert inside a wooden crate that was to become her tomb. Initially the bowls on the ground had water in it, though was not intentionally refilled, and the person inside was allowed to beg for food which often just prolonged their suffering as they generally didn’t get enough food for the passersby. The photographer had to leave her in the box because it would be against a prime directive of anthropologists to intervene in another cultures law and order system.

Troops of the US 89th Infantry Division trying to cross the River Rhine under heavy fire. Oberwesel, Germany. March 26 1945

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery signs the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands, in northwest Germany and Denmark – 4th May 1945. After lunch, Field Marshal Montgomery called the Germans back for further consultation, and there he delivered his ultimatum … He told the Germans: “You must understand three things: Firstly, you must surrender to me unconditionally all the German forces in Holland, Friesen and the Frisian Islands and Helgoland and all other islands in Schleswig-Holstein and in Denmark. Secondly, when you have done that, I am prepared to discuss with you the implications of your surrender: how we will dispose of those surrendered troops, how we will occupy the surrendered territory, how we will deal with the civilians, and so forth. And my third point: If you do not agree to Point 1, the surrender, then I will go on with the war and I will be delighted to do so.” Monty added, as an after-thought, “All your soldiers and civilians may be killed.”

Marie Curie, the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, in her laboratory in Paris, 1912

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For example did you know that the FBI was watching Hemingway and had a part in his death? I didn’t. Take a look below and see how else coincidence, intuition and downright dumb luck turned things around and changed history as we know it.

The Spy that Loved Him and Her
Chevalier d’Eon was a French diplomat and spy in England and Russia, with remarkable androgynous physical characteristics, and good mimic skills. Once he retired after 49 years, he revealed to the public that he had been a woman the entire time. She was henceforth made to wear gender appropriate clothing for the rest of her life. She went on to write some books and support the American Revolution. But here’s the kicker.

When she died after a paralyzing fall, the doctors found out she was actually a man the whole time, with a feminine physique.

He was double crossdressing.

Julius Caesar Was a Badass Hostage Negotiator
When a 25-year-old Julius Caesar was captured by Sicilian pirates who didn’t know who he was, they demanded 20 talents of silver (which is about 1,400 lbs of silver or $600,000 by today’s silver prices) for his ransom. Caesar was offended, and demanded they ask at least 50, because he was more valuable than that. It took Caesar’s associates 38 days to get together all the silver, which left him at the mercy of the pirates.

While in their custody, Caesar treated them like subordinates, demanding the they leave him alone to nap or that they listen to speeches and plays that he’d put on. All along, Caesar joked that he was going to have them arrested and crucified when they let him go, which they all found very funny and laughed with him. At least until they got their money and Caesar was released, then he came back and the pirates were arrested and crucified.

Then they stopped laughing.

Papa, Someone is Watching You
It’s been documented that in the later stages of his life, Ernest Hemingway became incredibly paranoid, thinking that the FBI was following him and that his phone was bugged and his mail being read. This caused him to have a total mental breakdown and he was sent to the Mayo Clinic under and assumed name. He underwent over 30 rounds of electro-shock therapy and courses of drugs, to the point that his sanity and memory started to go and he couldn’t write. Soon after, in 1961, he shot himself.

The irony is, due to his ties to Cuba and his exploits during WWII, the Freedom of Information Act revealed that the FBI was indeed doing all the things he claimed to have said they were doing. They even bugged his phone while he was at the Mayo Clinic.

Cobain had it right… just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.

Sometimes a Wrong Turn Can Lead to World War II
If you remember your history class, you’ll recall that World War I started when Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. What you might not recall is that it was a series of random events that lead to his death on that day (one could argue that he was gonna die sometime, but not this way).

Let’s break this down: a guerrilla group called the Black Hand wanted independence for Bosnia and the best way to go about it was to assassinate the Archduke. They had a plan and a member by the name of Gavrilo Princip wanted to do the job. But they didn’t really have a plan. They were just gonna wing it.

So, unaware of this plan, the Archduke, his wife and some random political advisors were driving around the city in an open-topped car. When his motorcade passed by some of the assassins, one of them threw a grenade that took 10 sec to detonate, allowing the Archduke to get away but taking out the car behind him. Instead of getting out of there, the Archduke wanted to do something unwise.

He wanted to go to the hospital to visit those injured in the blast. The driver, however, had no idea where he was going, so they took some wrong turns and just happened to pass by a cafe where Gavrilo Princip was enjoying a sandwich.

So he took his chance and changed the world

Sometimes, the Sports You Like Will Make Enemies
During the 1960’s, US spy planes were tasked with taking photos of Cuba, after an agreement was made between Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev, that the Soviets wouldn’t bring weapons or build instillations on the island. When they brought the photos back to the US and they were analyzed, they realized that the Cubans were building sports fields. But instead of the expected baseball diamonds (which they used to gauge activity in areas – if they’re building a field, they’re looking to inhabit that space), they saw something else – soccer fields.

When this was brought up to the CIA, they realized that the only way that soccer fields would be showing up in Cuba instead of baseball diamonds, is if there were Soviets living and building bases there, as only they liked soccer.

This is how the Cuban Missile Crisis started.

When you Squeal like a Rat, Everybody Wins
Every knows the legend of Whitey Bulger, one of the most successful mob bosses in history. He ran the organized crime racket in Boston from the late 70’s to the early 80’s and no one understood how he was getting away with it. He was known to be a mob boss, was always getting more and more territory, but nothing was ever done to take him down, despite all the evidence against him.

Turns out he had a friend in the FBI and was working for them as an informant. He would rat on other organized crime families and once they were arrested, he’d take over the territory. It was a win for Whitey as he got more and more powerful, and a win for his FBI buddy as he was making all the busts and making a reputation for himself.

The FBI Agent Who Cried Wolf And Was Right
John P. O’Neil was the kind of guy who always wanted to be part of the FBI. Starting in the J. Edgar Hoover building as a fingerprint clerk and tour guide, he got his education in justice and forensics and was hired by the Bureau, working on white-collar crime, organized crime and counterintelligence. In the late 90’s, he was chief of the counterintelligence division and started to hear rumours of the growing threat of Terrorism. He was the first to identify Al-Qaeda as a legitimate threat to homeland security and tried to get his higher ups to focus on them. He was ignored and reprimanded passed over for promotions due to some personal and professional issues.

After an assignment to Yemen that went south, he was reprimanded again and forced to retire in 2001. He ended up taking a job at the World Trade Centre in New York as the head of security on August 23, 2001.

His remains were found in the rubble of the World Trade Centre attack on September 11th; perpetuated by Al-Qaeda. Turns out, he was right.

Edith Wilson: Secret President of the United States
The world might still be waiting for its first female President, but it turns out, the US might have had one already – 28th President Woodrow Wilson’s wife Edith. Elected in 1913, Wilson was one of the most predominantly public US presidents, having huge role in geo politics during WWI and the aftermath and not being shy with his speeches, meetings and press availability. For the leader of the free world, he was incredibly visible; at least until 1919.

After a global meeting in Paris, Wilson had a severe stroke, which left him unable to write, stand for long or even speak. Edith decided that they had two options: let the public know and leave office or take over his duties. So she created a story about how Wilson was going to double down and focus on his work – retreating from the public eye, meeting with press, cabinet or the public. Edith became the defacto President for the next year, consulting with Woodrow when he was feeling well, until his term was up. This wasn’t known until many years later, and now she’s well known as the first acting female President of the United States.

Never Use Psychology on Someone You Don’t Know
At the start of the Cold War, psychologist Henry Murray developed a personality profiling test to help weed out Soviet Spies with psychological warfare, and determine which US spies are ready for the field. Calling it Project MKUltra, he began experimenting on Harvard students. He made one student the control, as he was a predictable, law-abiding conformist and ran his tests. Then he had that student write an essay on his core beliefs, then had an aggressive interrogator come in and tear those beliefs apart, to see if the student would fight back. He didn’t.

The experience left him a psychologically broken man, who after graduating, sequestered himself in the woods, trying to put his belief system back into place, by writing an essay. He kept writing that essay for decades and became convinced that the world had to read it, so he found a way to make everyone read it. You’ve probably read it.

It’s the Unabomber Manifesto.

Who Says Double Dipping is Bad?
Juan Pujol Garcia was a spanish citizen during WWII, who wanted desperately to be a spy. After surviving the Spanish Civil War, he developed a loathing for Communism and Fascism, so he wanted to help Allies. He approached the British army and offered to Spy, but was turned down. He then went to the Germans and pretended to be a fanatically pro-Nazi Spanish government official and offered his services there, where he was hired as a German agent. They sent him to Britain to spy, but instead he went to Portugal and made up intelligence that he sent back to Germany. They believed that he had a developed a ring of spies and trusted him with more missions.

Meanwhile he went to the British with this Germany spy ring intact and offered them a way to get one up on the Germans. They hired him as a double agent, code naming him GARBO. After helping to mislead the Germans during the Normandy invasion, he was awarded a Member of the British Empire. At the same time, for his ‘contributions’ for the Germans (they never picked up that he was lying to them), he got an Iron Cross.

Bet he’s the only guy to get medals for bravery by opposing forces.

Bad Things Happen When You Go to the Movies
In 1987, a security guard was assigned to keep an eye on an abandoned and disputed Private Radiotherapy Hospital in Brazil. One day he decided to take the day off to go see Herbie Goes Bananas. While he was away, thieves came in and looted the building, including taking left behind nuclear material, hoping to sell whatever they found.

Except they didn’t know what they had, so the thieves began dismantling the equipment. Despite feeling ill, vomiting and getting painful ulcers on there hands, they didn’t stop taking the machines apart until the radioactive material was exposed. He then sold the metal and materials to a scrapyard; no one being the wiser that this was radioactive material. The resulting leak of radiation resulted in 4 people dying and 249 being significantly affected by radiation. This was one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbour’s Wife
Jonny Cash is known for the song “Ring of Fire,” but did you know he didn’t write it? June Carter did, and the ring of fire she was alluding to, was her secret love for him. She was a married woman and was desperately in love with Jonny Cash, but couldn’t do much about it.

After he recorded it in ’63, the two of them performed duets and met several times platonically until her divorce in 1966. Jonny and June were married in 1968, and made some epic music together.

That connection was so strong that after June Carter Cash died in May of 2003, Jonny couldn’t live without her and followed her to the Grand Ol’Opry in the sky 4 months later.

Hell Truly Hath No Fury…
Olga of Kiev was the wife of Igor, who was the ruler of a part of easter Europe called Kievan Rus. When a dissatisfied tribe called the Drevlians rose up in protest against taxes and killed her husband, she got revenge.

The plan was that the leader of the Drevlians would marry her and take over the kingdom, so they sent an envoy with their proposal. She buried him alive. Then she sent a message that she’d accepted the proposal, but wanted an escort of nobles to escort her. They came and she offered them her bath house. They crammed in there to clean up and she burnt it down.

Then she held a funeral for her husband and invited the rest of the Drevlian populace to attend. Attracted by free food and booze, they all came and her soldiers slaughtered them all. Then she marched to their city and asked for their surrender. They agreed and she asked for a tribute of a bird from their homes (in that time, birds would nest in the rafters of each home). They agreed, and she tied a lit match to each bird and let them fly home, burning down the village and declaring herself Queen.

If that’s not epic, I don’t know what is. Even better, since she attempted to bring Christianity to the area, she’s also close to being a saint. Why don’t they tell us these stories in church?

The Doppelgänger Epic Fail
During World War I, a German passenger liner named Cap Trafalgar was turned into an auxiliary cruiser and sent to patrol the waters off the coast of Brazil near Trindade. Early one morning during one of it’s first engagements of the war, it was spotted by a British ship and attacked.

The irony was that the Cap Trafalgar was disguised as a British ship called the HMS Carmania; the very ship that spotted them and ultimately sank them. After the inevitable who’s who, the British attacked and pummelled the German ship into submission.

Even more ironic is that German warships were sent to rescue them, but saw two British ships fighting and feared a trap, so they left, causing it to be a decisive British victory.

How do you say oops in German?

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Santa Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey. Completed in 537 A.D.

Santa Sophia interior.

The Pantheon, Rome, Italy. Completed in 117 A.D.

The Pantheon interior.

The church Santa Sabina, Rome, Italy. Completed in 422 A.D.

The church Santa Sabina interior.

Mausoleum of Hadrian, Rome, Italy. Completed in 139 A.D. Turned into a fortress in 400 A.D.

Mausoleum of Hadrian interior.

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Completed in 80. A.D.

Interior of the Colosseum.

Theatre of Marcellus, Rome, Italy. Completed in 13 B.C.

Interior of the Theatre of Marcellus.

Ponte Fabricio, Rome, Italy. This bridge was completed in 62 B.C. and has gone virtually unchanged.

Church of the Nativity interior.

Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, West Bank. Completed in 565 A.D.

The Proserpina Dam. Completed around the 2nd century A.D.

Nanchan Temple, Shanxi Province, China. Completed in 782 A.D.

Basilica of Constantine, Trier, Germany. Completed in the beginning of the 4th century.

Inside of the Basilica of Constantine.

Acoma Pueblo, or “Sky City,” west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is estimated that this city has been occupied for several thousand years.

Inside of the “Sky City.”

The Mosque of Uqba, Kairouan, Tunisia. Completed in 670 A.D.

The Tower of Hercules, Northwestern Spain. The date of completion is unknown, but the tower has been inconstant use since the late 1st century.

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1970 Brazil National Team

With a sport so popular around the world, there are bound to be some real all stars in every country. But when it came to Brazil in 1970, they were on a whole other level. Mario Zagallo coached an unbelievable team consisting of the legendary Pele and a squad of up-and-coming all-stars to their 4th world cup title. They won every game with incredible ease before taking the final match 4-1.

Chicago Bulls ’91-’98

Ask anyone who isn’t a fan of basketball to name a few players, and you can bet that Michael Jordan makes the list. He was simply unreal. But it wasn’t just Michael that made the Chicago Bulls such a force in the 90s, it was a perfect mix of skill, tenacity, and determination. The Chicago Bulls won 3 championships in a row starting in 1991, and then they won 3 more starting in 1996.

’98 Yankees

Before sweeping the Padres in the World Series, the 1998 Yankees were simply dominating the regular season. With a team lacking truly ‘iconic’ players, each individual had to work hard and stand out every night. With that, they went on to have a record-breaking season of 114-48.

1972 Dolphins, ’34 & ’42 Chicago Bears, & 2007 Patriots

Without counting exhibitions games, these three teams are the only teams to have achieved ‘perfect seasons’ in the NFL.

1983 Edmonton Oilers

With legendary players like Wayne Gretzky, Grant Fuhr, and Mark Messier, you can bet that your team is going to be a force in the NHL. Not only did they score a record-setting 446 goals that season, they did so with a brilliant 57–18–5 record, and they capped it off with Lord Stanley’s Mug.

1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers

With coach Tom Osborne at the helm, not only did these guys put together a dominating 12-0 season, they boasted an unreal 53.2 ppg, and kept opponents at bay with only 14.5 ppg. It wasn’t just a few players that were chipping in either, as over 30 players on that ’95 roster went on to play pro or semi-pro football.

2001 Seattle Mariners

It took the Seattle Mariners 14 years to have a winning season. But, once they got over that hump, boy did they have some regular season success. When the 2001 season rolled around, the Mariners were finally a team that people started to take seriously. They went on to win a record-tying 116 wins that year on top of having 8 of their players named to the All-Star team.

’92 U.S.A. Basketball team

If ever there was a team that was so stacked it should be illegal, it was during the ’92 Summer Olympics. With absolute legends such as Jordan, Pippen, Malone, Bird, and Ewing (the list goes on) on the team, there is no way you wouldn’t dominate. And dominate is what they did. Not only did they cruise undefeated to the gold medal, they had an average point differential of 43.8.

’57-’69 Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are arguably the most dominant team in NBA history. They have 17 championships, 8 of them being won consecutively from 1959-1966, and 11 of them being in a 13 year span.

New Zealand All Blacks

When you’re talking about the All Blacks, you’re talking about a rugby dynasty that has never been ranked lower than 3rd in the world. They’ve won 76% of their games ever. They’ve got 3 world cups. They have a loyal following like no other. It’s really quite extraordinary to see a team like that. Not to mention, the ‘Haka’ is pretty fucking bad ass!

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Then there’s words that you think are complicated or must have some serious historically convoluted story behind it, then you find out it’s the simplest of explanations. Then you look at that word, and face palm yourself because it’s so obvious.

Check out these words and see how many times you smack your hand down on the desk thinking “I knew that!”

Secretary
Back in the early days of European Monarchs and their Royal Courts, secretaries were officers or aides working for and on behalf of the King/Queen. The word is still used that way when it comes to government positions such as “Secretary of State.” But here’s where it gets pretty obvious. As the person working closest to the King/Queen, these secretaries were privy to a lot of private pieces of information, which makes the secretary literally a keeper of secrets.

Pandemonium
We all use this word a lot, but not a lot of people know where it comes from. The word was coined by the poet John Milton, who used it as the capital of Hell in his book “Paradise Lost” in 1667. It’s a compounded word that starts off with the word ‘pan’ that’s the same as in words like ‘pandemic’ and ‘panorama,’ and quite literally means “all” or “every.” So when you look at the entire word, it literally means “a place of all demons.”

Which explains why the sexy vampire in “From Dusk to Dawn” was named Satanico Pandemonium. She literally the devil; but one hell of a sexy one.

Equinox
This one sounds pretty close to what it actually means. The ‘Equinox’ is the date in which the sun passes through the equator making night and day equal for the majority of the planet. When you break down the word into it’s component parts you get ‘equi’ which mean ‘equal’ and ‘nox,’ which means ‘night.’

It’s like a lightbulb going on in your brain.

Freelance
All of you freelancers out there, take heed. The word ‘lance’ quite literally means the same lances that medieval knights used to carry. Back in early 19th century fiction (like in the book Ivanhoe, which isn’t about a Russian farmer and his tools…ah, Simpsons), freelancers were mercenary knights that carried no specific allegiance to any cause, just did what they did because they were paid to do it.

Malaria
Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Mosquitos already suck and on top of that, they carry nasty diseases, and the most common is Malaria, but the word actually has nothing to do with those pesky bloodsuckers. In this case ‘Mal’ essentially means ‘bad,’ much like in malfunction or malpractice. The word ‘Aria’ means ‘air’ in Italian. There you go. Originally they thought that stagnant air and fumes from marshlands and swamps caused the disease, so it was literally called ‘bad air.’ Then they realized that it was all the bug’s fault.

Nausea
Nausea takes it’s origins from maritime words like ‘nautical’ and ‘nautilus.’ When it came time to describe the feeling of seasickness, they used the word ‘nausea.’ As well, it also derives from the Greek word for ship ‘naus.’

Astronaut
The word ‘Astronaut’ comes from two different words coming together. You’ve got ‘astro’ coming from the words used to describe stars and space like ‘asteroid’ or ‘asterisk.’ Then you’ve got ‘naut,’ which has got the same seafaring origin as nausea and nautical. Put them together and you get a literal “Star-sailor.”

I like that so much better… it’s more poetic.

Disaster
Bet you never guessed that the word disaster’s connected to astronauts and seasickness too. The word ‘disaster’ comes from French origins in the 1500s, but before that came from the Italian word ‘disastro’ which means “ill-starred” as in the calamity is blamed on not having a favourable star alignment.

Month
Originally, time was calculated with the sun and the moon, and when it came to the calendar, they used the moon’s phases to sort that all out. So essentially a month is a ‘moon-th.’ There; pretty obvious, no?

The moon’s also the reason why we have the word ‘lunatic,’ as someone who’s been affected by the moon. That moon, though…

Blockbuster
Before it was a defunct video store, the word ‘blockbuster’ was a word coined during wartime. The original ‘blockbusters’ were enormous bombs developed by the Britain’s Royal Air Force to use in raids against Germany. Their official term was HC or ‘high-capacity’ bombs, but pilots called them ‘cookies’ or ‘blockbusters’ as they could level an entire block due to their 12,000 lbs weight, 8,400 of it was Amatex explosive. After the war, the military use of the word fell out of favour and it became the regular term to use to describe anything with an impressive impact, especially films.

Breakfast
This one is going to make you face palm and head desk yourself. This is your first meal of the day and what did you do all night? You didn’t eat, which means you were fasting. Then you partake in those sunnies and toast and you’re breaking your fast. Hence, breakfast.

Journey
Not only are they an epic band, ‘journey’s’ also another word for trip. If you remember your high school French (if you had to take it), you’ll recall that ‘jour’ is the French word for ‘day.’ Then it’s easy to figure out that ‘journey’ is literally a day’s travel, while a ‘sojourn’ is literally a one day stay. Then you write about your day in a ‘journal’ and read accounts of the day’s news in ‘journalism.’

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Microsoft founders Bill Gates(13) and Paul Allen(15) connect to a PDP-10 computer at the University of Washington, through a teletype terminal at their Lakeside School in Seattle in 1968. Paul Allen describes meeting Bill Gates at the teletype machine: One day early that fall, I saw a gangly, freckle-faced eighth-grader edging his way into the crowd around the Teletype, all arms and legs and nervous energy. He had a scruffy-preppy look: pullover sweater, tan slacks, enormous saddle shoes. His blond hair went all over the place. You could tell three things about Bill Gates pretty quickly. He was really smart. He was really competitive; he wanted to show you how smart he was. And he was really, really persistent. After that first time, he kept coming back. Many times he and I would be the only ones there. Bill came from a family that was prominent even by Lakeside standards; his father later served as president of the state bar association. I remember the first time I went to Bill’s big house, a block or so above Lake Washington, feeling a little awed. His parents subscribed to Fortune, and Bill read it religiously. One day he showed me the magazine’s special annual issue and asked me, “What do you think it’s like to run a Fortune 500 company?” I said I had no idea. And Bill said, “Maybe we’ll have our own company someday.” He was 13 years old and already a budding entrepreneur. Where I was curious to study everything in sight, Bill would focus on one task at a time with total discipline. You could see it when he programmed—he’d sit with a marker clenched in his mouth, tapping his feet and rocking, impervious to distraction. He had a unique way of typing, sort of a six-finger, sideways scrabble. There’s a famous photograph of Bill and me in the computer room not long after we first met. I’m seated on a hard-back chair at the teleprinter in my dapper green corduroy jacket and turtleneck. Bill is standing to my side in a plaid shirt, his head cocked attentively, eyes trained on the printer as I type. He looks even younger than he actually was. I look like an older brother, which was something Bill didn’t have

The Reichstag covered in graffiti after being seized from the Nazis by the Red Army, 1945. After seizing the Reichstag in May 1945 and raising their flag on its roof, Soviet soldiers left their marks in other ways, writing their names, feelings, thoughts and hometowns on the walls of the famous building. Written in Cyrillic script, they include such slogans as “Hitler kaputt” and names of individual soldiers. Most of the writings are just “From [Russian City] to Berlin” or just “[Russian City] – Berlin” with a name or “Kilroyski was here”.

The catapult officer risks his life saving the pilot from a crashed and burning Hellcat on the USS Enterprise, 1943

Ruby Bridges, the first African-American to attend a white elementary school in the deep South, 1960. On the morning of November 14, 1960, federal marshals drove Ruby and her mother five blocks to her new school. While in the car, one of the men explained that when they arrived at the school, two marshals would walk in front of Ruby and two would be behind her. As soon as Bridges entered the school, white parents pulled their own children out; all the teachers refused to teach while a black child was enrolled. Only one person agreed to teach Ruby and that was Barbara Henry, from Boston, Massachusetts, and for over a year Henry taught her alone, “as if she were teaching a whole class”. That first day, Bridges and her adult companions spent the entire day in the principal’s office; the chaos of the school prevented their moving to the classroom until the second day. On the second day, however, a white student broke the boycott and entered the school when a 34-year-old Methodist minister, Lloyd Anderson Foreman, walked his 5-year-old daughter Pam through the angry mob, saying, “I simply want the privilege of taking my child to school…”. A few days later, other white parents began bringing their children, and the protests began to subside. Every morning, as Bridges walked to school, one woman would threaten to poison her; because of this, the U.S. Marshals dispatched by President Eisenhower, who were overseeing her safety, allowed Ruby to eat only the food that she brought from home. The Bridges family suffered for their decision to send her to William Frantz Elementary: her father lost his job, the grocery store the family shopped at would no longer let them shop there, and her grandparents, who were sharecroppers in Mississippi, were turned off their land. She has noted that many others in the community, both black and white, showed support in a variety of ways. Some white families continued to send their children to Frantz despite the protests, a neighbor provided her father with a new job, and local people babysat, watched the house as protectors, and walked behind the federal marshals’ car on the trips to school.

Mussolini’s office in Palazzo Venezia

Adolfo Hitler talking to Mussolini through the window of a train in Brennero, 1940

“Mountain Chief” recording Blackfoot songs for the Smithsonian in 1916

775 confirmed kills in one photo. Female snipers squad of Soviet Army

Soilders paying tribute to 8 million donkeys, horses and mules that died during WW1

Lyndon B. Johnson yelling at the pilots of a nearby plane to cut their engines so that John F. Kennedy could speak as Kennedy is seen trying to calm him down. Taken during the 1960 presidential campaign in Amarillo, Texas

Burlington Mayor Bernie Sanders picks up trash on his own in a public park after being elected in 1981, his first electoral victory

An American soldier says goodbye to his wife and infant child in Pennsylvania Station before shipping out for service in World War II. New York City,1943

Soviet gym teachers parade in Moscow, 1956. The Russian word used in the original title, “физкультурники“, is now usually translated as “gym teachers”, but at the moment of the parades meant “sportsmen/bodybuilders or athletes”. This is a legacy of Stalin era propaganda parades to promote physical fitness, mainly to make the people ready for heavy labor, possible wars and improve health of the nation.

The Royal Navy on the way home from France with Queen Victoria on board, who had just visited Napoleon III, 1858

Residents of West Berlin show children to their grandparents who reside on the Eastern side, 1961. The building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 divided families and neighborhoods in what had been the capital of Germany. The Wall represented a uniquely squalid, violent, and ultimately futile, episode in the post-war world. Life was changed overnight in Berlin. Streets, subway lines, bus lines, tramlines, canals and rivers were divided. Family members, friends, lovers, schoolmates, work colleagues and others were abruptly separated. In some cases, children who had been visiting their grandparents on the other side of the border were suddenly cut off from their parents.

German soldier lighting his cigarette with a flamethrower, 1917. The flamethrower, which brought terror to French and British soldiers was used by the German army in the early phases of the First World War in 1914 and 1915 (and which was quickly adopted by both). The Flammenwerfers (flamethrowers) tended to be used in groups of six during battle, each machine worked by two men. They were used mostly to clear forward defenders during the start of a German attack, preceding their infantry colleagues. They were undeniably useful when used at short-range, but were of limited wider effectiveness, especially once the British and French had overcome their initial alarm at their use. The operators of Flammenwerfer equipment also lived a most dangerous existence. Quite aside from the worries of handling the device – it was entirely feasible that the cylinder carrying the fuel might unexpectedly explode – they were marked men; the British and French poured rifle-fire into the area of attack where Flammenwerfers were used, and their operators could expect no mercy should they be taken prisoner. Their life expectancy was therefore short.

Source

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