Fun History Facts
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Fun History Facts
01.The European Union is a political union of 2 European countries with the goal to create a single market for goods and services without economic barriers . Ten members of the EU do not use the euro
02.A Hungarian named Ladislo Biro invented the first ballpoint pen in 1938.
03.The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest man-made structure for over 3,800 years.
04.The Library of Alexandria contained over 400,000 scrolls, but much of its knowledge was lost in fires.
05.The world’s first known peace treaty was signed between the Egyptians and the Hittites in 1259 BC.
06.Ancient Egyptians had toothpaste made of crushed eggshells and ashes.
07.Roman concrete structures like the Pantheon are still standing because of their superior volcanic ash mixture.
08.The Roman Colosseum could hold 50,000 spectators and had an advanced retractable awning system.
09.The first recorded labor strike happened in ancient Egypt when pyramid workers protested low wages.
10.Ancient Sumerians invented the first known writing system, cuneiform, over 5,000 years ago
Fun History Facts
11.Viking warriors did not wear horned helmets; this was a later artistic invention.
12.Medieval knights sometimes fought snail duels—no one knows why.
13.The oldest university still in operation is the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco, founded in 859 AD.
14.The Black Death (1347-1351) wiped out one-third of Europe’s population.
15.In medieval Japan, samurai tested their swords on criminals or corpses.
16.The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in history, spanning 9.27 million square miles.
17.King John of England (of Robin Hood fame) once lost his crown jewels in a swamp.
18.Medieval surgeons sometimes used ant heads to stitch wounds.
19.The Byzantine Empire lasted over 1,000 years, finally falling in 1453.
20.Marco Polo claimed he brought pasta from China, but pasta existed in Italy before him.
21.Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand while drawing with the other.
22.Galileo Galilei was sentenced to house arrest for supporting the heliocentric theory.
23.The first modern newspaper was published in Germany in 1605.
24.Shakespeare invented over 1,700 English words, including “bedroom” and “swagger”.
25.Peter the Great of Russia imposed a “beard tax” to make Russians look more European.
26.The first known stock exchange was created in Amsterdam in 1602.
27.The Great Fire of London (1666) destroyed most of the city but only caused six deaths.
28.Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod and the bifocal glasses.
Fun History Facts
29.Catherine the Great of Russia helped establish vaccination programs against smallpox.
30.Marie Antoinette never actually said, “Let them eat cake”.
31.Napoleon Bonaparte was once attacked by a horde of rabbits.
32.The first photograph was taken in 1826, and it took 8 hours to expose.
33.Abraham Lincoln is enshrined in the Wrestling Hall of Fame—he lost only one match out of 300.
34.The U.S. Civil War had a balloon corps for aerial surveillance.
35.The Eiffel Tower was meant to be temporary, but it became a landmark.
36.Queen Victoria survived seven assassination attempts.
37.The first successful vaccine (for smallpox) was created by Edward Jenner in 1796.
Fun History Facts
38.Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel, who later created the Nobel Prize.
39.Charles Dickens’s pet raven inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven”.
40.The Statue of Liberty was originally intended for Egypt before being gifted to the U.S
41.The Titanic was predicted in a novel called Futility 14 years before it sank.
42.World War I pilots carried pistols because parachutes were not standard yet.
43.The first person to survive Niagara Falls in a barrel was a 63-year-old woman.
44.In 1938, Time Magazine named Adolf Hitler “Man of the Year” before WWII began.
45.Penicillin, the world’s first antibiotic, was discovered accidentally by Alexander Fleming in 1928.
46.The Apollo 11 moon landing almost ran out of fuel before landing.
47.The Berlin Wall stood for 28 years before it was torn down in 1989.
48.Cleopatra lived closer to the Moon landing than to the building of the pyramids.
49.The first recorded war was between Sumer and Elam in 2700 BC.
50.The Library of Alexandria housed over 400,000 scrolls before it was destroyed.
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51.The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders, may have never existed.
52.The first peace treaty ever recorded was between the Egyptians and the Hittites in 1259 BC.
53.Ancient Romans used urine as a mouthwash because of its ammonia content.
54.The Roman Colosseum had a retractable roof operated by sailors.
55.Roman concrete structures are still standing today because they get stronger with time.
56.Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates and demanded they increase his ransom because he believed he was worth more.
57.Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other simultaneously.
Fun History Facts
58.Shakespeare invented over 1,700 words, including “bedroom” and “swagger.”
59.The first flushing toilet was invented by Sir John Harrington in 1596.
60.The Mayflower carried beer instead of water because it was safer to drink.
61.Peter the Great of Russia imposed a tax on beards to modernize his country.
62.Napoleon was once attacked by a horde of bunnies when he tried to stage a rabbit hunt.
63.Marie Antoinette never actually said, “Let them eat cake.”
64.The first stock exchange was established in Amsterdam in 1602.
Fun History Facts
65.Ben Franklin proposed the idea of Daylight Saving Time in 1784.
66.The guillotine was still used in France until 1977.
67.The Eiffel Tower was originally meant to be dismantled after 20 years.
68.Abraham Lincoln was a champion wrestler before becoming president.
69.Thomas Edison’s first invention was an electric vote recorder.
70.The first photograph of a person was taken in 1838.
71.The first fax machine was invented in 1843.
72.The world’s first subway system opened in London in 1863.
73.The Statue of Liberty was originally intended for Egypt.
Fun History Facts
74.Japan’s samurai class was officially abolished in 1868.
75.Coca-Cola was originally marketed as a medicine.
76.The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC in Greece.
77.Hitler was rejected from art school twice.
78.Mozart composed his first symphony at age 8.
79.Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times.
80.The longest-reigning monarch in history was Louis XIV (72 years).
81.The CIA once tried to use cats as spies.
82.George Washington had false teeth made of hippo ivory
Fun History Facts
83.Ancient Romans had fast-food joints called “thermopolia.”
84.The US once planned to drop a giant bomb on the Moon to show military power.
85.The world’s oldest surviving recipe is for beer.
86.Joan of Arc was only 19 when she was burned at the stake.
87.The first recorded use of a toilet was in 2800 BC.
88.The world’s first recorded strike was in Ancient Egypt.
89.King Tut’s tomb had an ancient curse inscribed inside.
90.A medieval “trial by ordeal” involved making accused criminals grab a red-hot iron bar; if they healed, they were innocent.
91.The first recorded marathon was run in 490 BC by a Greek soldier who ran from Marathon to Athens to announce victory.
92.The Eiffel Tower was almost dismantled and sold as scrap metal in 1909.
93.The first email was sent by Ray Tomlinson in 1971, and he chose the “@” symbol randomly.
94.A 17th-century Pope banned coffee, calling it the “Devil’s Drink,” but later changed his mind after tasting it.
95.Ancient Egyptians invented the first known form of toothpaste over 5,000 years ago
96.The Leaning Tower of Pisa was already tilting before it was even finished in 1372
97.The Statue of Liberty was originally designed to be a lighthouse
98.The ancient Persians used ice houses called “yakhchals” to store ice in the desert over 2,000 years ago
99.Genghis Khan’s empire was so vast that about 1 in 200 men today are his direct descendants
100.The Great Wall of China isn’t a single continuous wall—it’s a series of walls built by different dynasties over centuries
Fun History Facts