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I graduated high school before Instagram was created, and maybe that’s a good thing. Otherwise, I could've spent entire classes scrolling through accounts like The Historical Meme, laughing at the ineffectiveness of the Maginot Line instead of reading about it in my textbooks. Luckily, today I can indulge in this at 3 AM, so it doesn’t interfere with my life—yay! I invite you to join me, preferably at a more reasonable hour, to revisit what you've learned about our past (or discover it for the first time) in a refreshingly unconventional way.

More info: Instagram

To learn more about history, we contacted Howard Dorre, writer and co-host of the presidential history blog and podcast Plodding Through The Presidents, which he creates with his wife.

"History can offer the average person a better understanding of their world, through real-life stories of conflict and triumph," Howard told Bored Panda.

Indeed, these memes can ignite your curiosity, and that spark can continue to burn even after you're done scrolling through the list. Don't worry—you can continue your studies elsewhere.

Some things, however, may offer the most value for your time and effort, depending on your interests and background, and provide valuable context that will help you get the bigger picture.

#3

Funny-Historical-Memes-Jokes

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JimSteve
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22 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually, the British are just one of the most recent of hundreds of civilisations who took things from other cultures. Everyone just hates on the British because they're still around.

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"For Americans, I think it's important to understand the Revolutionary period and the formation of our Constitutional government, the history of slavery in the United States and the events leading up to the Civil War, the Reconstruction period, and the gains for African Americans that were erased with Jim Crow, the fight against fascism during World War II, and the Civil Rights era in the 1960s," Howard Dorre said.

"Together these periods tell the story of America's promise of equality and freedom in a way that makes it clear that we're not on some automatic steady path toward a better world."

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#9

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Upstaged75
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9 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I recently saw someone doing this on the lake where I live. He was on a paddleboard holding what looked like bat wings. It was a windy day, so he was getting some good air I guess. :)

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You can choose from a variety of sources to deepen your understanding of history!

In the fall of 2020, a US survey of 1,816 people revealed that the top three were all in video format:

  1. Documentary film/TV — 69%;
  2. Fictional film/TV — 66%;
  3. TV news — 62%.

Interestingly, more traditional sources, such as museums (35%), nonfiction books (32%), and lectures (12%) filled out the middle to lower ranks of this hierarchy.

Some much-welcome news is that the public sees clear value in studying history, even relative to other fields.

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Rather than asking whether respondents thought learning history was important—a costless choice—the researchers asked instead how essential history education is, relative to such fields as engineering and business. The results were encouraging: 84 percent of respondents felt history was just as valuable as the professional programs.

#16

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LizzieBoredom
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19 hours ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Tea drinking came to England in 1650, but because it was expensive, didn't become the most popular drink in England until the early 19th century. It took oolong time.

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der sebbl
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21 hours ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those who don't know: after WW1, Germany started to design new tanks, which they weren't allowed to because of the Versailles treaty. To disguise that, they stated that they were building tractors ( don't ask me why that worked)

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Tom Brincefield
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12 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In terms of total air power, the US Navy is second in power to the US Air Force. 3rd is Russia, with the US Army and the US Marine Corp rounding out the top 5.

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Crystal
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23 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So cruel! Ironically it was apparently Canada that passed laws to ban liquor first, then USA followed while Canada repealed decision. Canadian bootleggers got rich after that. 😁

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JimSteve
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22 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Boomers had to deal with all of the sh*t that happened afterwards so cut them some f*c*i*g slack modern hate culture!

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#32

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Corvus
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20 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah yes, I knew a girl in college who admired Stalin. Told her that if he were in power, she'd very likely be designated an enemy of the state due to being in college.

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FreeTheUnicorn
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17 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hawaii was unified in 1795 but it was independent for 800 years or so before that. By culture, language and customs, Hawaii was a country long before European maps designated it as such. If we applied the same metrics to Hawaii as contemporary European "countries" , Hawaii was a country a lot longer than. 103 years.

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Indosidius
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22 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You forgot South Africa. The 50 000 white women and children that died under terrible conditions in concentration camps. And the 100 000's more African natives that also died in similar camps that no record was kept off, except for the skeletons in the mass Graves....

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#44

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Ellinor
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20 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My great-grandfather was living in the region of Lorraine during WW2. History class became really weird when my teacher asked us to talk about our families' experiences in the war...

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Corvus
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20 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Being well-fed is evil capitalism. Therefore, we shall stay hungry, comrades!

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Note: this post originally had 73 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.