Join the Fun!

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World I mean, I was pretty young when I learned about the Holocaust. I'm german, and we take this topic really seriously of course. It dawned on me then that the world wasn't as innocent as I thought it was back then. But I'm glad I learned about it at that young age. I was able to gain interest in that topic, and that's pretty important considering the latest events in the East of Europe. And it's important for my generation to really understand and grasp the horrors of the 3rd Reich to ensure that this won't happen again. Sadly it seems not all countries get educated that well in this topic. Not listing any names, there are many countries that now start to go into a rather fascist direction, which is more than concerning.

Robo--FED , Pixabay Report

Final score:

598points

POST

Maggz Bennett 1 year ago

It worries me, as a Brit, that after defeating the Nazis in WWII (along with the rest of the allied forces, of course), we are now effectively being led by politicians with a very similar ideology, especially when it comes to immigration etc. The conservatives do not represent the whole of the British people.

270points

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World Ghandi was a hypocritical pieces of s**t.

Mother Teresa stole loads of money and left people to die.

Siori777 , NPR Report

Final score:

581points

POST

Alecto76 1 year ago

I propose creating a church built around the teachings of St. Mr. Rogers.

72points

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World I'm from Texas, born and raised.

I found out within the past few years that the Texas Revolution was mainly due to Mexico outlawing slavery and Texas... not wanting to do that.

So everyone at the Alamo essentially died to preserve slavery. Yay.

1337bobbarker , Britannica Report

Final score:

557points

POST

freakingbee (they/them) 1 year ago

i have lived in texas my whole life and i didn't know this even though i took texas history last year-

153points

KilgorePTrout , RODNAE Productions Report

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World The church began the vow of celibacy for priests, not for any Biblical reasons, but so the priest didn’t have a spouse or any offspring who could inherit his wealth. This way the Church inherited all of it.

Final score:

527points

POST

KDS 1 year ago

Ah the love of money the root of all evil.

203points

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World That we domesticated pigeons thousands of years ago and then decided we didn’t want them anymore. People treat them like vermin after we relied on them for so much (food, messengers etc)

The pigeons you see in your cities are not wild, they’re abandoned.

pizzkat , Quang Nguyen Vinh Report

Final score:

501points

POST

Jane Cortez 1 year ago

The ending of the last sentence, ‘ abandoned.’ Pigeons are actually highly intelligent!

137points

FireEnchiladaDragon , Kalle Gustafsson Report

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World Old norse runes were found carved up like 20 feet in a cave- when they were translated, they just said "this is very high"

God I love people aksjsj

Final score:

470points

POST

JayhawkJoey 1 year ago

Ancient dad jokes!

160points

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World African kings were the ones who advertised their people as work force/labor to the world.

They died regretting those decisions.

Amasero , Damian Patkowski Report

Final score:

450points

POST

Alex Mont 1 year ago

Alot of people don't know this

157points

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World “It says here in this history book that luckily, the good guys have won every single time. What are the odds?”

- Norm MacDonald

bookon , Prateek Katyal Report

Final score:

391points

POST

king raven 1 year ago

History books are written by the winners, I'd love to see history through the loser's pov.

175points

FireFromThaumaturgy , Brett Sayles Report

#10

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World When I got older and realized the countless atrocities the United States has committed. Genocide, collusion, bombing our own cities. I used to feel a sense of safety knowing that I lived with the good guys and we stood for justice. That feeling is fleeting

Final score:

382points

POST

Austin Sauce 1 year ago

Not to mention overthrowing other democracies around the world. Read up on Iran.

137points

#11

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World Ancient Antarctica was actually a rainforest, a lush and verdant paradise, filled with flora and fauna.

Despite the interesting fact that there was a whole continent of animals who lived on this planet that we’ll never know about - as their remains are locked beneath miles of ice - it blew my mind that Antarctica only fully froze over about 35 million years ago, despite breaking from its supercontinent ~ 180 million years ago.

That means Antarctica supported independent life for ~ 145 million years, which ruined any sense I have for time and perspective. We really are specks on this planet.

oohaaahz , Pixabay Report

Final score:

375points

POST

StrangeOne 1 year ago

There's a large lake somewhere under the permafrost in the middle of the continent. Who knows if there's any aquatic life still living in there or if there's any frozen over that is unique to that lake.

89points

#12

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World If you look at the history of mankind, you quickly see that nobody ever learned from our history.

Plastik-Mann , Eugene Zhyvchik Report

Final score:

373points

POST

Minty mosasaurus 1 year ago

And now trump is trying to repeat all the worst parts

109points

#13

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World Can't remember the exact quote but it went something like, If the entirety of human (Homo) history was condensed into a 500 page book, modern anatomical humans wouldn't show up until page 450, and homosapiens wouldn't build empires until page 490, the atomic bomb and the foundation of Rome would be on the final page and only a paragraph apart. And yet in all of this the vast amount of technological advancements from the discovery of the atom to the modern day would fit in the last few sentences, of the last paragraph of the last page. And people wonder why we are reckless, we're still effectively great apes, but with shiny toys.

JitterySuperCoffee , Max Mishin Report

Final score:

368points

POST

Minty mosasaurus 1 year ago

The last sentence.

127points

#14

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World The inventions of Nikola Tesla and what little Edison actually invented himself

0odreadlordo0 , Renewable Energy Report

Final score:

346points

POST

Amanda Rose 1 year ago

Edison was an awful guy.

193points

#15

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World The Irish famine was an opportunity the British took to commit genocide against the Irish. They were intentionally starved, while other crops were shipped off island to the British citizens.

Nintendorian , Tomasz Filipek Report

Final score:

338points

POST

Amanda Rose 1 year ago

Yes. I have a degree in Irish Studies and this was brought up early and often throughout the course of my degree. It was overwhelming at times to read the individual stories and statements.

122points

Technician-Efficient , Britannica Report

#16

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World Leopold of Belgium,treated congo as "his personal property"
And people who failed to collect enough Cocoa had thier hands/the hands of their kids cut

And france forced Haiti (one of the poorest countries ever) to take a loan from a french bank,to pay the french government "a compensation for kicking the french occupation and slave traders out"
They paid it for nearly 100 years,
I knew humans could be s**t but somehow i thought there was a limit

Final score:

293points

POST

Strings 1 year ago

Never assume any limits to the depth of human depravity or stupidity

165points

#17

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World 95% of native people before Columbus died of diseases brought by explorers. That's 19 of 20 people, for two continents.

HarryHacker42 , Andrew James Report

Final score:

293points

POST

JayhawkJoey 1 year ago (edited)

Columbus was a pr!ck, and all he brought were disease and misery.

156points

Jon Mock 1 year ago

You forget murder, rape, slavery, and of course the biggest one, christ. He brought the systematic rape and destruction of countless cultures.

8points

Raccoon 1 year ago

And you can’t even use the “it’s the way it was back then” excuse. They also thought he was a prick

5points

marianne eliza 1 year ago

Give Columbus a break. If hadn't been Columbus, it would have been some other European explorer.

2points

Tracy 1 year ago

And they called them savages to justify their indifference & religious propaganda 🙄

2points

and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 1 year ago

He also may or may not have f****d a manatee.

2points

Minty mosasaurus 1 year ago

This.

2points

T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago

And a moron who miscalculated the size of the Earth.

1point

Dale Powell 1 year ago

That's not totally fair. He also brought slavery, rape, and theft. Give the man his due credit

0points

Niall Mac Iomera 1 year ago (edited)

To be fair, I don't think the disease was on purpose. Everything else though, yeah, he was terrible

0points

Deborah Rubin 1 year ago

We need to stop celebrating Columbus Day, and turn it into a celebration of Native Peoples.

0points

Janet Graham 1 year ago

No, but he opened the door for all of the creeps behind him.

0points

Kurichfield 1 year ago

and boatloads of seamen

0points

Arturo De la Rosa 1 year ago

said the guys that colonized the northern territory and eventually took that same land by force from the Spaniard colonizers..

0points

Ryan Parker 1 year ago

I know. Life in America is just miserable!!!! 🙄

-1point

欧阳霖峰 1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Daniel Atkins 1 year ago

Every time I read this you have to think that people at this time new little about germs. So I don’t think they were aware they were immune to diseases the natives were not. Every time I see these statements it reads as if they purposely came over to spread disease. Yes this happens later in history when virology was better known, but everyone acts as if the explorers purposely committed germ warfare.

23points

Ken Beattie 1 year ago

Germ warfare has been known about for centuries (millennia actually). There are examples dating back to 12th-15th century BC of armies using biological warfare. So it was absolutely possible that in Columbus time there was active germ warfare being used on the natives. Not saying it absolutely was, but it was certainly possible.

2points

Amanda Rose 1 year ago

There's a really good book called Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond that discusses just such a thing. His books are very interesting and informative.

9points

Ines Olabarria-Smith 1 year ago

One of my favorites.

1point

Nikki Sevven 1 year ago

Columbus didn't even discover America, ffs. Notice how it's not 'The United States of Columbia'? He 'discovered' the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. ('Discovered' in quotes because you can't 'discover a new land' when there are already people living there.) None of his four journeys brought him to the lands which would eventually become the US, so why tf do we even have Columbus Day?

8points

Jp@nda 1 year ago

Don't tell the Italians in Philly that

0points

Lou Cam 1 year ago

The native people of the Americas are already living in a post apocalypse world.

5points

Mamza Paulse 1 year ago

Columbus was a f*****g genocidal maniac who's first thoughts when he arrived in America was "these kind people who welcomed me would make great slaves, lets kill them all" (I'm paraphrasing)

3points

Bec 1 year ago

He wrote in his own diaries about how 12 year old native girls were prized as currency among he and his men, they chopped off natives hands and made them wear them around their own necks as punishment for not collecting enough treasures.

1point

Mathieu Brouwers 1 year ago

Columbus also took some native Americans back on his journey. Syphilis killed almost the entire (90%) Habsburg nobility (and almost 20% of the Austrians at the time).

2points

Anna Banana 1 year ago

I am proud of my brown Mexican skin. My native ancestors managed to survive. I am sad that I'm 70% European and have lost the Nahuatl language and the knowledge of my native ancestors when the Spaniards burned the books containing vast knowledge of the native peoples of Mexico.

2points

Gypsy Lee 1 year ago

Columbus didn’t discover America, he invaded it. - If it wasn’t him it would have been someone else as that has been the mentality of this world from the beginning.

1point

The Original Bruno 1 year ago (edited)

Disease certainly wiped out incredible numbers of pre-Columbians. And vast numbers of lived far, far away from first contact, or had no part in what follows: Western (typically anti-Catholic) historians dismissed out of hand as gross exaggerations stories by the Spaniards of incredible rates of human sacrifice among the Aztecs... until the bodies of 80,000 victims were found, all of whom were sacrificed almost simultaneously, and in one location. That's out of a population of 120,000 Aztecs. And that was BEFORE Columbus arrived. https://www.history.com/news/aztec-human-sacrifice-religion

1point

Ines Olabarria-Smith 1 year ago

Columbus died without knowing he had “found “ a different continent.

1point

Gary Geracci 1 year ago

Just Check Out the People"s History. White Men's diseases killed more than Guns and Swords!

0points

backatya 1 year ago

true

0points

natalie cohen 1 year ago

Actually I believe it was about 33%. Still horrible

0points

John Beck 1 year ago

Ironically, the Europeans who interacted closely with First People killed the most. The standoffish Whites had fewer opportunities to transmit disease. Note this was centuries before germ theory so we should cut them a little slack...

0points

Nikki D 1 year ago

That's a really gorgeous feather thing. Wish I knew the word!

0points

UtanaYona 1 year ago

That needs to be corrected...not explorers...invaders...

0points

Frazzled Mama 1 year ago

When I was an English teacher in Mexico and said that there are seven continents, my students quickly corrected me, saying, "Miss, there are FIVE continents." In Latin America, they call North and South America one continent: AMERICA.

0points

stella rossa 1 year ago

So true!!

0points

Immortal Jellyfish 1 year ago

Shout out to the tribespeople of North Sentinel Island who shoot all trespassers on sight!

0points

Paul Pienkowski 1 year ago

Y'all killed my girlfriend's ancestors.

0points

Miss Frankfurter 1 year ago

And the whites were the ones who called them “filthy”. I think not.

0points

Brenda Coe 1 year ago

Horribly true

0points

Leo Domitrix 1 year ago

Yep. Track the diseases, you track the doom. An extinction-level event that makes a zombie apocalypse look civilized.

0points

Dre Mosley 1 year ago

The US should abolish Columbus Day. Stop celebrating that ***hole.

0points

Ken Beattie 1 year ago

I disagree with that, just like I disagree with the push to abolish Australia day. That said, I think there is room to provide a fuller understanding of events and include the natives of the country.

0points

Doug the Special one 1 year ago

But at least he made room *or Trump.

-1point

Jen M 1 year ago

And they intentionally handed out disease covered blankets to kill natives without having to "kill" them personally. Can you imagine handing out a disease on purpose? To kill a certain population? Like if the CIA were to intentionally give out AIDS to a certain LGTBQ community to rid themselves if those people? Like who would do such a thing???

-2points

Wax0nWax0ff 1 year ago

That is a myth

0points

Max(pronouns/whatever/hamster) 1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

#18

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World There was a Spanish explorer that first visited the Inca empire and saw lots of prosperous cities and a great civilisation, and told his peers about it when he returned home. But when other folks went to visit the siad cities they found nothing but jungle and thought the explorer lied about his story. The fact that blew my mind is that nowadays we discovered that his story was true and the people he encounterd died from diseases brought into the new world and the cities and civilization they build were consumed by jungle in the spam of a few years

Manu82134 , Pixabay Report

Final score:

277points

POST

Thee8thsense 1 year ago

Spam kills.

134points

#19

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World I grew up in a conservative hometown. When I was in late college, I began to learn how the Bible is essentially a long game of telephone and one where the members playing telephone purposefully exagerrated and changed what they repeated to the next person.

The Bible was written by men who never met Jesus, who got their information about Jesus from other people, in a time period that relished mystics and it was normal to change facts, did not have any understanding of "facts" in general or reliability. The men also changed what they wrote about Jesus based on political changes at the time.

HighestTierMaslow , Aaron Burden Report

Final score:

277points

POST

Strings 1 year ago

You forgot about simple mistranslation. There's a bunch of that too

165points

#20

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World I spent a lot of time at the library in my early 20's and learned that the Old Testament isn't very old and some of the oldest stories are just copies or much older Sumerian myths. The Exodus has no real world evidence whatsoever, and the Egyptians ruled over the holy land for thousands of years without ever mentioning the Hebrew people until the Bronze Age Collapse.

zhivago6 , Tim Wildsmith Report

Final score:

267points

POST

JessieJ&LilyLovebug 1 year ago

And that whole baby in the Nile story was REALLY common among the "important" people.

81points

#21

The Japanese murdered more Chinese than the Germans did Jews. We praise Japan for their society and technological advances and despise the Germans because of Hitler. Whats worse? The Japanese boiling babies or the germans corraling jews into gas chambers? Yet the Japanese don't get much mainstream attention for all their atrocities.

phatNdangeris Report

Final score:

255points

POST

SkyBlueandBlack 1 year ago

We don't despise the Germans any more than we despise the Japanese. Neither Nazi Germany nor Imperial Japan survived past 1945.

65points

#22

As an African, probably learning about all the empires and developments on the African continent. Things that fly in the face of the claim that Africans were backward savages.

We probably know more about the empires in the northern parts of the continent but other developments like the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and Mapungubwe, the latter whose discovery was kept hush-hush because it didn't fit in with the narrative that justified continued colonization of Africans.

There's another more newly discovered civilization, named the BoKoni, that's still subject to all sorts of rumours just because it couldn't have been Africans that did that.

That even the "huts" some Africans lived in were a proactive choice because of certain advantages they held such as their ability to deal with the local climate and not simply because that's all they knew.

A bunch of little things that make history seem a lot less "black and white".

Cuiter Report

Final score:

237points

POST

JessieJ&LilyLovebug 1 year ago

Also, Timbuktu. I took a couple of courses from a woman who became an Urban Anthropologist, in Africa. This teeny, tiny Jewish woman from Connecticut (as she described herself) received quite a few raised eyebrows when she voiced her career intentions. She spent years in Africa studying urban cultures, and of the past cities, before most people even recognize that people in Africa were capable of great civilization. The knowledge was there, but most people didn't want to hear it.

84points

UnicornBrainsRPointy , mikedashhistory Report

#23

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World Victorian era London was a terrible place to be alive as a member of the working class. If I recall correctly. You could pay a penny to sit indoors on a bench but no sleeping! Two Pennies and you could swing your arms over a rope and sleep standing up or if you made hella money that day you could pay 4 Pennies and sleep in a coffin. The water is undrinkable and children expected working hours were 12 to 18 a day starting at 4 yrs old. By those standards a lot of us would look like royalty to them.

Final score:

221points

POST

Jilly 1 year ago

I fear we are about to repeat these horrors.

159points

#24

I once heard a saying that goes *“if you trace someone’s ‘land’ back far enough in time, it was bought in blood.”*

pizzabox53 Report

Final score:

209points

POST

Lyone Fein 1 year ago

This is true of all property. Everywhere on earth.

100points

#25

Prior to 1976 student loan debt could be discharged immediately after graduation by filing for bankruptcy. Then the "education amendments of 1976" stipulated that student loans could not be discharged in bankruptcy until five years of repayment, barring proof of "undue hardship." 1984 this was extended to cover private student loans as well. The "crime control act of 1990" extended the period before which bankruptcy proceedings could commence to 7 years after repayment began. And in 1991 the six year statute of limitations on collection was finally eliminated after it had been enacted in 1985. By 1998 there was a big push to eliminate any methods of discharging student loans via bankruptcy and seven years later, in the year 2005, all qualified student loans (including most private) were excepted from discharge with the passage of the "bankruptcy abuse prevention and consumer protection act."

Since then there have been a few attempts to give modern college educated people the same fighting chance that the old college educated folks had, but to little avail. Many of the same boomers that vote against helping college grads get out of exorbitant debt are the same ones who had their own college education funded by taxpayers. Still think those old folks in politics have the people's best interest in mind?

nobody_in_here Report

Final score:

203points

POST

David 1 year ago

The problem here isn't stopping people from intentionally abusing the bankruptcy process to bail on student loans. The problem is the cost of a college education (in the US) in the first place.

21points

#26

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World There are graffiti that got preserved in Pompei and Herculanum. Because they didn't have paper, public announcement were directly painted on the walls.

Some of those graffiti are on par with what you can find on the toilet's wall of trucker's stop. "i f****d the barmaid", "Felix f***s like a god", "Take of your clothes and show us your hairy privates"

chinchenping , Andy Holmes Report

Final score:

199points

POST

Downunderdude 1 year ago

'For a good time, call Biggus Dickus'

158points

#27

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World That Oxford University is older than the Aztec empire.

Daohor , Jose Lorenzo Muñoz Report

Final score:

187points

POST

Awkward Momma Panda 1 year ago

Okay bored panda, I don’t really like being ‘that guy’, but… This is a photo of a Mayan architecture (temple at Chichen Itza), not Aztec.

290points

#28

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World Learning about the depth and breadth of slavery in human history was a real eye-opener. We have really detailed documents from more modern history to show WHY that idea is so heinous, but it's always been a significant part of cultures all around the world serving as anything from a social construct to the very currency of war and with autonomy ranging from that of livestock to that of a low caste. Evidence of slavery predates written records and is even included in the code of Hammurabi where it was already an established institution and we still haven't stamped it out today, April 10th 2023, where slavery affects an estimated 46 million people (that's more than the total population of California, and approximately the population of Spain). It's crazy how awful humans have always been to one another and that we still can't seem to hold each other accountable for basic human rights, despite indelible proof.

FridayInc , British Library Report

Final score:

185points

POST

JayhawkJoey 1 year ago

Humans and a few monkeys are the only species, I believe, who kill for reasons other than survival. Our big brains do us little favor.

30points

Beth_Harmons_Bulova Report

#29

No one outside of America thinks the Puritans were a bunch of sweet, oppressed, morally-pure goody-goodies.

Final score:

184points

POST

Lyone Fein 1 year ago

Puritans were clearly religious fanatics. They were thrown out of 3 separate places.....England, Holland, Brazil.....before settling in New England at a time of year when it was too late to plant a crop.

27points

#30

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World When I learned that NASA had discovered over 100 billion GALAXIES and seeing the image to put into perspective that our entire solar system is only about the size of a coin compared to our galaxy which in relation would be the size of the United States.

We are so incredibly small within the universe.

Edit to add: Here’s a [photo](https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-gazes-at-a-galactic-menagerie) of just a snippet of the various galaxies. Keeping in mind, we haven’t even ventured outside of our solar system which is within our Milky Way galaxy, just a grain of sand in context to the universe.

cheeseburghers , NASA Report

Final score:

177points

POST

JayhawkJoey 1 year ago

Kinda makes that whole God thing seem like a fable.

62points

#31

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World That Napoleon wasn’t cartoonishly short. All those cartoons were a lie…

DudebroggieHouser , POLITICO Report

Final score:

172points

POST

Alex Mont 1 year ago

British propaganda

76points

#32

British rule of India caused at least 10 famines yet we almost hear nothing about it

PLutonium273 Report

Final score:

170points

POST

Rachel Ainsworth 1 year ago

The issue is more complex than this. Famine occurred on the Indian subcontinent in the areas ruled by English interests AND in areas ruled by Indian princes. It was also the English who first studied how to prevent famine and came up with the Indian Famine Code guidelines that were modernised by the Indian government..

11points

#33

It broke me the first time I learned that the library of Alexandria burnt down, and the scholars at the time still were trying to decipher parchment from even older and more ancient civilizations. I heard that and instantly realized we don't deserve our own intelligence

JayBisky Report

Final score:

170points

POST

Restless panda 🇫🇮 1 year ago

Didn't it burn down several times through centuries?

39points

#34

That, during WW2, all the other countries did not help the Jews escape from Nazi Germany, but on the contrary, closed their borders! For instance, the St. Louis was denied at a number of ports, until they finally had to return to Denmark, which was under Nazi occupation. They COULD have let those Jews on board in, say, Cuba or Florida or wherever!

P44 Report

Final score:

154points

POST

Thee8thsense 1 year ago

Ecuador gave Jewish people refuge.

66points

#35

That when the pyramids were being built, mammoths were walking the earth. Woolly mammoths lived there until 1700 BC. The Great Pyramid was completed around 2560 BC.

two- Report

Final score:

147points

POST

XenoMurph 1 year ago

"Lived there" don't you mean "here"? Gotcha, you scaly skinned lizard alien people!

69points

#36

As someone who grew up going to an evangelical church at least 2 times per week, Alan Turing's story is the one that made me re-examine what I thought I knew about homosexuality being immoral/unnatural/sin. I was probably 19 or 20 at the time.

It's probably the most pivotal thing that led me to question more about my faith despite it being so vitally important to my parents.

vorin Report

Final score:

137points

POST

Ken Beattie 1 year ago

I think the two things that convinced me religion wasn't real was original sin (ie: a baby wouldn't automatically get into heaven) and that dogs wouldn't be there either. I was pretty young at the time but it was like "you're saying this place is perfect", "Yes", "But my dog won't be there.", "No he doesn't have a soul". "Well I'm out".

120points

#37

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World More of a fun one, but lighters predate strike matches by a couple centuries. They originated from repurposed flintlock pistols that ignited tinder shoved in the barrel that were set aflame by the trigger mechanism.

Kataphractoi , Kelly Report

Final score:

136points

POST

and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 1 year ago

That actually makes a lot of sense… kinda sad that we have more advancements from weapons than other useful items.

26points

#38

I always grew up thinking that something like 50-75% of all white Americans owned slaves during the 1700s/1800s, my mind was kind of blown when I learned that it was closer to 1-3% of Americans.

edit: for context since this comment has received some upvotes..

25% of white families in the south likely owned a slave. In a few southern states (Mississippi for example) that number is closer to 45-50%. However, I was speaking about all Americans and not just those in the south.

It's possible if not likely that the overall number of whites in America owning slaves were closer to 5-10% rather than 1-3%, however my point stands that I always assumed it was closer to 50-75%.

Obi2 Report

Final score:

135points

POST

Con O Cuinn 1 year ago

Think about it. The majority of white immigrants arrived in the US during the 19th century. Most white Americans are only 3-5 generations away from being immigrants, whereas black Americans' families had been there at least double or triple that time.

53points

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

See Also on Bored Panda

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#39

I saw this in a WWI documentary. It's not so much a "historical fact" as much as "holy s**t I never thought about that"

We are taught that during the Great War, the allies were the good guys and the central powers were the bad guys. There were no good guys. Both sides used chemical warfare, both sides experimented with new tactics, both sides tortured and killed each other.

thunderball500110 Report

Final score:

135points

POST

Con O Cuinn 1 year ago

WW1 was basically a family squabble between European royal families. Except instead of throwing plates or slamming doors, they sent millions of poor people to their deaths

146points

#40

That I'd been living in the same society with all of those people who hatefully protested racial segregation in the 60s. They just went into hiding when it became socially unacceptable to wear your bigotry loud and proud. I no longer wonder what makes such a person as I get to watch the actual people announce their bigotry loud and proud today. Ignorance was bliss.

magicmom17 Report

Final score:

131points

POST

Riche White 1 year ago

As a white male growing up in the south I always wondered why if the klan was so proud of what they represented why did they hide behind the hoods? Show your faces, you cowards!

142points

#41

Willing to see Japanese folks to share what they learnt about the relationship between Korea. From what Japanese were taught in school, they “industrialized” Korea when they actually colonized and tortured millions of Koreans.

theberrymelon Report

Final score:

122points

POST

Zephyr343 1 year ago

The Koreans were ruled by almost everyone multiple times over the centuries. The Korean War Museum has an entire timeline of who ruled them when you first step inside the building. It is sad but really educational.

36points

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

See Also on Bored Panda

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#42

That the Middle East was once then center of knowledge and learning, particularly Bagdad. As well as the amazing extent and advanced civilizations in South and Central America prior to the 1500s.

i__Sisyphus Report

Final score:

118points

POST

Richard Graham 1 year ago

For example, we use Arabic numbers.

52points

#43

Ruined in an interesting, not bad way: ancient Greek and Roman polychromy.

The Parthenon temple looked a bit like Disneyland.

ipakookapi Report

Final score:

117points

POST

Lyone Fein 1 year ago

All those lovely white marble statues used to painted lots of colors!

55points

#44

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World Being raised in all catholic schools it was really surprising to me to learn that a lot of sections in the bible and a lot of religious practices were instated by people who basically decided so and justified it with ideas that were hammered to fit whatever they said

Like it wasn't always that priests had to be celibate. Some pope decided that they should be and that was that but really all it would take to reverse that is a pope to say otherwise and a bunch of cardinals to support it. And it doesn't really matter what religious texts say, since the chuirch basically controls the "official interpretation", they can say whetever they want

edit: to the based redpilled people out there being all "oMg dId YOu ThINk rElIgionS aRe ReAL", yeah no, the surprising part was to learn how easily the church can change any aspect of their dogma when they actually manage to agree on it. And if their own texts refute said change, they can just say "oh we looked at it again and it actually means we are right now"

madkeepz , Ajayjoseph Fdo Report

Final score:

112points

POST

JessieJ&LilyLovebug 1 year ago (edited)

Thus Martin Luther's rebellion, and the Protestant Movement...which really changed nothing, because most people still rely on other people to tell them what the Bible says and what it all means. But at least it is no longer illegal or heretical to translate it into any language, and to read it for one's self, if one is so inclined.

36points

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

See Also on Bored Panda

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#45

Not necessarily a historical fact but more of a fact of history; out of everything we know, there is so much more we don't know and simply never will know.

Even worse, the a lot of the things we believe we know are from commonly accepted theories that are held onto by elitist, ageing historians which only become refuted and debunked as they literally die off. The field of history as much as history itself is so ridiculously fascinating.

OriVerda Report

Final score:

110points

POST

Paul Pienkowski 1 year ago

This is why I think Heaven has a giant library. So we can learn what we missed, if we want to. Hear that, God? Books! I want books in Heaven.

6points

#46

The real reason chainsaws were invented. F**k that.

blaze1911 Report

Final score:

103points

POST

Thee8thsense 1 year ago

Childbirth-a true horror movie.

53points

#47

Not really ruined, but have you read Ben Franklin's diaries and s**t? Dude was a dirty horn dog.

Dark_Azazel Report

Final score:

103points

POST

Richard Graham 1 year ago

Bed Franklin had an estimated 60 children out of wedlock. I think Franklin was the real Father of our Country.

100points

#48

That Cleopatra is closer in time to us than the construction of the pyramids.

llc4269 Report

Final score:

89points

POST

Lakota Wolf 1 year ago

And she was Greek, not Egyptian XD

56points

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

See Also on Bored Panda

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

#49

That African Americans were "bred" once the slave trade was banned. I was so sad once I learned that. Those poor people. I cry sometimes when I think of that. No wonder there is so much hate.

no_onion_no_cry Report

Final score:

87points

POST

Strings 1 year ago

There is a reputedly haunted plantation house where they still have the "breeding" records. Supposedly, one male slave had been used at stud for several hundred children

42points

#50

95 percent of our species' history is lost forever.

MoOsT1cK Report

Final score:

86points

POST

Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago

Judging by much of the examples above, that may not be an altogether bad thing.

63points

SuperfluousPedagogue Report

Continue reading with Bored Panda Premium

Unlimited content

Ad-free browsing

Dark mode

#51

I was raised as a Christian (C of E, UK) and was a fairly gullible child.

I *loved* so many of the Bible stories - especially Moses being delivered the 10 commandments direct from God. Now, I know this makes no sense but hear me out - I assumed that the Bible had arrived this way too. I believed the book was delivered by God as a miracle.

When I learned that humans had not only written the books but also chosen what books were to be included (excluding 20 or so Gospels) my world collapsed. I was about 13 at the time but that was it. The entire foundation collapsed in an instant and my belief followed.

Final score:

33points

POST

Best Behave 1 year ago

You weren’t gullible you were a child educated by adults who had n either never questioned, or suppressed their own doubts. Don’t be too hard on them, they were bent up in a similar way

22points

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

See Also on Bored Panda

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

#52

The top spire of Empire State Building was designed for docking blimps

Gifford_Roberts Report

Final score:

32points

POST

Amanda Rose 1 year ago

During construction in October 1930; the USS Los Angeles, ZMC-2 and a J-class blimp seen overhead Zeppelin_b...a9a615.jpg

12points

#53

that the beach boys made up kokomo and that it is not a tropical caribbean island

epicgamer-724 Report

Final score:

31points

POST

Minty mosasaurus 1 year ago

I was heartbroken for days when I heard this 😔

1point

#54

People are stupid…historically

WTF_Bridgett Report

Final score:

31points

POST

Beruthiel45 1 year ago (edited)

It might interest you to know that after a period of increased average intelligence due to better life conditions, average intelligence in America has stopped increasing and has plateaued and lowered in the last 50 years. Researchers don't know why. Yet.

4points

#55

in ancient Rome, they once had a horse as a senator... **neighs**

DoraKennedy Report

Final score:

27points

POST

Steve Robert 1 year ago

And the US has asses voting in Congress.

5points

#56

50 Historical Facts That Have Completely Ruined The Way These People See The World That up until the 1980s newborn babies used to get operated on without anaesthesia because it was believed they couldn't feel pain.

Edit: spelling fix

Edit 2: you experts can calm your tits now. I may not be a doctor, but that doesn't make the history of it any less disturbing...

studyinthai333 , Christian Bowen Report

Final score:

26points

POST

freakingbee (they/them) 1 year ago

istg this is on every post

17points

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

See Also on Bored Panda

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

#57

Learning about the link between leaded gasoline and violent crime made me question free will.

Mogster2K Report

Final score:

26points

POST

Lyone Fein 1 year ago

Anything with lead in it will lead to insanity.

8points

#58

1. At one point in time, multiple different species of Homo Sapiens existed and were all probably killed off by Homo Sapien Sapien, i.e. us.

2. Most mammal species went for a couple millions of years before their extinction, which means we're basically at the starting quarter of Human Species and not the finale.

3. Most current dictatorships and brutal regimes in the world were aided or created by the Americans in some way who just threw money and weapons at third world countries and watched them be burned down as they suck out the resources that country had.

4. Most post-WW2 Independance Struggles of colonies succeeded not because of their tenacity, but due to Europe being driven into a depression after back to back wars.

5. Most historical figures are a******s whose assholery was never documented.

mayonnaiser_13 Report

Final score:

26points

POST

Lyone Fein 1 year ago

On #1. If you do a DNA test, you will probably see that the other species were in fact not killed off. They lost their distinct identities via interbreeding. Many of us still have a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA in us, and other strains as well. These show up on these tests.

7points

#59

That Paul Revere did NOT do the midnight ride. He was captured. It was another dude altogether, but his name wasn’t as poetic, I guess.

Knowing_Loki Report

Final score:

22points

POST

Robert Davis 1 year ago

Sybil Ludington was a 16 year old girl who actually made a "midnight ride" to warn of the British arrival rode all night until collapsed from exhaustion.

2points

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

See Also on Bored Panda

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

#60

Hitler isnt even in the top 3 of mass killers

Briffy03 Report

Final score:

21points

POST

Denise B. 1 year ago

The main horror, besides the obviousness of the deaths, of Nazi Germany compared to, say, Ghengis Khan, is the cold, literally calculating, meticulous record-keeping, scientific approach to mass murder. They were the first to employ time-management efficiency studies to carrying out genocide. And perhaps the only allegedly cultured people from the nation of Bach and Goethe to save the hair, shoes, eyeglasses, and gold fillings ripped from victims' teeth. All this in the 1930s and 1940s, not the 1540s or 1340s, makes Hitler and company serious contenders for "worst."

16points

#61

Sporus

A young slave boy Nero had castrated and then married

wootmon12 Report

Final score:

20points

POST

Thee8thsense 1 year ago

Poorus Sporus.

19points

#62

Nanking.

ChipTheOcelot Report

Final score:

20points

POST

Jeroen Mulder 1 year ago

The Nanjing Massacre (simplified Chinese: 南京大屠杀; traditional Chinese: 南京大屠殺; pinyin: Nánjīng Dàtúshā, Japanese: 南京大虐殺, romanized: Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as Nanking[note 2]) was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Battle of Nanking in the Second Sino-Japanese War, by the Imperial Japanese Army.[2][3][4][5] Beginning on December 13, 1937, the massacre lasted six weeks. The perpetrators also committed other war crimes such as mass rape, looting, and arson.[note 1]

17points

#63

Drilling down in to the history of armed conflict, there are no good guys.

New_Guava3601 Report

Final score:

19points

POST

sofacushionfort 1 year ago (edited)

Option A: posters hasn’t done the deep drill as claimed, is just playing the worldly cynic. Option B: poster sees Zelensky and Putin as two sides to the same coin.

13points

#64

that guillotines weren't to sharp (and even less sharp after some use) . several attempts were needed to decapitate a person, in a horribly and painfully way.

canelashrimp Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Thee8thsense 1 year ago

France stopped using the guillotine in 1977.

17points

whywasthatagoodidea Report

#65

Good men do not become rulers that history remembers.

Final score:

17points

POST

Khall Khall 1 year ago

There's that comment about 'push this button and win $1m. But someone else dies. And billionaires push that button every day' this is what kings and most rulers did too. They're almost all sociopaths. The greatest 'heros' of history were probably all monsters. Everyone of them.

13points

#66

The Caspian Sea has a second coastline deep underwater. It was a freshwater lake originally before it was flooded by the Mediterranean Sea. That appears to be the origin story for Noah’s flood. That was the beginning of the end of Christianity for me.

Edit: I’m told it’s the Black Sea, not the Caspian.

inactiveuser247 Report

Final score:

16points

POST

Lyone Fein 1 year ago

There is a terrific book on this topic, written by a couple of geologists. Noah's Flood by Ryan and Pitman.

9points

#67

How Gravrilo Princeps just happened to run into the Archduke after his groups previous failed assassination attempt makes me think he was a time traveler.

https://www.thecollector.com/gavrilo-princip-ww1/

Logiwonk_ Report

Final score:

12points

POST

Ken Beattie 1 year ago

More like he was the Mr Bean of assassins. Stumbling and bumbling into a world changing event.

17points

Lopsided-Spend-8513 Report

#68

That Akbar was a ruthless king.
He probably became wiser as he grew old. But in his early age he was neither liberal nor secular.

Final score:

11points

POST

Tim Martin 1 year ago

He was an Admiral not a king, also very good at discovering traps.

31points

#69

The Colonel died years before I was born, which means the guy in the suit at KFC I met when I was a kid wasn't the real Colonel.

Kiyohara Report

Final score:

10points

POST

David 1 year ago

Wait until you hear about how the honey packets have been changed to honey flavored corn syrup.

7points

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Read less »

Rasa is a photo editor at Bored Panda, they have a college degree in photography and are currently studying sewing. Ever since childhood Rasa was interested in visual arts, including painting, photography, knitting and so on. When not at work or studying they like to knitting, cooking and spending quality time with their cats.

Read less »

What do you think ?

POST

Claudia Stieble 1 year ago

It is widely known that at the end of WW 2 the Russian army raped hundreds of thousands of German women and girls, the youngest victims not even 3 years old. What is not that widely known is that American,British an French soldiers also raped their way through the western part of Germany. There were 900 000 reported cases of rape committed by allied soldiers (USA, UK, France and Russia), but the numbers might be in the millions. Most women did not report the assault, because the people they had to report to were also members of the Allied Forces and they were afraid of the consequences.

12points

RedPanda 1 year ago

Japan too. The concept of “comfort women” is horrible.

9points

Rick Seiden 1 year ago

That, by his own account, Christopher Columbus was evil. His own logs talk about selling young native girls into sexual slavery. There's more that I don't remember, but that alone is enough. I wish we could end Columbus Day in the US. It's starting to be called Indigenous People's Day, and I like that much better.

11points

Phoenix the Frog 1 year ago

Most Spanish took Native girls and women as wife or just raped them. That's why their is now mestizo in Latin America.

1point

Cerridwn d'Wyse 1 year ago

Always remember. .history is written by the victor

10points

Mondo Cane 1 year ago

Vctor Hugo?

2points

Cold Eagle 1 year ago

I find it concerning that some as calling out certain counties, religions, parties when in a tual fact if you look I to it every country has its dark past. We all have committed atrocities in our past. The only important thing is we choose not to repeat our ancestors and do our best to act like decent human beings.

4points

Tabitha Dombach 1 year ago

It is important to study history in depth and form our own thoughts from it, ask questions, and research the real facts behind events, not just believe what is in our school history books. Also, no one alive now is responsible for what happened in history, and should not be held accountable. Hold people accountable for their own actions, not those of ancestors that they have no control over.

4points

Invader Zim 1 year ago

Lots of revisionist history going on here....the internet is not a quality source of information

3points

talliloo 1 year ago

had a great professor in college that made a statement when it came to history that is on spot: "a written history never remembers - an oral history never forgets." the people who write it down can always insert an agenda of how it is meant to be perceived. but, those who pass history by verbal rote learn it verbatim as to how it unfolded such at the griots of africa.

2points

Izzy Curer 1 year ago (edited)

I wouldn't say it ruined my perspective, but it did throw me for a loop. Gruel wasn't nasty poor people food. It was literally just oatmeal or grain meal that was milled into flour instead of bits. It could be thick or thin, and it could be made with sugar and cream and spices. It could be eaten for breakfast or fed to kids, and was considered a comfort food for invalids. The reason we think bad about it now is because it always gets referred to as a 'thin gruel' in novels. We don't realize that the adjective is completely seperate. Oatmeal would also suck if it were thin. Technically speaking, storebought mashed potatoes are gruel!

2points

Beck 1 year ago

To the person who downvoted me about the 7 books....are you saying it is not true???

1point

Matias Marczak 1 year ago

Idk about your comment, but downvote sucks in practice, I try not read too much into it. They upvote my bad comments and downvote the good ones, I don't care anymore.

1point

Madster 1 year ago

I don't know what happened to me previous comment but if it's filth you desire just Google James Joyce letters.

1point

Literal Pigeon 1 year ago

Robespierre (of French Revolution fame) was not an evil dictator, he was framed by a group of financial fraudsters and (what would now be called) war criminals. Look up Joseph Fouche and Jean-Lambert Tallien. As for Robespierre, he didn't even sit on the tribunal that decided who went to the guillotine. He literally never sentenced a single person to death, and couldn't even issue an arrest without the approval of the rest of the committee he was part of. History really is written by the winners.

0points

Eggillo Threy 1 year ago

Re "yet in all of this the vast amount of technological advancements from the discovery of the atom to the modern day would fit in the last few sentences, of the last paragraph of the last page. And people wonder why we are reckless, we're still effectively great apes, but with shiny toys." Since we ARE totally reckless we are evidently NOT "great" in any humanitarian sense. At the core of homo sapiens is unwisdom (ie, madness) and so the human label of "wise" (ie, sapiens) is a complete collective self-delusion --- study the free scholarly essay “The 2 Married Pink Elephants In The Historical Room" ... https://www.rolf-hefti.com/covid-19-coronavirus.html Once you understand that humans are "invisibly" insane (pink elephant people, see cited essay) you'll UNDERSTAND (well, perhaps) why they, especially their alleged experts, perpetually come up with myths and lies about everything ... including about themselves (their nature, their intelligence, their origins, etc).

0points

Karen Klinck Klinck 1 year ago

The word 'great', when used in this context, refers only to size. The people who stand out in history didn't tend to be the kind, gentle ones--those were trampled by the ones we read about. That's why homo sapiens sapiens is a misnomer, too--we're hardly thinking creatures.

0points

Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 1 year ago

Wow, this list is full of rubbish.

-2points

sofacushionfort 1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Donkeywheel 1 year ago

Largely incorrect. History is « surprisingly » not the same depending on the country where the historian comes from and where the book or study is published. And I’m not even talking about the history class books used to teach children or students. English really think they had a glorious empire to be proud of. Americans really think they’re bringing democracy to the world. Russians really think they have some rights on Ukraine or the Baltic states.

0points

... 1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

POST

Claudia Stieble 1 year ago

12points

RedPanda 1 year ago

Japan too. The concept of “comfort women” is horrible.

9points

Rick Seiden 1 year ago

11points

Phoenix the Frog 1 year ago

Most Spanish took Native girls and women as wife or just raped them. That's why their is now mestizo in Latin America.

1point

Cerridwn d'Wyse 1 year ago

Always remember. .history is written by the victor

10points

Mondo Cane 1 year ago

Vctor Hugo?

2points

Cold Eagle 1 year ago

4points

Tabitha Dombach 1 year ago

4points

Invader Zim 1 year ago

Lots of revisionist history going on here....the internet is not a quality source of information

3points

talliloo 1 year ago

2points

Izzy Curer 1 year ago (edited)

2points

Beck 1 year ago

To the person who downvoted me about the 7 books....are you saying it is not true???

1point

Matias Marczak 1 year ago

Idk about your comment, but downvote sucks in practice, I try not read too much into it. They upvote my bad comments and downvote the good ones, I don't care anymore.

1point

Madster 1 year ago

I don't know what happened to me previous comment but if it's filth you desire just Google James Joyce letters.

1point

Literal Pigeon 1 year ago

0points

Eggillo Threy 1 year ago

0points

Karen Klinck Klinck 1 year ago

0points

Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 1 year ago

Wow, this list is full of rubbish.

-2points

sofacushionfort 1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Donkeywheel 1 year ago

0points