ADVERTISEMENT

History is fascinating; from the development of entire continents and ancient civilizations to architectural heritage and stories about events that shaped the world we live in today. There is so much to learn about it, both people who’ve never held a history book in their hands and avid history enthusiasts would find something new to learn every day.

Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently discussed happenings in the past that might have been many people’s “new thing to learn for the day”. When this redditor started a thread about historical events that are so ridiculous they sound fake, netizens shared quite a few stories, ranging from difficult to believe to plain ridiculous. Scroll down to find them on the list below and enjoy a rather amusing history lesson.

Bored Panda has reached out to the OP and they were kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find their thoughts in the text below.

#1

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference. It would have been rejected for an episode of Veep because it was so ridiculous.

AnybodySeeMyKeys , BBC News Report

#2

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver For a very long time the Roman empire was able to acquire silk through trade over 'the silk road' to China, but never able to unlock the secrets of producing it domestically themselves. Until 552AD, when two monks preaching in India then travelled to China, where they witnessed the guarded methods of using the live silk worm to spin the famous thread. Knowing the importance of what they'd learned, the monks returned to Constantinople to report directly to the emperor Justinian. He personally met the monks, heard all the details of what they'd seen, then asked them to return to China and find a way of smuggling these worms back to the empire. They agreed, and prepared for the 2 year ~6,500km (4,000mi) trek back to China on foot, hoof and wheel. Once back in China they acquired either eggs or young larvae, since the adults are too delicate for transport, and tucked them into hollowed bamboo canes for the long journey straight back home. Once the monks made it back to Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), domestic silk production slowly ramped up and the need for long journeys along the 'silk road' ramped down. Over time, this allowed the same type of silk monopoly which China had enjoyed through the prior centuries to now be established in the Mediterranean, becoming one of the bedrocks of the Byzantine economy for the next 700 years.

It's crazy to think about these two guys. 1500 years before you or I were born, making their second multi-year, 6,500km trek back from China, smuggling two bamboo canes full of bugs which would fuel the economy of one of the world's largest civilizations for the next 700 years. I wonder if they knew and understood these possibilities when they went to scoop the worms from their baskets in China...Imagine the anxiety trying to keep them hidden and alive the whole way back!

ChipHazardous , Susan Wilkinson Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#3

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Operation Mincemeat.

Basically, the British dressed a random dead guy in a military uniform, put fake invasion plans in his pocket, and dropped him on the shore of Spain. The Spanish found the body (and invasion plans) and informed Germany. Germany, believing the invasion plans were real, sent an army to Greece- which is exactly what the Brits wanted, because they were actually going to invade Sicily.

ThePinkTeenager , NordNordWest Report

“I decided to ask that question because I was watching a video about rescued animals with my boyfriend, and an emu appeared on screen and he said ‘can you believe we lost a war with these guys?’,” the OP told Bored Panda, revealing how they got curious about the hard-to-believe historical events.

“I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, and he told me about the Great Emu War in Australia where the emus won! I thought it was so crazy and hilarious that I decided to ask Reddit about other crazy historical events.”

#4

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Immovable Ladder.

In Jerusalem there is a tiny christian church called the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that is shared by six different, very old, denominations.

There is so much animosity between the groups that they were forced into an agreement where any change to a common area had to be agreed to unanimously (the Status Quo).

During repairs sometime before 1757 a construction worker left a simple wooden ladder behind on a roof landing.

It has been over 260 years and the church leaders still refuse to agree on how to remove the ladder, so there it sits.

Fun fact: to stop the denominations from fighting over the keys to the front door, the Sultan ruling Jerusalem entrusted the keys to a muslim family that still, to this day, open and close the church.

FoolishProphet_2336 , Seetheholyland.net Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#5

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver When America went to war with Spain, the Spanish forgot to tell their territory, Guam. The US sent a single warship to the island where they took 13 shots at the fort. The leaders on the island rowed out to apologize they couldn't return their "salute", they had no gunpowder.

That is why Guam is a US territory.

Wetworth , Palm dogg Report

The redditor was taken aback by the response they received from the online community. “After posting, I was shocked with how many people had different events to share,” they told Bored Panda.

“The great emu war was one of the most common comments, but others like the Great Molasses Flood, Wojtek the Polish soldier bear, and the War of Jenkins’ Ear were also frequently posted and really surprised me. Most of the stuff I read I had never learned about in school so it was a really fun time going through each comment.”

#6

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Stanislov Petrov literally saved the world from nuclear destruction by not calling in a missile launch when he was in command. He figured it MUST be a malfunction even though all his computers told him it was not.

It was a malfunction. Had he called it in, there would have been several billion dead.

nixed9 , Stanislav Petrov Report

Add photo comments
POST
The Scout
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not knowing whether to give the man a medal (for preventing a nuclear war) or to shoot him (for refusing orders), the Soviets decided to completely ignore the incident. Petrov later was promoted, though, for his completely unrelated "improvements of nuclear facilities"...

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#7

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Hannibal saved his army by tying torches to the horns of 5,000 cows and driving them one direction. The Romans thought they were the enemy army and converged on them, while Hannibal quietly snuck his 10,000 man force out of the valley by another route.

Marxbrosburner , Youssefbensaad Report

“I’d also like to add that even events that were very commonly known were also posted a lot, like the moon landing, World War II, and the Manhattan Project,” the OP pointed out. “But while most people learned about these events in school and they seem like everyday historical facts, when you really process these events and rethink them, it is kind of mind-boggling that they actually happened.”

#8

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Ancient Egyptians went on strike building a royal necropolis in the year 1152 BC and were the first to ever strike. And in a pleasant turn of events, the workers received higher wages and returned to the project.

To be clear, they were not slaves or anything, just the craftsmen of their time, but I still found it odd that even thousands of years ago there is documented evidence of striking being successful rather than companies attempting to squash down modern strikes.

ptwinc , David McEachan Report

Add photo comments
POST
The Scout
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Those were no simple workers, though. They were highly qualified specialists. And as, according to the religious beliefs of the time, the wellbeing of the universe depended on the king being properly sent off into the afterlife, they were very conscious of their importance. That being said, their work conditions were extremely good for the time. Free healthcare, unlimited sickdays, free housing and food... "Wages" is a word that does not match fully, though. They were mostly paid in beer and bread.

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Battle of Pelusium. In short, Persians held cats hostage, forcing an Egyptian pharaoh to declare war to save them.

Schwarzes__Loch , Henry Charles Seppings Wright Report

#10

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver When two perfectly working pistols failed to fire on US President Andrew Jackson who then beat his would-be-assassin so badly that the presidential security detail had to pull him off to save the man's life.

sleepwalkfromsherdog , Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl Report

Add photo comments
POST
Michael Largey
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was no presidential security detail present there. The people who intervened were bystanders, including then-congressman Davy Crockett (also someone not to mess with).

Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The security detail part of the story comes from another assassination attempt - it was Truman who was pulled off of a would be assassin by the Secret Service.

Load More Replies...
DB
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pfft. If the Secret Service had let him, Reagan would have kicked Hinkley's a*s.

Pie
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You ok? Hinkley nearly killed Reagan. He went directly into surgery. "If the Secret Service had let him" Reagan would have bled out in the limo.

Load More Replies...
Riley Quinn
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a real shame this disgusting racist wasn't assassinated. His ethnic cleansing was devastating for the Indigenous peoples.

Stephanie Chapman
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wish he had died. He set up the "Trail of Tears" and forced many 5 tribes of Indigenous People of their land and many their terrible deaths. He sounds like a real douche and shouldn't be on currency.

FaceTime Audio
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Apparently he also kept a big block of cheese in his White House.

unfilteredCigarette73
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also didn't his pet parrot have to be removed from his funeral because the bird wouldn't stop swearing?

Load More Replies...
Back in St. Olaf
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What makes it all the more remarkable is that AJ was 68 years old at the time.

Jared Robinson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Like why? That man clearly intended to catch himself a case of self defensed to death.

LinkTheHylian
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Where's this guy's musical, Lin Manuel? Or Teddy Roosevelt's for that matter?

Robert Bois le Duc
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jackson then went on to create the Trail of Tears by forcing Native Americans to walk hundreds of miles into isolation out west.

Elaine Dodge
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A strong case of hyperbole. Andrew Jackson attempted to batter the attacker with his cane. 'Attempted' is vastly different to 'beat his would-be assassin so badly'.

Ralph Watkins
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even back then the perpetually offended complained that they thought Jackson was too brutal towards his would-be assassin.

R.A. Haley
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We need another Andy Jackson for president, but Donald Trump will do.

Der Kommissar
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Racist alkie did what now? Trail of Tears; forced Native Americans to leave their homes in North Carolina and WALK to Oklahoma. Approximately 6,000 men, women and children died.

Kathy L
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That figures. Andrew Jackson was our first yt trsh POTUS.

Sandvich Mann!
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Shut the f**k up lil b***h a*s. Scared to say "WHITE"? dumbass you woke idiots go so out of your way to talk bad about people from 200 years ago. LMAO, you p**s me off.

Load More Replies...
View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

The redditor with a newly found passion for somewhat bizarre historical events shared that their favorite one of them all has to be the Dancing Plague of 1518. “This one fascinates me a lot because I love mysteries and I’ve always wanted to know what caused it.”

“It was mentioned under my post a couple times, but it doesn’t seem like as many people know about it, which is crazy because it is such a bizarre occurrence. I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever have answers to the cause.”

#11

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver In 1982, Larry Walters strapped a bunch of weather balloons to a lawn chair and flew 16,000 feet in the air over LA. That's about half the height of commercial airline cruising altitude. Just a guy up there in a lawn chair taking in the sights. And he landed safely.

SayNoToStim , omnibus Report

Add photo comments
POST
Jon Steensen
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sure and when the FAA caught him they were quite sure that he has busted some kind of aviation law, but it took some time to figure out exactly what to charge him for. But I guess that you still cannot enter controlled airspace without a clearance, eventhough you are sitting in our lawn chair.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#12

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Cadaver synod. New pope digs up the old pope, puts him on trial, finds him guilty, and punished the corpse. For whatever reason they don’t teach you about that in catholic school.

WoodchipperTesticles , Jean-Paul Laurens Report

#13

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Stephen King was so obsessed with the song "mambo no.5" that his wife threatened to divorce him.

Zodiark99 , Stephanie Lawton Report

#14

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Erfurt Latrine Disaster.

The Erfurt latrine disaster occurred on 26 July 1184, when Henry VI, King of Germany (later Holy Roman Emperor), held a Hoftag (informal assembly) in the Petersberg Citadel in Erfurt. On the morning of 26 July, the combined weight of the assembled nobles caused the wooden second story floor of the building to collapse and most of them fell through into the latrine cesspit below the ground floor, where about 60 of them drowned in liquid excrement.

amerkanische_Frosch , uni-heidelberg Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#15

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The 1904 Olympic Marathon in St. Louis.


32 athletes took part, but only 14 were able to finish - there was only one water station in the entire 26-mile course. The “winner” was later disqualified because they found out he drove half the race in his car. The new winner (the guy who came in second) had to be carried over the finish line by his trainers because they’d been dosing him the whole time with a strange mixture of strychnine, brandy, and egg whites.


Several people almost died of internal injuries. Multiple runners stole things from passerby. Most people in the race weren’t even Olympic-level athletes, just amateur runners, many of whom didn’t even have to run a full marathon to qualify.

Blacl-Owl , unknown Report

#16

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver That time Denmark and Canada (I think) had a "war" over an island. Everytime a Navy vessel drove by they picked up the flag of the over nation, planted their own and left a bottle of alcohol.

I heard it stopped not that long ago.

FairyQueen89 , Per Starklint Report

Add photo comments
POST
Bored something
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe they now share it and still leave a bottle of alcohol whenever the island is visited.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#17

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The first chancellor of modern day Germany, Konrad Adenauer, traveled to Moscow in 1955 to treat with Chruschtschow. He achieved his main goal of ~10000 POWs returning to Germany. The legend goes that this feat was made possible because he outdrank Chruschtschow because he drank a lot of olive oil before which mellowed out the effects of the vodka they were drinking.

So 10000 people got to go home because one dude knew how to handle booze

Papageno_Kilmister , Adenauer, Konrad Report

Add photo comments
POST
The Scout
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Certainly one of the strangest German politicians ever. His ways to deal with leftover nazi staff in his administration and with what passed as the political right wing at the time was debatable at best, his political views complicated, his demeanor not very appealing. But also there are stories like this, which is absolutely in character. He had also been an unsuccessful inventor before the war, owning the patents for more or less unusual products like one-use trousers, vegetarian soy sausage (well, he simply was a few decades early for this to catch on), a see-through toaster, insect tasers (this one was rejected because it would have killed the insects but also the user) and a timer-controlled nightstand lamp. He only got his patents through in Austria and Britain, though. The only thing German patent authorities accepted was his cornbread receipe.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#18

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Boston Molasses disaster

GoliathLandlord , Boston Public Library Report

Add photo comments
POST
Francis
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wikipedia is my friend: The Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster, was a disaster that occurred on Wednesday, January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A large storage tank filled with 2.3 million U.S. gallons (8,700 cubic meters) of molasses, weighing approximately[b] 13,000 short tons (12,000 metric tons), burst, and the resultant wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour), killing 21 people and injuring 150. The event entered local folklore and residents claimed for decades afterwards that the area still smelled of molasses on hot summer days.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#19

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Great Emu War

porno_priest , Sharon Co Images Report

Add photo comments
POST
Bernd Herbert
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of the things why I am still a regular visitor to the BP site, next to all the celebrity, weeding, tiktok nonsense: From time to time, you can actually learn something!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#20

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Dutch ate their Prime Minister. And his Brother.

Bad-North , Adriaen Hanneman Report

#21

During one of the first Japanese delegations to the US, one of the Japanese guys was in culture shock (first time seeing the US) and confused about how to conduct himself politely, so at a fancy dinner when he finished his cigarette he put it up his sleeve to not appear rude leaving it out and set fire to himself

QuantumTopology Report

Add photo comments
POST
Multa Nocte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Easily my favourite fact on this list. I mean, who hasn't accidentally set fire to him or herself to avoid an awkward social situation?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#22

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver That thing at Kitty Hawk where 2 guys in a bike shop cobbled together a glider and attached an internal combustion engine and started flying?

Legion357 , Library of Congress Report

#23

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, the largest ($ value, inflation adjusted) heist in Canadian history

Uwumeshu , madeincanadagifts Report

Add photo comments
POST
Multa Nocte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Canadian_Maple_Syrup_Heist

View more commentsArrow down menu
#24

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Gombe Chimpanzee War. It sounds like something right out of a Planet of The Apes movie. 

DeadalusJones , mwangi gatheca Report

#25

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Roman emperor Caligula declared war on Neptune, god of the sea, and ordered his troops to "fight the sea waves" to show Neptune whos boss. I can only imagine the soldiers faces while listening to such absourdity.

The fact that some madman was the most powerful person in the Roman empire at some point in history is fascinating.

Inevitable-Gur3895 , Sergey Sosnovskiy Report

Add photo comments
POST
Beanz' Mum
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can imagine The Dumpster doing this if he ever gets back into office......

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#26

In the 1600s, Japanese Samurai fought with Mexican soldiers in Acapulco. We know this because it was recorded by the grandson of an Aztec king.

hopefuldownside Report

#27

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The last guillotine execution in France took place after the first Star Wars movie was released.

InfiniteInsomniac , Richard Mortel Report

#28

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Russia sending their baltic fleet to fight the Japanese Navy. Yes, the Baltic is on the other side of the planet. No, the baltic sailors had never seen ocean, or naval war, ever. Yes, it was a sh*tshow. It lasted for months, they attacked everything from Danish fishing vessels to each other, again and again. Thinking the ship next to them was a Japanese torpedo-boat, outside of F**** Nigeria, it wasnt, it was also Russian. Luckily they were so inept that 99% of all shots fired went into the ocean.

alexdaland , Nikita Karimov Report

Add photo comments
POST
Jon Steensen
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What were the Danish fishing vessels doing near Japan? ...or were the just so unsure of where they were that that the thought they had almost completede the journy by the time they passed Denmark?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#29

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Great Windham Frog War.
In 1754 Windham, Connecticut was still a frontier settlement. One hot night the residents awoke to gruesome sounds that convinced them that the local Indians were attacking. Throughout the night they strove to drive off the attackers with steady gunfire. In the morning they crept out, to find thousands of dead frogs who had spent the night competing for the dwindling water.
Rather than being ashamed, this has become a central part of the town’s character. The town’s symbol is a frog and the bridge is decorated with large frogs at each corner.

DdraigGwyn , Grendelkhan Report

Add photo comments
POST
Joshua Macdonald
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Used to drive by this every time id go to rhode Island to the beach as a kid. Laughed every time

View more commentsArrow down menu
#30

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The Field of the Cloth of Gold, where an English King and a French one tried to out-bling each other. The fact that two monkeys covered in gold leaf were far from the most ostentatious display is a good indication of how tasteful it was.

notatravis , Jean Clouet Report

Add photo comments
POST
Dammian
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know, but to my untrained eyes... it's pretty similar to the MET Gala or the Oscars for some of the participants...

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#31

The Mongol Invasions of Japan

In the 13th century the Mongols were an absolutely unstoppable force wherever they turned their attention. The had captured the Korean Peninsula and were threatening Japan, putting together an enormous invasion fleet.

While sailing the relatively short distance to Japan they were struck by a typhoon and the fleet was absolutely devastated, sparing Japan from invasion.

Only seven years later the Mongols put together an even larger invasion force with larger storm-worthy ships. They were utterly destroyed by another typhoon.

FoolishProphet_2336 Report

Add photo comments
POST
Ali H M Salehuddin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Mongols vessels are not actually storm-worthy due to differences in bottom hull design. Sea-going ships need to have deep hull where significant part of the hull is underwater. This provides stability from rocking sideways during strong winds. The Mongols, coming from land-locked country, used shallow hull ship design. This design is great to travel on rivers as they are less likely to get dragged on the bottom of shallow rivers. They are terrible for windy sea condition.

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#32

The Peking to Paris race. It was a car race from Peking China to Paris France in 1907. The winner was the Italian team lead by Scipione Borghese. In honor of the victory the color of his car, rosso corsa became the standard color for Italian race cars and the primary reason most sports cars are red.

MonkeyThrowing Report

#33

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver The guy who founded Scientology once engaged in a multi-day naval battle with a log. He would then go on to commit an act of war against Mexico.

Duck_Whistle , Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library Report

Add photo comments
POST
Gustav Gallifrey
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

L. Ron Hubbard was a fruitcake of monumental proportions. But, by crikey, he was also a terrific swindler.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#34

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Video of President Bush Vomiting on the Prime Minister of Japan Kiichi Miyazawa, January 8, 1992.


Actually, there is one event which occurred back in January of 1992, which I as a senior in High School knew would sound like a far fetched tale after enough time had passed. President George Bush, who was 67 years old at the time and on an official visit to Japan engaged in trade talks, would on the morning of January 8, 1992 play a game of tennis doubles with the Emperor of Japan and the prince. Yet just hours later on the same day during dinner with the Prime Minister of Japan Kiichi Miyazawa, suddenly vomit onto the Prime Minister’s lap and then faint. The Prime Minister of Japan was dumbfounded but remained calm. President Bush regained consciousness but took several minutes to do so, he was able to leave banquet on his own, though the secret service personnel were trying desperately to assist. The next morning President Bush would try to down play the event and resume his schedule. Yet the image of the President Bush vomiting in Japan never left the media in 1992. In fact since it was a campaign year, it became an image which was exploited. For the rest of 1992 the image and video would become a source of jokes and though this occurrence of gastric distress really was not humorous in any mature way.


As time progressed the election ended in a defeat for President Bush, the image and memory of the event began fading. By the mid 1990s it was something you could bring up and most people would remember it. Today, the event is hardly known to many people who grew up long after this time. When I was discussing this event not too long ago, a person thought it was just something being stated as a joke rather than a true historic fact. I realized than, I had indeed been correct when I told my father all those years ago that people would never believe this happened years from now.

Cool_Albatross_6249 , Sir Mix-A-Lot Rare Music Report

Add photo comments
POST
Corvus
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"These American customs surely are strange." - the Japanese Prime Minister

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#35

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver When they blowed up that whale and it just made things worse.

Bubbly_Damage1678 , Gerald Waldo Report

Add photo comments
POST
Flamingo Croquet
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"The blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds." The commentator will forever have a special place in my heart. Edit: video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
Continue reading with Bored Panda Premium
Unlimited content
Ad-free browsing
Dark mode
#36

The Straw Hat Riot of 1922 was a riot that occurred in New York City at the end of the summer as a result of unwritten rules in men's fashions at the time, and a tradition of taunting people who had failed to stop wearing straw hats after autumn began. Originating as a series of minor riots, it spread due to men wearing straw hats past the unofficial date that was deemed socially acceptable, September 15. It lasted eight days, leading to many arrests and some injuries. 

wegogiant Report

Add photo comments
POST
Multa Nocte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Like women wearing white after Labor Day in the US, although I don't believe there was a riot, just modest social shaming. 😉

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#37

The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864)

Hong Xiuquan, who failed the imperial exam for the third try to become a civil servant, had a breakdown and dreamed that he was the brother of Jesus Christ.

He later led a revolution resulting between 20 and 30 millions of deaths. That's the bloodiest civil war in the world and the toll of death surpass the totality of casualties in WW1.

British diplomats at the time wanted to support the revolution but later discovered that Hong Xiuquan literally never read the bible and they thus deemed it would be disastrous if he were to get the throne.

This historical event feels like a fever dream everytime I hear about it.

Freezemoon Report

Add photo comments
POST
Multa Nocte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That Jesus fellow is everywhere, it seems, and it frequently ends the same where he shows up.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#38

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Fats Domino was kidnapped by the mafia to play at the Don’s birthday, we woke up the next morning on a street corner, hung over with a bag of money

Bowtie327 , Hugo van Gelderen / Anefo Report

#39

Someone Asks What's An Event In History That's So Ridiculous It Sounds Fake, And 35 People Deliver Pepsi becoming a world superpower has to be up there right? .

PurpleDrax , Ja San Miguel Report