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Facts might be our bread and butter, but separating the wheat from the chaff is no easy feat. When you’ve got so much fake news, different ideological narratives, and fictional stories for the sake of attention floating about, sometimes even real, genuine facts can sound completely made up because they sound absolutely ridiculous. But fact is often stranger than fiction.

And that’s what this post is all about. Reddit user Youfellforityoufool asked their fellow redditors to share real history facts that sound so stupid, they don’t even seem real. Check some of the best ones out below and upvote the ones that impressed you the most (and, let’s face it, made you laugh while asking ‘how is this real?’).

Oh, and to pre-empt any confusion: the thing about people eating mummies? That’s actually true! Honest! Read on to find out why (spoiler warning: it's not as dumb as it sounds on paper).

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous In the 2015-2016 New Zealand Flag referendums, where New Zealand voted on a new flag for the country, one of the highest voted results was an image of a kiwi firing lasers from it's eyes. Google "New Zealand laser kiwi flag" if you don't believe me.

CrazyComedyKid , Lucy Gray Report

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    #2

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous During 1774 Frederick the Great of Prussia had a free potato policy to help the people through the famine. A lot of people initially rejected the potatoes and so he had guards feign patrol of the potato fields so they looked more valuable and people would steal them in the night.

    Even though they were totally free.

    bobakittens , public domain Report

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    #3

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous How the Berlin Wall fell. In order to calm mounting protests, German Democratic Republic (GDR) officials decided on loosening travel restrictions between East and West, but not opening the border completely.

    Notes of the new rules had been handed to a spokesman who hadn't had time to read them before the press conference. "Private travel outside the country can now be applied for without prerequisites," he said. Surprised journalists clamoured for more details. Shuffling through his notes, he said that as far as he was aware, it was effective immediately. In fact, it had been planned to start the next day, with details on applying for a visa. But the news was all over television - and East Germans flocked to the border in huge numbers.

    As the border became inundated with East Berliners wishing to reunite with family and/or escape the GDR, border guards became overwhelmed and with no orders to either shoot upon the crowd or open the gate, only a handful of guards facing hundreds and thousands of citizens, rather than fire and create a stampede and potentially kill hundreds, the head of the guards decided to give the order "Open the barrier!" What came next was a spontaneous chain reaction with Berliners on both sides arriving at Checkpoint Charlie to celebrate this momentous event and to demolish the wall.

    So, basically, an ill-prepared functionary made a flippant remark and a border guard captain, unable to get orders on how to proceed, led to one of the most defining moments of the late 20th Century in Europe.

    Farkenoathm8-E , Lear 21 Report

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    kraackjonas avatar
    Johnny Rodriguez
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Fake News!! It was David Hasselhoff singing down the Berlin Wall..

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    Bored Panda spoke about separating facts from fiction, as well as how some conspiracy theories can turn out to be close to the truth (and might not all be bad!) with Joseph M. Pierre, a professor of psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

    According to the professor, most recent conspiracy theories—from what happened to JFK and Princess Diana to 9/11 or the Flat Earth theory—”have been fairly inconsequential without any largescale behavioral ramifications.”

    In other words, they haven’t had many negative real-life consequences for the vast majority of society, even if they’re full of lies and make a mockery of the truth. However, there is one exception to this. Climate change. And that’s a real pickle!
    #4

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous In WWII, the Russians trained dogs to run under tanks with time bombs on their backs - "anti-tank dogs." But, the Russians trained the dogs on Russian tanks, so when they set them free on the battlefield, the dogs turned around and started blowing up the Russian tanks instead of the German tanks.

    Archayvic , Public Domain Report

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    qahtanrama avatar
    River Webb
    River Webb
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    well that really backfired on the Russians

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    Foxxy (The Original)
    Foxxy (The Original)
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That’s f*****g disgusting. Those poor dogs.

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    lyuboiv avatar
    Vorknkx
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well, WW2 was a rather brutal and disgusting period in human history. Using such tactics probably seemed perfectly fine to everyone involved...

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    lara
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    They deserved that to happen, training dog to be suicide bombers that is disgusting and horrible. I am still pissed about Laika.

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    desire__1 avatar
    Katya Myers
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    3 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    Seriously? Dog’s life vs saving people’s life? I guess you don’t know much about the history of the events and what really was happening in Russia.

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    napalmglop avatar
    Rod Egret
    Rod Egret
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Usage of animals for warfare is absolutely horrific, it makes me sick. The Dresden war museum (it's meant to educate by showing the horrors of war, not glorify it) is really great and has a section dedicated to what mankind has made animals endure. It's very hard and not suitable for children but very educative.

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    CatWoman312
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    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Karma. Don’t use a poor dog as your weapon of choice.

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    cassiewilliams avatar
    Cassie
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's what you get for using poor unwitting dogs as suicide bombers. >:(

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    melelliott avatar
    Ripley
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    F*****s blew up dogs! They deserved everything they got.

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    Declan Herendeen
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    wait, were the dogs suicide bombing or just planting them

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    ericahales avatar
    ZooMom
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    They tried to train them to pull a release and drop the bomb but were unsuccessful. So they instead became suicide bombers. The dog was killed when the bomb detonated.

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    Kyra Swanson
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    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Are the doggos ok?!?! (edit: I apologize for not being sensible enough to think that the dogs went with the bombs. This is so incredibly cruel and I sincerely apologize for my insensitivity.)

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    dc1 avatar
    DC
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Although the worst that could have happened would be germany winning that war - this serves them right! Abusing animals who don't even care about nations, borders, ideologies as cheap carriage devices, sacrificing them - is just wrong. No exceptions possible ... not even thinkable.

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    tuggi avatar
    Mickey T
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Also they got their own people drunk and made them run over mine fields to clear a path.

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    Brandi VanSteenwyk
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The DOG GOD had to do something to display condemnation of the process.

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    Matthew Beardsley
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It serves them right. They wanted to send the dogs with bombs on their backs to blow up the tanks (and themselves). the dogs must have been terrified with all the loud noises, and dying people.

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    lee_kerr avatar
    Lee Kerr
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The Americans had similar problems with suicide bats; burned down an airforce base in New Mexico https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/kamikaze-bats-44775951/

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    mariaelmbaek avatar
    Just me
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I had to read that twice...for some reason my brain didn't catch it the first time 🙈

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    kellymmccrory avatar
    Kelly Johnson
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Did they use German Shepard's? Might explain the little fluffy four-legged turncoats

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    Katya Myers
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Partially true. But the dogs did some good stuff as well as damage. For example, at the front of the 160th Infantry Division near Hlukhiv, six dogs had damaged five German tanks; near the airport of Stalingrad, anti-tank dogs destroyed 13 tanks. At the Battle of Kursk, 16 dogs disabled 12 German tanks which had broken through the Soviet lines of defence near Tamarovka, Bykovo

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    priyanshupradhan1604 avatar
    Tame panda
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    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The Russians deserved this and I hope no other animals are trained to die.

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    glowworm2
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hey, if the dogs were gonna die, they might as well take the Russian tanks down with them. Honestly though, this is horrible.

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    wildsc67 avatar
    BananaJo
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    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    yeah I knew this. Maybe think about it a bit more next time

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    WholesomeArmyweeb
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    OMG I’m actually genuinely sad that they blew up dogs. But that would look so coool

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    Russian Otaku
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    One of the few times aside from food dogs were overly useful and they f****d it up.... still funny tho

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    #5

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Alright I don't remember the specifics. But there was a king (I believe a sumerian king) who was told by an oracle that "Disaster would befall the king." So he had a gardener crowned as king for a day, and that night the gardener would be executed, thus fulfilling the prophecy and saving the real king.

    Soon after the gardener's coronation, the real king choked on soup and died. The gardener ruled for 24 years

    Moses_The_Wise , photophnatic Report

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    nesakysiukurtaueiti avatar
    MagicalUnicorn
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erra-imitti and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlil-bani

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    #6

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Canada and Denmark have been at war since 1984.

    Sort of.

    Hans island: disputed since the 1930's, but since 1984 each country's military visits and erects their flag taking down the other flag. With it a note welcoming the next visitor to Canada or Denmark.

    Canadians leave whiskey, Danes leave schnapps.

    And the cycle continues.

    bswiftly , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    Professor Pierre suggested that there are some conspiracy theories about climate change that might be close to the truth and actually encourage people to act for the sake of the planet, not just deny global warming in the first place.

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    “Not all of the debate around that topic involves a conspiracy theory,” the professor pointed out. “In fact, the most conspiratorial claim about climate change may be that ‘big oil’ companies, like ‘big tobacco’ decades before, know that climate change is real and is caused by human CO2 production, but that they’re purposely claiming otherwise and putting out misinformation to the contrary that refutes what the vast majority of climate change scientists have stated in order to protect profits from the industry.”

    The professor continued: “Those of us who believe that conspiracy theory (remembering that some conspiracy theories are true!) argue that real-life physical actions—moreso on the part of industry than individuals per se—are necessary now.”
    #7

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous The Great Pig War (aka the San Juan Boundary Dispute) between the US and UK/Canada lasted seven whole years. At maximum belligerence, the order of battle included 2,600 ground troops, five powerful ships of the line, and nearly a hundred cannon.

    But fortunately, the combatants never actually got around to doing much combatting. In fact, the only recorded injury was a Royal Marine who got hit in the eye by a rock thrown from the American trenches. He was shipped to a nearby militry hospital, recuperated, and eventually rejoined his unit.

    Most of the opposing troops' energies were spent sneaking across the lines to each other's outposts - to play cards, swap stories, and to trade American tobacco and fresh food for navy rum swiped from the British quartermaster's stores.

    Generally acknowledged as The Best War Ever.

    theartfulcodger , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    wandiledludlu avatar
    Sum Guy
    Sum Guy
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When your government is stupid but the troops won't follow orders blindly

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    #8

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous A Finnish sniper named Simo Häyhä was able to kill around 500 Soviet soldiers in the Winter War of 1939 by literally hiding in the snow and taking random shots every couple hours. In March 1940 he was struck in the jaw by an explosive bullet and seriously wounded. He was very disfigured, unconcious, and presumed dead when he was found, and later he was thrown onto a pile of bodies. A fellow soldier noticed a leg twitching in the pile and they brought him home alive. He lived to be 96.

    BruhCoinInvestor , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #9

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Not one but two kings of France perished by smashing their heads on the top part of a door, or lintel.

    Charles VIII in 1498 (the shock probably caused something else but still).

    Louis III was pursuing a fair lady (who was actually trying to escape him) on his horse on August 5, 882, when she passed a door. The horse went through, but not the king, who broke his skull and died instantly.

    Ramtalok , public domain Report

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    There’s no doubt that there are plenty of people who believe false facts, fake news, and tinfoil conspiracy theories. Others, however, profit off of those beliefs and use them to create a platform for themselves, leading to potential financial gain. Separating the true believers from the con artists is no easy feat, however.

    Professor Pierre said that figuring out whether somebody genuinely believes a conspiracy theory or is cashing in on the gullible is a complex issue. “Determining if someone is lying isn’t easy and is complicated by the fact that we don’t really have clear agreement of what it means to ‘believe’ something, much less genuinely.’”

    The professor highlighted how people like Alex Jones and his lawyers have been called to answer about “belief conviction in various lawsuits against him.” However, he’s always been able to get away from stating outright whether his beliefs are real or just for show. “[He] has been able to skirt a firm account of whether he’s a huckster or true conspiracy theory believer.”
    #10

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous William the Conqueror exploded at his funeral.The short of it, the intestinal infection that killed him ended up eating up his body from the inside. All the gas from the decomposition was trapped in there, but as some people tried to fit him back into his coffin, his body exploded from the pressure. Guess he had to go out with a bang.

    nergigante-is-best , Man vyi Report

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    River Webb
    River Webb
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I feel bad for the person that was putting him in the coffin

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    #11

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous A Skylab satellite's guidance system was failing and ended up crash landing in Australia. Instead of giving the satellite back, Skylab was charged with a $500 littering fine.

    After the fine was paid, the company wanted to put the satellite in a museum but was refused on the basis that since the satellite fell from space, its legally Australia's now. So now, Skylab pays a monthly rent to Australia to display its own satellite in a museum.

    spyraxian , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #12

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous A man from New York missed his friends who were fighting in Vietnam. So he traveled thousands of miles to track them down in a combat zone to personally give them beer and letters from home. He even wrote a book about it called The Greatest Beer Run Ever

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    Meanwhile, let’s jump back to some of the weirdest real history facts. Or rather one particular fact about how people have been munching on mummies. The Science History Institute explains that aside from artists using mummies for paint pigments, Europeans have been eating Egyptian mummies as medicine since the 12th century.

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    “In later centuries unmummified corpses were passed off as mummy medicine, and eventually some Europeans no longer cared whether the bodies they were ingesting had been mummified or not,” the SHI writes. “The eating of Egyptian mummies reached its peak in Europe by the 16th century. Mummies could be found on apothecary shelves in the form of bodies broken into pieces or ground into powder. Why did Europeans believe in the medicinal value of the mummy? The answer probably comes down to a string of misunderstandings.”
    #13

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous The way the world is today and an immense portion of its problems can be traced back to one 19 year old kid shooting an archduke in 1914.

    jsar16 , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    truthmonster00 avatar
    Truth Monster
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No. It was a significant event, but genocide, xenophobia, racism and fanaticism have existed as long as humans were numerous enough to have 2 tribes.

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    #14

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Jack Daniel (yeah, that Jack Daniel) died from an infected stubbed toe caused by him kicking a safe containing money to which he had forgotten the combination.

    Fact-Crab , Firstinduty Report

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    kraackjonas avatar
    Johnny Rodriguez
    Johnny Rodriguez
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    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Don't hide money when you're drunk! You might think it's 'tHe BeStEst iDeA eVEr'...it is not!

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    #15

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous The second person to go down Niagara Falls in a barrel and live later perished by slipping on an orange peel.

    lucif_woods , public domain Report

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    popapach avatar
    troufaki13
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There's a saying in Greece "he who's fate is to drown, never dies".

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    In brief, when Europeans first saw the black stuff coating ancient Egyptian mummies, they assumed it was bitumen (aka mumia, which has been used as an ingredient in some embalming processes, has antimicrobial and biocidal properties, and has been recommended as a cure for many things since the times of the ancient Romans).

    “Eating mummies for their reserves of medicinal bitumen may seem extreme, but this behavior still has a hint of rationality. As with a game of telephone, where meaning changes with each transference, people eventually came to believe that the mummies themselves (not the sticky stuff used to embalm them) possessed the power to heal,” the Science History Institute explains.
    #16

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Everything Olga of Kiev did after her husband was killed by an opposing tribe (the opposing tribe killed him by tying his legs to trees they'd bent down and then releasing the trees)

    Cliffs: -Buried 20 men alive -Burning another 20 alive after she'd lured then into a bath house

    Slaughtered 5000 of the opposing tribes solders after she'd gotten them piss drunk. -Telling the opposing tribe she'd end the assaults if each house gave her "3 pigeons and 3 sparrows". She then had her soldiers tie sulfur to each of the birds and set them free so that they would return home to nest in their original villages. Eventually the villagers bedtime fires would ignite the sulfur and burn the town to the ground.

    Also she's a "saint" in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic church.

    awebbC-132 , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #17

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous There was a real plan to spike Hitler's food with estrogen to try to turn him into a woman and make him give up on war.

    Alistair_TheAlvarian , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    River Webb
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't get what him becoming a woman has to do with him giving up on war

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    #18

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous People used to think women's uteruses would go flying if they rode the train.

    uthglow , public domain Report

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    “Scholars long debated whether bitumen was an actual ingredient in the Egyptian embalming process. For a long time they believed that what looked like bitumen slathered on mummies was actually resin, moistened and blackened with age. More recent studies have shown that bitumen was used at some point but not on the royal mummies many early modern Europeans might have thought they were ingesting. Ironically, Westerners may have believed themselves to be reaping medicinal benefits by eating Egyptian royalty, but any such healing power came from the remains of commoners, not long-dead pharaohs.”
    #19

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous President Andrew Jackson had a pet parrot. Jackson was also a very vulgar man and his parrot learned a lot of curse words from him. At Jackson’s funeral they had to remove the parrot from the funeral because it wouldn’t stop cursing.

    Silence-Dogreat , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    gayak avatar
    Gaya K
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I can just picturing a parrot sitting on a pole by the coffin and during a moment of silence going "Waah! F**k this s**t!"

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    #20

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous A Greek philosopher called Chrysippus died from laughing too much at a drunken donkey eating rotting (therefore fermented) figs.

    -Glitter-Herpes- , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #21

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Honduras and El Salvador had a 3-day war over a football game.

    theycallmemomo , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #22

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous A quote from Winston Churchill when he was visiting the White house and the president walked in on him buck naked: "The prime minister of the UK has nothing to hide from the president of the US."

    Mr-Pringlz-and-Carl , BiblioArchives Report

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    #23

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous In 1956 a man named Tommy Fitzpatrick stole a small plane from New Jersey for a bet and then landed it perfectly on the narrow street in front of the bar he had been drinking at in Manhattan. Two years later, he did it again after someone didn't believe he had done it the first time.

    What's also crazy is that the punishment for the first time ended up being only a $100 fine, since the charges were dropped by the owner of the plane, and the second resulted in only 6 months in jail.

    -eDgAR- , MilborneOne Report

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    deborahbrett avatar
    Deborah B
    Deborah B
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Did he die as a result of some drunk guy saying something starting "Naw mate, ye effing couldn't ... "?

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    #24

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous King George II Was so constipated while he was taking a poop his heart actually physically burst.

    Potato_Bees , National Portrait Gallery Report

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    leodomitrix avatar
    Leo Domitrix
    Leo Domitrix
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thoracic aortic dissection, and he was found on the floor between the desk and the "facilities", which led to the conclusion. He was, however, 77 years old ------ and at that age, your aortae can pop on you for all kinds of reasons. Just a medical FYI. You can also experience increased risk of stroke from straining to defecate. Straining to poop raises blood pressure. Please eat a high-fiber diet but HYDRATE! Thank you.

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    #25

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Benjamin Hornigold was a pirate in the late 1600s and early 1700s who once robbed a merchant vessel purely for the crew's hats - because he and his crew got so drunk the night before that they all threw their own hats overboard for no good reason.

    JohnSmith2217 Report

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    #26

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous "Gorilla gorilla gorilla" This is the scientific name of the western lowland gorilla

    metal_gearmen , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #27

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Not only did Australia lose its 17th Prime Minister at the beach (he drowned) but we named a public swimming pool after him.

    KingBlackers , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    mstohr-z avatar
    Mtownmick
    Mtownmick
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You think they would have been more careful after losing the first 16.

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    #28

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous It is said that Greek tragedian Aeschylus died because an eagle dropped a tortoise on his bald head, mistaken for a rock, in order to break the shell of the tortoise.

    fbkjj , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #29

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Australia lost a war against emu’s

    Equivalent-Concept-5 , JJ Harrison Report

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    #30

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous In 1518 in Strasbourg, a woman started dancing for no reason. Over the course of a month, 400 other people joined her. Soon close to 50 people would dance themselves to death in what became known as the Dancing Plague of 1518. Realistically, people were probably caught up in a case of mass hysteria. Another theory is that the grain they grew locally was poisoned by ergot fungi. Whatever caused it, I can’t imagine the feeling knowing a family member died because they danced until their heart exploded.

    SWW111 Report

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    anne-karina avatar
    Anne
    Anne
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Realistically - a fungi poisoning is a lot more logical than mass hysteria..

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    #31

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Carrots don’t actually help improve eyesight. It was a lie made up by the British during WWII to hide their radar technology and explain how British pilots always knew where the Germans were coming from.

    Nimitz117 , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #32

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous The Titanic look-outs did not have binoculars. It was believed they had accidentally been left in Southhampton, but they were locked in a safe on board.

    Gumpy57 , uwants Report

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    khairunisaasyikinnoordin avatar
    nanashi
    nanashi
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    how expensive was binoculars back then that it needed to be kept in a safe?

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    #33

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous In 1184, a number of nobles from across the Holy Roman Empire were meeting in a room at the Church of St. Peter, when their combined weight caused the floor to collapse into the latrine beneath the cellar and led to dozens of nobles drowning in liquid excrement.

    It is referred to as the "Erfurt latrine disaster."

    FenrirIII , Volkan Hatem Report

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    #34

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Fidel Castro loved milk so much that when his cow who holds the world record for most milk produced in a day died, he had her taxidermied, had a marble statue of her built and a full eulogy and obituary written for her in his state newspaper, and Cuban scientists have repeatedly tried (and failed) to clone her. Her name was Ubre Blanca, which means White Udder.

    DankNastyAssMaster , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    sweetangelce04 avatar
    CatWoman312
    CatWoman312
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Another fact about him apparently he slept with over 30,000 women

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    #35

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Corn flakes were originally marketed as an anti masturbation cereal and the man who made them, John Harvey Kellogg, adopted all 8 of his kids and didn't even sleep in the same room as his wife

    Ms_Superhero1939 , Bill Smith Report

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    kraackjonas avatar
    Johnny Rodriguez
    Johnny Rodriguez
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    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It works! Every time I eat Cornflakes, I don't masturbate..

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    #36

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel but turned it down.

    moinatx , Public Domain Report

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    linusnilsson avatar
    Linus Nilsson
    Linus Nilsson
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I never understood why people think Einstein would be smart outside his own field? What made people think that he could run a government?

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    #37

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous The US and the UK scrapped plots to assassinate Hitler as they believed his poor judgement would bring an end to the war quicker.

    Ozymandias-97 , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    #38

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous The reason there [aren't] a lot of mummies around anymore? It's because we ate them.

    FredrickTheWriter69 , Biswarup Ganguly Report

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    #39

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous In Hartlepool, England a monkey was hanged because they thought the monkey was a french spy, they had never seen a monkey or a french person before so they thought that the monkey was speaking french, the monkey was hanged on a beach and there is a statue remembering the monkey

    reddit-is-my-sleep , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    chi-weishen avatar
    chi-wei shen
    chi-wei shen
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is a rather dubious story and it allegedly happened during the Napoleonic wars.

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    #40

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous As WW2 revved up, the US realized that fast and cheap was the way to go with manufacturing ships (ex Liberty Ships). But there was a line of escort carriers made with so little armor that some Japanese armor-piercing shells went through the hull and out the other side without exploding, a nice surprise.

    RealisticDelusions77 , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    j_f_ avatar
    J. F.
    J. F.
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Overpenetration, happened to some tanks, too

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    #41

    During WWI, Germany converted and armed a passenger cruise liner, the SMS Cap Trafalgar, into a cruiser, and sent to the Atlantic Ocean to disrupt British shipping. Off the coast of Brazil though, when they received word that a British ship was coming to flush out German ships disrupting British shipping, the SMS Cap Trafalgar decided to disguise itself as another ocean liner-turned-cruiser, the HMS Carmania, so that they wouldn't be shot at.

    The British ship that came to deal with the SMS Cap Trafalgar was... the HMS Carmania.

    Which promptly sunk the fake one.

    Arcaeca Report

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    davenyc88 avatar
    Dave P
    Dave P
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Also the German ship was built in the UK and the British one built in Germany, both converted passenger ships

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    #42

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Whilst on his death bed, George Washington was drained of almost half his blood and given treatments that caused him to violently vomit and [poop] himself. He perished anyway.

    sarcasmisart , public domain Report

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    #43

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Bill Clinton, who hasn't been president in 20 years is 4 years younger than Joe Biden

    scott60561 , Wikimedia Commons Report

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    kalowry avatar
    Kelly Tinker
    Kelly Tinker
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm pretty sure Clinton will always be 4 years younger than Biden.... considering how time works....

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    #44

    44 People Share True History Facts That Sound Made Up Because They’re Ridiculous Adolf Hitler had many physical ailments, many of which are known. He had in particular severe stomach cramps and also bouts of insomnia, so his quack doctor (Theodor Morell), in his infinite wisdom, gave Hitler sleeping pills and laxative, resulting in very severe gas problems.

    llcucf80 , Stock Catalog Report

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    tystrattonquirk avatar
    Ty Stratton-Quirk
    Ty Stratton-Quirk
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sleeping pills: $15. Laxatives: $6. Finding out that a doctor convinced one of the worst dictators of the 20th century to take both at the same time: F***ing priceless!

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