Funniest Historical Facts That People Know

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mattstaff
Sep 26, 2020 10:00 PM EDT

Someone on AskReddit asked for people to share the funniest historical facts that they know. The resulting insights paint a picture of just how weird the world is that we live in, and how absurdly worked up people can get themselves, when it comes to warring over seemingly meaningless stuff. 

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  • 01
    Text - TruthTeller_Really • 12h 3 1 Award Notorious Pirate/Pirate hunter Benjamin Hornigold Once attacked a ship just to steal all of the crew member's hats. His men had gotten drunk and lost their hats during a party the night before and decided to board a ship to get replacements.
    via u/xavierdc
  • 02
    Text - nicowilder • 13h 3 1 Award Brazil and France almost went to war because they had a disagreement about Lobsters, the event is known as The Lobster War France thought Lobsters swim therefore they were above brazillian soil and could be fished by any vessel and Brazil thought Lobsters crawled on the ocean's floor therefore are brazillian property. Brazil's foreign affairs minister had this to say about it: "The attitude of France is inadmissible, and our government will not retreat. The lobs
    via u/xavierdc
  • 03
    Text - Lo-Ping • 11h Julius Caesar had a letter dispatched via messenger while the Senate was in session. Convinced he was sending a message to his collaborators, Senator Cato the Younger demanded that the letter be read in open session to be entered into the annals of the Senate forever. Caesar allowed the letter to be read, and thus the most filthy love letter Caesar had written to his lover at the time, Cato's half-sister Servilia got entered into historical record forever. A burn so big, peo
    via u/xavierdc
  • 04
    Text - TheSnappyChicken • 12h There was an actual judge at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia to process unruly Eagles fans that were arrested during football games.
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  • 05
    Text - PokeBattle_Fan • 8h In the 1976 Montreal Olympics, there was a 14 years old Romanian gymnast who was the first to get a perfect score (10.00) Hoowever, because the score was never obtained, and was considered an impossibility, the screen tthey used could only show a score up to 9.99. So despite the fact that she DID get a perfect score of 10.00, the screen showed a score of 1.00 XD
    via u/xavierdc
  • 06
    Text - WomanNotAGirl • 12h I don't know if this counts since it's a law in UK, but something happened that caused this law to be passed. As of 1313, it has been illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour
    via u/xavierdc
  • 07
    Text - -EDGAR- • 11h Napoleon was once attacked by a horde of rabbits. Basically, a rabbit hunt was set up to celebrate the Treaties of Tilsit and they ended up amassing somewhere between hundreds and thousands of rabbits (accounts vary). Anyway, the day of the hunt they set the rabbits in cages surrounding the area that they would be hunting in. They released them once everyone was set, but instead of being scared the bunnies swarmed the hunting party. At first they thought it was funny, but th
    via u/xavierdc
  • 08
    Text - Ginger_Chick • 12h It has been all over reddit forever, but the fact that Andrew Jackson's pet parrot was ejected from Jackson's funeral for swearing, will never not make me giggle.
    via u/xavierdc
  • 09
    Text - mrfitzmonster • 12h I don't remember specifics, but a lord in England way, way back.(1600'S?) wanted his people to start growing potatoes. The locals scoffed at the idea, so the lord started his own potato patch and started telling people how expensive and valuable they were. He had guards posted around his potato garden. However, he told the guards that if people snuck in at night, they were to look the other way. Through this method, the people started growing potatoes and, when the bad
    via u/xavierdc
  • 10
    Text - ACrispPickle • 12h British Navy in WW1 had battleships disguised as passenger and merchant ships with some of the sailors crossdressing as women. This was to entice German U-boats to surface as they would frequently attack unarmed and unescorted merchant ships.
    via u/xavierdc
  • 11
    Text - ScoobyTrue • 12h Up until 1945, every single person in New York City was required to move on the same day. May 1st was called "Moving Day," and everyone in NYC was legally required to move their shit out of their apartment/house and find a new one. Movers charged outrageous prices and apartments all raised their rents every year because they could get away with it. People literally HAD to move or face legal consequences. Imagine how stressful moving from one apartment to another is. Now i
    via u/xavierdc
  • 12
    Text - Xandercruisefd • 13h Didn't Caligula start a war with the ocean? Reply 161 tiny_films • 12h I think it had something to do with Poseidon or some other ocean dwelling spirit lol. Ordered his men to stab the water iirc. Edit: to clarify it was Xerxes, thank you for reminding me below lol.
    via u/xavierdc
  • 13
    Text - reejoy96 • 12h Part of Boston was once devastated by a flood of molasses .you could say it was a sticky situation
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  • 14
    Text - Justin_Shields• 10h Back in ancient times, people thought that heavy objects fall faster than light objects. The funny part is, no one really even tried to prove that theory wrong, even though it was so easy to. And then, some guy proved that they fall at the same speed. But instead of praising him, everyone got mad at him for throwing two different size boulders off of the leaning tower of piza. I can't remember his name, though...
    via u/xavierdc

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humor history askreddit knowledge funny true facts
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