What are some historical facts that seem fictional?

 Otto Von Bismark was a prophet.

In 1888 he predicted the following:

"One day the great European war will break out because of something damned silly in the Balkans."

In 1914 the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Serbia (in the Balkans) would be the event that led to World War I.

Then in his last days, he said

The victory at Jena came twenty years after the death of Frederick the Great; the defeat of the country will come twenty years after my death if things continue as they are.

Exactly 20 years after Bismark's death, Germany would lose World War I and nearly collapse.

In his final meeting with Wilhelm, he stated

"Your Majesty, as long as you have this current corps of officers, you can do as you please. But when that is no longer the case, it will be very different for you."

Indeed, when the current officer corps retired and was replaced by the next generation, Wilhelm was forced from power and exiled in shame.

Let's tell you more facts about Bismark because the guy was really funny.

During his youth, he famously averaged one duel a month and never lost.

There was an assassination attempt during his rise to power. A man shot him six times and was then disarmed by the guards. Bismark said he was fine and returned home. A few hours later, the royal court physician finally managed to see Bismark despite his protests. It turned out that all six bullets had hit him, but none of them had done much damage. Bismark was simply indifferent to the whole affair.

He drank two bottles of champagne and smoked two cigars at breakfast.

Despite all his antics and wild personality, he ended up marrying a very calm, devout, and conservative Christian woman.

The rest of his story is a little less flashy but equally interesting. The man was a freak of nature. He dictated European politics for decades. He created Germany and, by accident, the French Republic, and was one of the most brilliant political minds ever.

What are some scary historical photographs?

 

1. Soviet-sized snowmen, late 1960s

2. Centerline established, 1898.

3. In 1905, a kind-hearted Chinese man feeds a prisoner who is in shackles.

4. People sleeping inside a subway station to protect themselves from German air raids during the London Blitz.

5. In 1970, a Viet Cong medic performed surgery on a wounded Cambodian soldier.

6. Finnish cavalry training in the 1930s.

7. In 1974, police officers guarded a pharmacy flooded by a flood in Ontario.

8. In 1935, during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, a man stands on the first cable with the Presidio and San Francisco in the background.

9. A house being moved on horseback, San Francisco, 1908.

10. Express train from Granville to Paris, October 22, 1895.

What are 10 historical facts that would confuse anyone?

 

• Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe were both born in 1926. They met only once when they were thirty years old.

• The University of Oxford is older than the Aztec Empire: it was founded in 1096, three centuries before the Aztec Empire (1428).

• Harriet the tortoise lived for 176 years and was long believed to be one of the three brought back by Darwin from the Galapagos in 1853.

• Van Gogh painted "Starry Night" in the same year the Eiffel Tower was constructed, which is 1889.

• The Colosseum was completed in 80 AD, around the same time the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were written.

• Charlie Chaplin died in 1977, the same year Apple Computer was founded.

• In 1868, you could take the London Underground to witness the last public execution in the UK.

• George Washington died in 1799. The first dinosaur fossils were discovered in 1824. Washington never knew dinosaurs existed.

• In 1940, the first prisoners arrived at Auschwitz. Simultaneously, the first McDonald's restaurant was opened.

• Woolly mammoths were still alive while the Egyptians were building the pyramids (around 2660 BC).

What historical facts mess with your perception of time?

 

• Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler were born in the same year, namely 1889.

In fact, their births were only four days apart, Charlie Chaplin on April 16 and Adolf Hitler on April 20.

• Static electricity was discovered by Thales in 600 BC, before Siddhartha Gautama (Gautama Buddha) was born in 563 BC or 480 BC.

• Construction of the Eiffel Tower began in 1887 and was completed 26 months later in 1889.

Meanwhile in Japan in 1889, the new Nintendo Game company was founded.

Source: Sanny's

What are some rare historical photographs that are so unusual you wouldn't believe they exist?

 Historical photographs remind us of what life was like back then. The world we see today has changed dramatically.

Let's take a look at a few examples.

1. Control room of German submarine UB-110

2. The opening of the Statue of Liberty's head in 1885.

3. A circus hippo pulling a cart, 1924.

4. Annette Kellerman advocated for women's right to wear tight-fitting one-piece swimsuits in 1907. She was arrested for indecent conduct.

5. Old Stockholm Telephone Tower, 1887.

6. Baby cages were used to ensure that children living in apartments could get enough sunlight and fresh air (circa 1937).

7. An Austrian boy receives new shoes during World War II.

8. A diagram illustrating the British class system.

9. "Wait for me, Papa," by Claude P. Detloff, New Westminster, Canada, October 1, 1940.

10. Around 1920, a young actor, Jackie Lucas, is trying to retrieve a ball that has fallen into a river with his golf club when a dog grabs his golf jacket.

What historical fact blows your mind?

 In 1965 the CIA lost something in the Himalayas that is still a threat to 600 million people.

China successfully conducted its first nuclear test in 1964, this caused serious concerns in both the US and India. Facing a common threat, the two countries decided it would be wise to spy on the Chinese from the heights of the Himalayas.

To do this they decided to plant a nuclear powered listening device on top of the second highest peak in India, Nanda Devi.

The device was called SNAP-19C, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator containing 5kgs of weapons grade plutonium. The plan was to conduct surveillance over the Tibetan Plateau and operate for decades with zero maintenance.

A joint team of American and Indian climbers was assembled and the mission went ahead. Everything was going well until they reached 7500 meters, just 300 meters from the summit, when a blizzard struck. To save their lives they had to retreat, leaving the generator anchored to an ice shelf. The plan was to retrieve it in spring.

But when they returned, an avalanche had already swallowed everything. Multiple recovery missions were launched but nothing was ever found.

60 years later, that 5kgs of weapons grade plutonium remains buried beneath the glaciers which are the source of River Ganga. The device is still missing, still radioactive and nobody is looking for it.

Do you know 10 fun historical facts?

 

1. Bob Marley was buried with his guitar, a soccer ball, a bible, a ring (a gift from an Ethiopian prince) and a stash of marijuana.
2. During his four films Rambo would have killed 370 people.
3. The word school derives from the ancient Greek skole which means rest, fun.
4. Originally, Coca Cola was green.
5. The word "cemetery" comes from the Greek koimetirion, which means "place to sleep".
6. During the Civil War, when troops returned to camps after a battle, the number of fallen soldiers was written on a blackboard. If there had been no losses, it was written "0 killed", hence the expression OK in the sense of "all good".
7. The Vikings never wore horned helmets.
8. Before the nineteenth century, shoes were not divided into right and left.
9. Venice is often called "The Bridge Capital of Europe" but it has only 398 bridges, while Amsterdam has 1280 and Hamburg has 2400.
10. In 1987, American Airlines saved $40,000 simply by removing an olive from each of the salads it served in first class.

What are some amazing historical photos?

 Traied best not to repeat photos.

1)This is bombed London in 1940. A little girl is sitting in the ruins of a building with her dolly.

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is returned to the Louvre after WWII

Back in 1956, a PanAm plane was needed to to transport a 5 MB hard drive.

Human-size chess game with actual soldiers in St. Petersburg, Russia (1924).

The 1937 “walking machine” tested wear on shoes (1937).

Arnold Schwarzenegger on the day he received his American citizenship

Testing bullet proof vest 1923. Because this is how they tested things back in the days - on humans

Elephants know how to have fun. Just ask Queenie, the first one to water surf (circa 1950)

Gandhi visits London

Police chasing skinny dippers.

Albert Einstein on the porch of your furry slippers. Even geniuses like cute stuff!

Shakira posts a TBT picture of her younger self for the International Women's Day

A woman uses an exercise bike (left) on the Titanic

The last known Tasmanian Tiger (now extinct) photographed in 1933

The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:41:15 a.m. during the September 11 attacks

Here are cameramen shooting and recording the lion roar for the MGM logo.

Steven Spielberg jokes his cult movie Jaws (Jaws) filming

Carl Akeley posed with the leopard he killed with his bare hands after it attacked him, 1896