Fun Facts From History Class

1. Napoleon Bonaparte (the French general) was attacked by a horde of bunnies. He had arranged a rabbit hunt form him and his men but when the rabbits were released the charged straight toward Napoleon.

   
   

2. Ketchup was first sold as medicine in the 1830's and wasn't used as a condiment until the late 1800's. Ketchup was sold in Ohio by a man named John Cook as a medicine for upset stomachs but was later used as a condiment.

   
   

   

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3. In the Middle Ages, a pig in France was tried and hung for the murder of a young child. In 1386, a pig attacked a child who died of their injuries. The pig was arrested, tried in court, then hung for its crimes.

   
   

4. The Anglo-Zanzibar was the shortest recorded war in history as it only lasted 38 minutes. The Anglo-Zanibar war was fought between England and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896 over the succession of the sultan, and the British won.

   
   

5. "The Avengers" were originally a group of Jewish assassins who poisoned Nazi war criminals and German prisoners of war. After WWII ended a group of Jewish people successfully poisoned around 2,300 Nazi war criminals and other German prisoners of war.

   
   

6. Fossils of "galloping" crocodiles from over 100 million years ago were found in the Sahara Desert. The Sahara Desert used to be a thriving oasis with many predators including a powerful crocodile that could "gallop" overland.

   
   

   

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7. The surgeon Robert Liston holds the highest recorded mortality rate of 300%. During a surgery, Robert Liston cut a mans leg off so quickly that he sliced the fingers of the man helping him. A person in the crowd saw what happened then died of a heart attack and both he and his assistant died of blood poisoning.

   
   

8. Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs used their slaves as fly catchers. The Pharaohs covered many of their in honey and had them stand nearby to the flies would get stuck in the honey and not affect the pharaoh.

   
   

9. Albert Einstein turned down an offer to be the president of Israel. When Israel formed they asked a Jewish Albert Einstein to be their president, but he turned down the opportunity because he felt he was unfit.

   
   

10. Cleopatra lived closer to the moon landing than the construction of the Great Pyramids. The Great Pyramids were made in the 2.5 thousand years before she was born while the moon landing was 2,000 years after her birth.