People Explain Which Historical Events Seem Altered By A Time Traveler From The Future

Ever wonder about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand?

Somebody throws a grenade at his car. It blows up behind him.

That’s the first incident of time travel, stopping the assassination.

Later, as he goes back, the driver realizes he’s on the same route where the grenade was thrown and they try to turn around.

The whole procession of cars stalls and a guy who just happened to be sitting there goes over and shoots the Archduke setting off the events that lead to the first World War.

Did a time traveler meddle then? Wouldn’t surprise us.

It turns out that there are quite a few historical events out there that seem stranger than fiction.

We heard about them after Redditor Heterozygoats asked the online community:

“Basically, Poe writes about…”

“Edgar Allan Poe wrote about an event 40+ years in the future.”

“Basically, Poe writes about four people who are starving at sea, draw straws, and kill and eat the loser, cabin boy Richard Parker. 40 odd years later four people are adrift at sea in a lifeboat, one drinks seawater and goes into a coma.”

“When they draw straws for who will be eaten, the coma guy gets the short straw in a development that surprises no one. And so the three other men kill and eat the cabin boy. Richard Parker. Seriously.” ~ TuckerMouse

“There was a shipwreck…”

“There was a shipwreck in 1664, a shipwreck in 1785, and a shipwreck in 1820. Each had 1 survivor. Each survivor was named Hugh Wiliams.” ~ pm_me_genius

“The Fire Department and some clowns…”

“The Toronto Circus Riot of 1855.”

“The Fire Department and some clowns get into a disagreement at a whorehouse, and get into a punch-up. The clowns win, but the firemen return to the circus later and start attacking in revenge.”

“The firemen win the day but violence is stopped when the militia come in. The police do nothing, so the city fires all the police (and I mean everyone) and starts a new police force.” ~ splitdipless

“When Andrew Jackson’s assassin…”

“When Andrew Jackson’s assassin attempted to shoot him, both of his flintlock pistols misfired. Andrew Jackson had to be restrained after almost beating the assassin to death with his cane. The two flintlocks were examined after the incident and found to be in good condition.” ~TwoBearsHighFiving

“20,000 people could have died…”

“Cyanide Gas Attack Thwarted in Tokyo Subway.”

“20,000 people could have died but a worker found a burning gasbag in a toilet just before it mixed with another poisonous gas bag – just in time – and put them out. That was in Shinjuku station. I was in that station that day, and that person might have saved my life.” ~ Idkeepplaying

“It was so much happenstance…”

“Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. It was so much happenstance, shenanigans, and tomfoolery that it’s like a special achievement in a hitman game.” RigasTuring

“Survived both of the bombings…”

“Tsutomu Yamaguchi.”

“Survived both of the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reads like a satirical time-traveler story where the protagonist screws up his dates.” ~ OlympusJCook

“The number of times…”

“The number of times we DIDN’T go to nuclear war because of a false positive of a launch. Honestly, Stanislav Petrov should have statues in every country.” ~ AustinJG

“Jack Ruby clearly was sent…”

“Jack Ruby clearly was sent to kill Lee Harvey Oswald so no one would ever discover it wasn’t him who killed Kennedy.” ~ possiblyhysterical

“Fidel Castro’s assassination attempts…”

“Fidel Castro’s assassination attempts being dodged is so unrealistic (really, he dodged about 600) that it feels like a time traveler went back and foiled every single one of them.” ~ AttentionSome

“If you read up on his life…”

“If you read up on his life, you’ll find there are so many times Adolf Hitler almost died, but somehow survived, that makes me think there was/is a time traveler war going on.”

“A faction trying to kill Hitler, because it’s Hitler, and a faction preventing his death because the guy who would replace him was even worse than Hitler.” ~ Lichruler

“The Germans spent a lot of time…”

“The Germans spent a lot of time and money developing a magnetic sea mine that probably would have significantly reduced England’s ability to stay in the war, except they dropped a single one of the mines accidentally on an English beach, and also failed to arm it so none of the booby traps were active and the British basically found out straight away how it worked and we’re able to cheaply build magnetic minesweepers.” ~ pezzz4525

“It wouldn’t be surprising…”

“It wouldn’t be surprising if Nancy Wake was a time traveler. She was just too damn good at special ops against the Nazis.” ~ doublestitch

“That time in the 1700s…”

“Battle of Karansebes.”

“That time in the 1700s when the Austrian army got confused, waged a huge battle against itself within its own lines, and lost an estimated several hundred to few thousand men (and a lot of equipment and money) in the process. They then retreated.”

“The Ottomans, whom they were originally intending to fight, showed up two days later.” ~ HyvalTheEmolga

“The last known kill…”

“The last known kill by bow and arrow in combat was actually during the battle of Dunkirk, 1940. Jack Churchill landed a well-placed arrow into a German soldier’s chest.”

“He also chose to carry bagpipes and a Scottish longsword.” ~ WasteNot2532

“The Russian writer…”

“The Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death by firing squad and just as they were preparing the groups to be shot, a messenger came with a letter from the Tsar ‘forgiving’ them and the sentence was changed to prison labor.”

“He later went on to write some of the most influential novels of all time.” ~ smokeyman992

Whoa.

History is fascinating–and full of odd incidents like these, because life is crazy.

Just think—you’ll be the star of your next dinner party as soon as you whip these facts out.

So why don’t you?

You’ll be the envy of everyone!

November 20, 2021

People Break Down The Most Overrated Historical Figures

One of the coolest things about reading history is realizing just how bananas all those real people were.

Kings, military leaders, pioneers of art, and explorers—there are countless examples of people who, if they’d been dreamed up in a book or a movie, would be too far-fetched to even believe.

And yet they were very real.

But with all those stories come the tendencies to over-hype, omit key details, or just buy into false narratives entirely.

Redditor ReallyRealMaoZedong apparently was in the mood for skepticism when he asked:

One person called out the youth.

“King Tut. He didn’t really do much, he was just a boy who unfortunately died young. We just happened to find his tomb and that made him famous lol.”

“The tomb itself, while amazing and much to learn from, is a result of his culture and the line he happened to be born into, not really anything HE chose to do.” — barbaramillicent

Another King was in the crosshairs too.

“King Arthur. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.”

“Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.” — bozwold

This guy, while not a king, was still on the chopping block.

“I don’t know about ‘most overrated’ but MaoZeDong was a brilliant guerrilla leader who transitioned into be very good at retaining power while being very bad at running a country.”

“I would not hang giant portraits of the guy all over my country.” — dieinafirenazi

One person went after someone so often idealized.

“Gandhi.”

“He didn’t really win India freedom – WW 2 did.”
“His support of the Khilafat movement gave a big boost to Muslim separatism in India”
“His agreement to partition resulted in 1 million deaths”
“His idea of ‘self sufficient villages’ resulted in India continuing to remain poor and backward and failing to industrialise.”
“His promotion of Nehru over far more competent leaders in the Congress”

“I can go on…” — 00__starstruck__00

Even the folk heroes out there were worthy targets.

“Not in all history, but Chris McCandless was a f’king moron who does not deserve to be romanticised.”

“Against all advice, he strolled out into the Alaskan wilderness with no idea what he was doing, with no map, underprepared, undersupplied and with no research into seasonal dangers, smashed up some cabins, shot a moose despite not being able to preserve or store the meat…”

“…thought he could teach himself to identify edible wild mishrooms, didn’t look beyond the river crossing he initially used where he would have found a hand-operated cable car half a mile away and died – probably from eating strange seeds – in an abandoned bus on a known hunting trail.”

“He was not pioneering, or inspiring, or bold, or free, he was f’king stupid and somehow this inspires people!” — Mischief_Makers

Then came a surprising choice.

“Hitler. Hear me out!”

“National Socialism and Antisemitism was not something he invented and I am pretty sure that if it wasn’t for him somebody else like Goebbels or Hess would have become German dictator.”

“When people say, oh if only Hitler wasn’t born then WW2 or the Shoa would not have happened, that’s utter bullsh*t. I wish while teaching about the Holocaust, people would put it into context.”

“The climate of polarization in the 1920s in Germany is very similar to what is going on now in the USA. People were and are seeking out extremists with conspiracy theories to follow because they look for scapegoats.”

“The man on the top is just a symptom for a systemic problem which lies much deeper.” — marlenshka

One person added some truth to an all-too simple legacy.

“Ben Bradlee. He was lionized for going after Nixon as editor of the Washington Post.”

“But he lied under oath during the trial of a Black man who was accused of murdering one of Kennedy’s mistresses, all because he was friends with JFK and wanted to cover up his indiscretions. An innocent Black man nearly went to the electric chair.”

“He only pursued the truth when the president was a Republican.” — The_Bee_Sneeze

Then some so-called shrewd navigating was called into question.

“Charles de Gaulle. MF was an officer of the army that lost half of France in 2 weeks to the Germans in WW2. Flees like a cockroach to the UK where somehow embodies the spirit of the resistance, somehow receives the title of General, even though his tasks were not dangerous nor fundamental.”

“When the allies take over France, he is not in any of the strategic discussions among generals of different armies, nonetheless he walks into Paris as their great liberator. Couple of years later gets elected president (because somehow he has managed to keep his popularity??).”

“While president, North African colonies declare war (and independence) from France. Many people die, and the french economy and territories takes a huge blow. Also he managed to dismantle the oldest European university of the world (Université de Paris)…”

“But nooooo! His name is on an airport, many avenues and countless plazas accross France.” — KarmaWhoreRepeating

Oh, and remember those summer reading books?

“Ayn Rand. Elitist prick, complete nutbag, husband abuser, most likely committed infidelity. Moreover, her ideas are terrible. So dumb.”

“She clearly thinks poor=dumb and useless, when she doesn’t realize how privileged education is what makes someone ‘productive’ in the way that she imagined.”

“She even says it in Atlas Shrugged, John gault and Francisco wouldn’t have become who they were if they hadn’t had that one philosophy teacher who became a short order cook because the world is so mediocre and undeserving of his genius.”

“And the saddest part is so many people after reading Atlas Shrugged are like ‘yeah, selfishness is the best, anyone who is poor is weak and stupid. My life is good and it’s impossible to have a good life unless you won it for yourself so I must be the best person ever and all you plebs can eat my sh**.’ “

“Randian economics is a conflict in terms.” — Begotten_Glint

One case illustrated the power of martyrdom.

“John F. Kennedy.”

“Pill-popping, booty-slaying, trust-fund, back alley politician who conveniently only took an interest in civil rights in preparation for re-election.”

“He was handsome, charming, and his tragic death made him seem much better than he actually was.” — Way_2_Go_Donny

So there you have it.

Hope this list didn’t deflate any of your heroes.

But if it did, consider the value of being in the know.

November 19, 2021

History Buffs Share The One Fact That Always Makes Them Laugh

Prehistory became history when we were able to start recording and conveying what humans were doing.

Some say it started with cave paintings or rock carvings, some believe it started with Sumerian cuneiform, or the Egyptian hieroglyphs which happened around the same time. Some say the many cultures that used oral histories continued our first real form of recording the past.

It’s said history repeats itself and sometimes that history is hilarious.

Historians have been finding weird and random facts about our species old way of life and now we can share the funniest ones through the internet.

Redditor Axel_Ambrose asked:

It’s unbelievable that some of these things actually happened.

Three way excommunication.

“That time when around 3 men claimed to be the pope and all excommunicated each other.” – sad_barrett_

“Or that time a pope sold his position. Or that time the king of France straight up had the pope murdered. Lots of great pope stories out there.” – Magmafrost13

“Or the time an honest to god pirate was elected pope.” – 1-1-19MemeBrigade

“He was one of the Popes during the Western Schism mentioned by sad_barrett_.” – A_Blessed_Feline

Romans loved their dogs.

“Ancient Romans loved their dogs as much as we do. There are entire surviving texts of people talking about their daily, monotonous life with dogs. In some cases, we have more information about their dogs and what they did with them than other aspects of Roman life.”

“On a less funny but sweet note; when their dogs died, many of them were given elaborate graves with highly decorative tombstones. They often carved poems about them or wrote in length about how much they’ll miss them or what they loved about them most. These dog graveyards were considered sacred and vandalizing them was a major offense.”

“The YouTube channel Historia Civilis has an awesome video on the subject of surviving Roman manuscripts, including some other funny moments of Roman history.”

“For more information on Dogs in ancient Rome, including the touching epitaphs, I’ll point you guys towards Invicta on YouTube with this video.” – KnightCaptain_Bob

“Here’s the link showcasing some of the epitaphs.” – legothief

“‘Myianever barked without reason, but now he is silent.’” – Myfourcats1

WWII toilet paper.

“In WW2, Germans were dropping demoralizing letters on London… British used them as cheap toilet paper.” – salttrooper222

“Apparently the Germans also dropped a bunch of papers on allied positions showing their wives cheating on the soldiers while they were away. The soldiers just used it as porn.” – MeiNeedsMoreBuffs

“TBF didn’t we do the same thing in return. I just laugh at the idea that during the whole period of rationing, the one thing both sides had plenty of was toilet paper.” – Soppydog

“Fun fact: During ww2 the British diet was the best it had ever been until then. They had never been fed a more healthy and well balanced diet.” – Scamsurvivor

“The Allies dropped food packages on Germany (why, I can’t recall, but I think they were trying to ‘sow goodwill) and they wrote ‘gift’ on them. ‘Gift’ means ‘poison’ in German.” – Vajranaga

Adopting a bear.

“A Polish Artillery supply Corp adopted a bear, made him a soldier, and kept him for the duration of the war.” – nerdykate100

“His name was Wojtek.”

“After the war he retired to Edinburgh Zoo where his old comrades would come and give him cigarettes.”

“There’s a statue of him in Edinburgh as well.” – sAindustrian

“Better than that, he used to play-wrestle the men, and his old comrades would climb down into the enclosure to give him beer and cigarettes – and wrestle him.” – Brickie78

“He scared away an entire company of Germans. Two scouts saw him carrying artillery shells in the middle of the night and told their commander that the Polish had a company of bears which made them retreat lmao.” – lowhangingfruit12

Viking runes.

“Maeshowe’s runes. Archaeologists explored some old Viking chambers and found inscriptions that were 14 feet tall, and unreadable. After years deciphering these runes, they translated to, “this is very high.”

“We haven’t changed.” – duerlort

“I wish I could see the look on the face of the archaeologist who translated it.” – 1-1-19MemeBrigade

“Aren’t there some carvings like that in the Hagia Sophia? I seem to recall that some of the Vikings serving as the Varangian Guard got up to some amusing hijinks there.” – Almainyny

“Yeah the runes on the Hagia Sophia are ‘halfdan carved these runes.’” – thedankestyeet

Being the first to see an animal.

“Imagine patrolling the Alps and you see elephants rolling up. But you don’t even know what an elephant is.” – TomasSchmieder

“Hannibal of Carthage with his War Elephants I presume? Traveling over the Alps on his way to destroy Rome and bringing Elephants into Europe for the first time. Imagine how terrifying it must’ve been for the Roman Legionaries, seeing five tons of pure muscle barreling down at them at speeds equaling horses. Yet, they availed Hannibal nothing. Rome vanquished him and annexed Carthage.” – ThatBada**online

Third wheel on the moon.

“In all the Apollo missions three guys were sent to the moon. But only two guys got into the lander and went down and walked on the moon. The third guy stayed in the command module in orbit and had to listen to the radio chatter of the the other two guys talking about how badass it was to walk on the moon.” – stanley_leverlock

“Didn’t Collins lose all radio contact when he was on the far side?” – redopz

“All of the landing zones were on the near side of the moon. Every CM pilot lost complete contact with both mission control and the lander when they orbited the far side, as there were no relay satellites in lunar orbit.” – Redditor

“The loneliest man in the universe.” – ATF_Dogshoot_Squad

“I seem to recall reading somewhere that he found it very peaceful:”

“‘I don’t mean to deny a feeling of solitude. It is there, reinforced by the fact that radio contact with the Earth abruptly cuts off at the instant I disappear behind the moon, I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life. I am it. If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the moon, and one plus God knows what on this side’.” – elcarath

Napoleon’s brother.

“Napoleon had a brother who lived in New Jersey.” – NotAJewishMother

“Must have made family reunions real depressing for that guy.” – Almostatimelord

“He moved to New Jersey after his brother’s fall from power. When Napoleon was emperor, he made him King of Spain.” – MooseFlyer

“Joseph Bonaparte was his brother and was made King of Spain. After the Peninsular War he retired to New Jersey when he was dethroned.” – MassiveFajiit

The war over Toledo.

“There was a war between Michigan and Ohio over Toledo, and the Ohioans evacuated so fast there weren’t even any casualties. As a result, the government gave Michigan the upper peninsula and Ohio got to keep Toledo.” – typhondrums17

“Michigan won the war, which is why Toledo is now part of Ohio.” – Distantmind88

“Damn, Michigan giving out the harsh punishment.” -BarryMacochner

A record holding election as the “most rigged.”

“The most rigged election, where the winner received 243000 votes, except there were only 15000 registered voters.” – 18270

“Gotta get that 1,680% voter turnout.” – fa1afel

“Someone commented the last time this was posted that its sort of a power move. ‘I’m going to fake this election, and make it really obvious. Everyone will know that the election is rigged but no one will do anything about it.’” – river4823

Modern humans haven’t changed much in the few hundred thousand years we’ve been around.

In relation to the Earth’s existence (4.4 billion years), we are barely even a blip on the timeline.

History will repeat itself, even the funny things that humans do.

October 27, 2021

People Share The Saddest Historical Facts They Know

They say history is written by the victors, but who would ever want to write about some of these tales?

The hardest truths to read about are the saddest ones, where terrible tragedies and awful atrocities happened to real-life people.

Maybe reading about them in hindsight will make things easier? Or maybe it’ll just make you happy you live in the era you do now.

Reddit user, moseich, wanted to feel the feels when they asked:

Good Dogs, Sad Dogs

“WW1- Mercy dogs, they would go out into no mans land and find wounded soldiers. They would bring medical supplies for the soldiers to patch themselves up.”

“Or if the soldier was to mortally wounded, stay and comfort them in their final moments.” ~ Lucky-daydreamer

Soldiers Wanting To Share In The Haunting Tunes

“I learned about this in a Dan Carlin podcast. During the German-Soviet war, there was a Red Army soldier who sang each night with a hauntingly-beautiful voice. His comrades would give him their tea rations and scarves to protect his larynx.”

“One night, he couldn’t sing because he had gotten sick.”

“A German soldier crawled across no-man’s-land and tossed something into the Soviet trench; the Soviet soldiers thought it was a grenade.”

“However, it was a package containing a letter asking if the singer was okay and if he needed medicine. A truly heart-warming moment in an otherwise horrific front.” ~ Scruffy_Nerf_Hoarder

A Good Pet Until The Very End

“The story of Alex (1977-2007), an African grey parrot who learned to speak, recognize objects and play with his owner. It was one of the smartest parrots ever reported.”

“He loved his owner and his owner adored him as well.”

“In the end, he suffered arteriosclerosis, so his owner went to see him one last time, to which Alex told his owner: ‘You are good; I love you.’ She replied, ‘I love you too’.”

“Alex said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’ and the owner replied ‘yes, I’ll see you tomorrow’.” ~ metal_gearmen

One Minute Gone

“Henry Gunther was an American soldier killed during WWI at 10:59am on November 11th, 1918; one minute before the Armistice took effect at 11:00am.”

“Gunther charged a German roadblock outfitted with machine guns. German soldiers tried waving him off knowing the war would come to an end in mere moments.”

“Apparently he got too close, fired a couple rounds, and was promptly shot and killed instantly.” ~ _DMYZ

Oh, America, You Disappoint Us…

“The Sand Creek massacre is particularly bad. They had so much faith in the peace treaties that had been signed, the signs of good faith from American settlers.”

“Only to be massacred. The leader of the camp, Black Kettle, desperately holding up the American flag he’d been given with a white flag underneath it, encouraging his people to gather around it—thinking that the [United States Army] would realize they were allies and stop the killings. Only to be shot down.”

“The descriptions of the massacre are brutal—children tortured and slaughtered, pregnant women with their children torn out of their stomachs. Genitals torn from corpses and taken for trophies.”

“It really made me realize you can never underestimate the cruelty of mankind. Especially considering most of the murdered in this massacre were defenseless women, children, and elderly.” ~ Lia_Is_Lying

Survived By Being Out For The Day

“There were approximately 300 infants and children that were murdered in Jonestown, being forcibly fed or injected with cyanide. I feel so much pain for all the victims but the kids in particular make me ache with despair.” ~ Lastofherkind

“There were some teens that weren’t among the number, because they were gone playing a basketball tournament.” ~ qualitygravedigger

Couldn’t Fit This Into The Play

“When Alexander Hamilton’s eldest son died, his second child Angelica Hamilton had a mental breakdown and she never recovered. Sometimes, her family would walk into a room with only her in it, and she would be speaking to her dead brother.” ~ meenakshi96

“The Light Has Gone…”

“Teddy Roosevelt’s mother Mittie and his wife Alice, who had just given birth days before, both died in the same house on the same day, hours apart from each other. In his diary entry that day, he drew a large black X and scribbled ‘The light has gone out of my life’.”

“That’s some heavy sh*t right there, man.” ~ fracking_toasters_

Sharing Each Other’s Humanity

“Christmas Day, 1914. German and British soldiers got up from their trenches and called a 48 hour truce to just chill and even play soccer.”

“This makes me cry because it shows that the soldiers of both sides really found it pointless to fight other people just cause their country said so. This is probably the strongest story of unity I’ve heard about in history class.” ~ Electoriad

Keeping Your Honor Even In War

“In WWII an American pilot named Charles Brown was flying a B-17 in a bomb raid over Germany where his aircraft was severely shot up and entered a free fall when Brown passed out. When Brown awoke, he was only a few thousand feet above the ground and barely was able to recover the aircraft.”

“When the Luftwaffe spotted a limping B-17 far below the formation, they dispatched a pilot named Franz Stigler, a soon to be ace just 1 kill away, with 2 Downed B-17s earlier that day. As he approached from the rear, Stigler noticed that the B-17s tail gunner didn’t move and after further inspection, realized he and several other gunners were dead. Stigler saw this and remembered what his flight instructor had said years ago, ‘if you shoot a man in a parachute, ill shoot you myself’.”

“Stigler saw this limping B-17 as no different from a downed pilot in a parachute. To prevent German flak cannons from taking it out, Stigler flew in formation with the B-17 all the way until the English Channel where it landed safely. Stigler never mentioned the incident, and could’ve been court martialed for it.”

“Decades later, Charles went looking for the enemy pilot that saved his life that fateful day, and eventually met him face to face, becoming close friends and dying just a few months apart from each other in 2008.” ~ OleRockTheGoodAg

History can be a harsh critic, leaving you feeling like all of time is a cruel place.

May we all make the best choices we can to make sure history looks back on us with kind eyes.

December 8, 2020

This Artist Uses Tech to Show What Historical Figures Really Looked Like

Sometimes it can be hard to imagine what people from the past looked like before cameras were invented.

Yes, we have paintings and sculptures we can admire, but it sure would be nice to know what ancient leaders and famous artists of centuries past REALLY looked like.

Well, thanks to a photographer and artist named Bas Uterwijk who specializes in computer graphics and 3D animation, we have an idea of what some famous figures from history might have looked like.

Uterwijk started tampering with the likenesses of historical figures in 2019 and his work is really something. Here are some faces that the Dutch artist made come to life.

Let’s take a look.

1. Is that Bill Shakespeare?

Why yes, it is!

2. Albrecht Durer.

A German painter, FYI.

3. Portrait of a lady.

This one is pretty interesting.

4. That’s Lady Liberty.

If she was a real person…

5. Alexander the Great.

A giant historical figure.

6. Emperor Caligula.

A lot of crazy stories about this fella.

7. They lived in Pompeii in AD 79.

What they must have seen…

8. Playwright. Politician. Philosopher.

Taken from a sculpture. I like this one.

9. Marcus Aurelius.

An emperor and a philosopher.

10. Julius Caesar.

We all know what happened to him…

11. The one and only Vincent van Gogh.

A master Dutch painter.

Those are awesome! I love all the detail. His creations seem to jump right off the screen.

Who else would you like to see given this treatment?

Share some fascinating historical figures with us in the comments. Thanks!

The post This Artist Uses Tech to Show What Historical Figures Really Looked Like appeared first on UberFacts.