In 2007, a Bowhead Whale was killed in Alaska by local whalers. They found the tip of a harpoon embedded in the blubber of its neck, that dated back to the 1880s. This meant that the whale lived over 130 years with a Victorian-era harpoon just hanging out of its body.
Benjamin Franklin designed one of the first coins in the U.S. Instead of it saying “In God We Trust” like later currency, it said “Mind Your Business.”
King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson of Denmark and Norway was the inspiration for the tech. He ate an extreme amount of blueberries, hence the nickname. He was known as a great uniter, which is why they chose to name the wireless technology after him.
As well, the logo is based off of his initials in Nordic Runes.
The Paulaner monks in 17th Century Germany used to make a beer called “Doppelbock.” It was so malty and rich, that they could live off it for the 46 days of fasting for Lent. It’s also still brewed to this day.
The world’s first Buddhist ruler, Emperor Ashoka, was the first ruler in history to ban slavery, the death penalty, animal cruelty, and deforestation. He promoted gender equality in education and religion, as well.
This was in 274 BCE – almost 2,300 years ago.
In the 1550’s, a warrior by the name of Galvarino had both of his hands cut off by the Spanish, for daring to defy them. He returned home to Chile, raised an army and fought the Spanish with blades tied to the stubs of his arms.
On April 18th, 1930, the BBC reported that there was “no news worth reporting” that day, so they just played music instead.
In the 1680s, there was a guy called “Whipping Tom” who would hide in dark alleys and courtyards, grab women and slap their butts repeatedly, shouting “Spanko!” before running away.
Benjamin Franklin was the inventor of DGAF. While chilling in France, he was playing chess with a Duchess. When he put her King in check and took it off the board, she told him “We don’t take Kings so.”
He looked her dead in the eye and said “We do in America.”
In the middle ages, the word “Girl” was actually a gender neutral name for a child. Boys were called “Knave Girls” and girls were called “Gay Girls.”
In ancient Egypt, they had a pregnancy test that involved the woman urinating on barley and wheat seeds. If they sprouted, then she was said to be pregnant.
Scientists tested this out in the 1960’s and found that the method was 70% accurate.
Dogs have been little shits forever. There’s a 2000-year old mosaic in Egypt that depicts a guilty dog and a knocked over vase.
In the Victorian era, people would anonymously send “Vinegar Valentines” to people they hated. They were full of rude poems and drawings and were incredibly brutal.
In 1887, a group of men added Susanna M. Salter to a mayoral ballot as a joke to humiliate her (and all the women in the town). Instead, she won over 60% of the vote and became America’s first female mayor.
In the 1800’s, Pineapples were such a status symbol that you could rent one for the evening to take to a party, and people needed to have one in their paintings. People would save up for them, and carry them around until they rotted.
During the Civil War in 1861, a slave named Robert Smalls stole a Confederate ship and took it to the Union. He was given command of a different ship, rose to General, then purchased his ex-owner’s house. He then became literate and served 5 years in Congress.
In the weirdest example of a punishment fitting a crime, a Roman merchant was accused of selling fake jewels, so he was sentenced to face a lion by the Emperor, Gallienus.
He was terrified, but when the cage opened, a chicken walked out, surprising the merchant. Gallienus proclaimed “He practiced deceit and then had it practiced on him.”
Even though he was one of the most brilliant geniuses in history, Leonardo Da Vinci didn’t think he did enough. His last words were, “I have offended God and making because my work did not reach the quality it should have.”
In 1918, a carrier pigeon saved 194 American soldiers by delivering a message request for support. When the bird arrived, it was blinded in one eye, shot through the breast, covered i blood and had one of its legs hanging on by a tendon.
Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron, was a mathematician and writer. The is credited with publishing the first known computational algorithm, which technically made her the first “computer programmer” in history.
George Washington and the rest of the founding fathers have a bar tab from 1787 that’s yet to be matched. According to the bill, they drank 54 bottles of Madiera, 60 bottles of Claret, 8 bottles of Whiskey, 22 bottles of Porter, 8 bottles of hard cider, 12 bottles of beer, and 7 bowls of alcoholic punch.
There were only 55 people there.
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