During a rabbit hunt organized by Napoleon, the emperor was swarmed by hundreds of overly tame rabbits. Instead of fleeing, the bunnies charged him en masse. His men tried to shoo them away, but the rabbits overwhelmed the party. The event turned into an unexpected battle.
In Strasbourg, France, hundreds of people started dancing uncontrollably for days… some reportedly danced to their deaths. The cause remains a mystery, with theories ranging from mass hysteria to ergot poisoning.
Authorities even hired musicians to keep the dancing organized. It’s one of the strangest cases of mass psychogenic illness in recorded history.
The War of the Oaken Bucket in 1325 started when Modena stole a wooden bucket from Bologna. The seemingly silly act sparked a bloody conflict that led to over 2,000 deaths. Modena kept the bucket AND it’s still on display today.
Proof that wars can start over the pettiest things… as if we needed that.
In 1835, President Jackson received a 1,400-pound wheel of cheese as a gift. He stored it in the White House for two years before holding an open house where guests could eat it. The smell lingered in the White House for weeks.
In 1814, a massive vat of beer exploded in a London brewery, flooding the streets with over 320,000 gallons of beer. Several buildings were destroyed, and at least eight people died. Some tried to drink the beer straight from the gutters. It was a tragic and surreal moment in brewing history.
In the 1960s, the CIA launched “Acoustic Kitty,” a project where cats were surgically implanted with listening devices. The idea was to use them as stealthy spies. On its first mission, the cat was hit by a taxi. Unsurprisingly, the project was abandoned.
In the 1990s, the town of Sunol, California, elected a black Labrador retriever named Bosco as mayor. He served for over a decade as a symbolic leader. Bosco even became a local celebrity, appearing in international news. One good boy to rule them all.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima during the first atomic bombing and managed to survive. He returned home to Nagasaki, only to endure and survive the second bomb as well. He lived into his 90s. He’s officially recognized as the only person to survive both attacks.
In 1987, West German teenager Mathias Rust illegally flew a small Cessna across Soviet airspace and landed near Moscow’s Red Square. He was arrested and later became a symbol of the weakening Soviet regime. His flight embarrassed the USSR’s military defenses. Talk about bold travel plans.
Originally built for the 1889 World’s Fair, the Eiffel Tower was supposed to be dismantled after 20 years. It was saved only because it proved useful as a radio tower. Today, it’s one of the world’s most iconic landmarks. Good thing Paris had second thoughts.
In 1960, a man named Robert F. McLaughlin mailed a declaration of war to France because he was fed up with their politics. He even tried to start a one-man army. France, understandably, ignored him. Technically, the war was never officially ended.
After discovering his wife’s affair, Russian Tsar Peter the Great had her lover executed. He then forced her to keep the man’s severed head in a jar of alcohol as a constant reminder.
From 1912 to 1948, the Olympic Games awarded medals for literature, painting, sculpture, music, and architecture. Artists competed under strict rules, and works had to be inspired by sport. Eventually, the contests were dropped for being “too professional.”
During the American Revolution, a British commander sentenced a group of captured rebels to death but allowed them to draw lots to decide who would hang. The men drew pieces of paper from a hat, and one unlucky man received the fatal mark. The others were spared.
In 1931, while visiting New York City, Winston Churchill looked the wrong way before crossing Fifth Avenue and was struck by a car. He was hospitalized with serious injuries but made a full recovery. Churchill later joked that it was “his own fault” for forgetting U.S. traffic rules.
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