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31 Counterintuitive Facts Only Recently Unearthed From the Crypts of History

We think it’s fair to say that we’d all like to be remembered for something. Facts are no different. Just because these facts happened alongside some much more memorable facts, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to tag along! Well-known history may have gotten the invite, but they brought along their weird historical cousins.

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31

The repeal of the prohibition of alcohol in 1933 led to the emergence of the modern CRACKED.COM drug cartels. Crime syndicates needed a replacement for their source of income, and drug trafficking was the best alternative available.

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30

THE BEATLES OFFICIALLY ENDED ON DISNEY PROPERTY. IN 1974, ON VACATION AT DISNEY'S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT, JOHN LENNON SIGNED THE CONTRACT THAT DISSOLVED THE GROUP. Disney's Polynesian Village Resort CRACKED.COM

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29

The first submarine dates way back to the 1620s and was made by Cornelius van Drebbel. Called the Drebbel I, it was basically an enclosed CRACKED COM rowboat and was proprelled just like one.

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28

Walt Disney himself helped to design a Mickey Mouse gas mask Though few remain, you can find several on display in various museums in the United States. CRACKED.COM

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27

During the French Revolution, they caught Louis XVI because GNAT his face was on money. IBRE 17 NES s ASSIGNATS DES FRANCOIS NAT par le décr vvil 1790, sanctionné LOUISXVL.ROT B CU While running to the countryside, Louis and Marie Antoinette (both disguised) were stopped by a postmaster who thought he recognized Marie. Once he compared the guy with her to a 50-franc note, he was sure. Pretty soon, they were arrested, then beheaded. CRACKED COM

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26

On the Manhattan Project, safety standards basically didn't exist. In a key experiment, the plutonium was contained by one technician holding a screwdriver. But the screwdriver slipped, and the plutonium killed the technician. This happened twice. CRACKED.COM

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25

A WWII submarine had a reindeer onboard for six weeks. The British sub HMS Trident carried Pollyanna the reindeer, a personal gift from a Soviet admiral, back to England. She ate so much food (plus some navigation charts) that she got too big to walk out, and had to be lifted out with a winch (a sailor with a broom helped). CRACKED.COM

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24

CRACKED.COM BILLY THE KID was denied a pardon.* tin 2010 The Kid was allegedly promised a pardon by 1879 New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace in exchange for testifying about a murder he witnessed, but the pardon was never granted. In 2010 Governor Bill Richardson decided to re-affirm Billy's status as a criminal and deny the original pardon.

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23

Due to fire, decay, negligence, or deliberate destruction, AP 75% T ط 500 of all American CRACKED.COM silent movies no longer exist.

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22

Greetings From The OX Secret B DEZ TENN City During WWII, Oak Ridge TN was commissioned to develop and build the first atomic bomb. The vast majority of the city's workers had absolutely no idea what they were working on and only found out after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. CRACKED.COM

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21

Abraham Lincoln was a trash-talking wrestler in the army. As a president, Lincoln was a patient leader, but as a young adult, he'd kick your ass. During one of his matches, Lincoln defeated his opponent, then turned to the crowd and said: I'm the big buck of this lick. If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns. Which is basically 19th century speak for Come at me, bro. CRACKED.COM

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20

The infamous Milwaukee serial killer and cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer, was a class clown in high school. 75 72 69 66 63 MILWAUKEE COUNTY MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF S DEPARTMENT His pranks and antics E 0 23 were known as doing a Dahmer around school. CRACKED.COM

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19

Salt Lake City has the widest streets of any major U.S. city. At 130 feet, they're twice as wide as Manhattan's. CRACKED.COM Brigham Young, the Mormon president who planned the city, chose the wide streets so settlers could turn their cattle around without resorting to profanity.

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18

A Civil War battle stopped so the soldiers could watch a fistfight. In the Battle of the Wilderness, a Confederate and a Union soldier hiding in the same gully began to duke it out after trying, and failing, to capture each other. Soon, both sides stopped firing and got closer so they could cheer on their dude. (The Union guy lost, and got captured.) CRACKED.COM

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17

When the Berlin Wall fell, banana sales exploded. Titanic adid - Zonen-Gaby (17) im Glück (BRD) Meine erste Banane f nt - Informa I East Germany only got mushy brown bananas, so when the Wall came down, East Germans went crazy for unripe green bananas. There's a joke that they rose up for bananas, not democracy, and whenever a long line forms, Germans say, Are they handing out bananas or what? CRACKED COM

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16

The first African American presidential secretary was announced on a game show. $ MR. DALY Instead of letting the world know about his appointment through a boring press conference, Lyndon Johnson wanted to use What's My Line?, a hit game show where people guessed what job guests had. The secretary, Geraldine Whittington, said OK, and history was made. CRACKED.COM

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15

A rare genetic condition probably stoked the Hatfield-McCoy feud. Several descendants of the McCoys were found to have von Hippel-Lindau disease, which causes adrenal tumors that make you short-tempered and violent. So, at least on the McCoy side, the feud was probably fuelled by tumors pressing on the adrenal glands of those involved. CRACKED.COM

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14

Leonardo da Vinci fought for animal welfare. Leonardo had a habit of buying caged birds at the marketplace just to release them. Не was furious about the fact that humans raise animals just to slaughter them, and apparently refused to eat meat. CRACKED.COM

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13

Charles Dickens CRACKED COM Dickens was a very fashion-conscious man who instructed in his will that those who attend my funeral wear no scarf, cloak, black bow, long hat-band, or other such revolting absurdity.

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12

William Shakespeare CRACKED.COM Shakespeare left the bulk of his estate to his eldest daughter but left his second best bed to his wife. Sounds weird, but this was common practice for the time, with children receiving the best of the furniture.

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11

Antonio López de Santa Anna LEGENDARY CRACKED COM Mexico's 8th president needed his leg amputated when the French shot a cannon at him. Не gave the leg a full state funeral (then protesters dug it up again).

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10

The Viking Hastein GET HELP CRACKED COM Hastein entered a Roman city by arriving on a stretcher with his men asking for aid. The Romans let them through the gates, then the Vikings sacked the city.

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9

The Cornfield Bomber F-106 DELTA DART U.S.AIR FORCE GRAGKED.COM In 1970, pilot Gary Foust ejected after his jet entered a flat spin at 15,000 feet. The jet, on its own, recovered, landed smoothly in a field, then returned to service.

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8

The Kettle War SALTY SAILORS CRACKED.COM In 1784, Austria attacked the Dutch by sea. A small Dutch ship fired a single shot, which toppled a kettle of soup, soaking the Austrians and making them surrender.

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7

The Shortest War NOT THE 100-YEAR WAR GRACKED.COM In 1896, a British warship fired on Sultan Khalid's palace in Zanzibar. By 9:40am, he lowered his flag. And so ended the Anglo-Zanzibar War, which lasted 38 minutes.

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6

Abandoned Rear HOLY SHIT AbundonadReio GRACKED.COM In World War I, French villagers mistook a latrine pit labeled Abandoned Rear for an American grave. Decades later, they still maintained and honored the grave.

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5

Isaac Newton was a waiter. Until he got an undergraduate scholarship, he waited tables at Cambridge. CRACKED.COM

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4

Like wearing pajamas? You have WWI air raids to thank. In WWI, people were being driven out of their homes by night-time air raids, and they needed warm, practical, and decent-looking sleepwear. So pajamas became hugely popular: they were loose, covered you up, and could be very stylish. CRACKED.COM

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3

When people think of Joan of Arc being burned at the stake it's usually for the crime of being a witch. In actuality she was burned alive for wearing men's clothing, the only thing she was ever formally charged with. CRACKED.COM

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2

Ariel-1, Britain's very first satellite, was put into orbit on April 26, 1962. It was accidentally destroyed weeks later after the US military detonated a 1.4 megaton nuclear weapon called Starfish-Prime in the upper atmosphere. CRACKED.COM

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1

The earliest pillows CRACKED.COM were made of stone. Ancient Egyptian Pillow Neck-rests from Tutankhamen's tomb Ancient Chinese Pillow Originally more about keeping the head away from crawling bugs or protecting an elaborate hairstyle during sleep than a cushion, they evolved into elaborate works of art for the wealthy. They only become a cloth-covered stuffing-filled accessory after the textile revolution.

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