Historical events and facts are very informative and interesting. They give us a unique opportunity to understand what is happening in a given period of development of human society, nations and countries. Almost all peoples have interesting historical facts. Russia has a lot of them. This is easily explained by the rich centuries-old past of our country. Widespread legends about rulers, about scientific and technological progress, about art and culture have always attracted and continue to attract citizens of other states. The following are examples of such historical facts.
About rulers
From the beginning in 1825, the rulers in our country alternate according to the principle "bald - hairy". This pattern has persisted to this day.
About television
In 1992, the chiming clock on television on New Year's Eve was delayed by one minute.
About money
The double-headed eagle on the coins is not the coat of arms of the country, but the emblem of the Bank of Russia.
Scientific and historical fact
The only person in the world lives in Russia. This person is Sergey Krikalev. He spent more than 800 hours in space, moving at high speed. According to the theory of relativity, time slows down at high speeds. It has been calculated that the astronaut returned to Earth 0.02 seconds younger.
About laws
In 1994, the government passed a law prohibiting dogs from barking between 11 pm and 7 am. This law is valid even now, but only on the territory of Moscow. It is also noteworthy that the legislative act does not spell out what punishment the violator will suffer.
Facts from geography
The Russian Federation is almost twice as large as the United States. St. Petersburg metro is the deepest in the whole world. connects the capital and the city of Vladivostok and is the longest railway line in the world. Siberian taiga - 8% of the earth's land.
Technics
There are more Kalashnikov assault rifles in the world than all other weapons models combined.
On the rulers and laws of tsarist Russia
Interesting historical facts about Russia are not always accurate and scientifically verified. For example, according to some historians, Ivan the Terrible did not kill his son.
In Russia, the equality of men and women was proclaimed 2 years earlier than in the United States.
Peter the Great had his own way of dealing with drunkenness in the country. He ordered to give medals, which weighed more than 7 kg, to all the guilty. They were obliged not to remove it for seven days.
Racketmaker - the department that was in charge of receiving petitions under Peter the Great.
An interesting one is rich in facts from the life of the tsarist army: Nicholas the First, as a punishment for delinquent officers, provided a choice between keeping watch out of turn and listening to the opera.
Denbey is the first Japanese who came to Russia. In 1695 he arrived in Kamchatka, and in 1701 he reached Moscow. Peter the Great obliged him to teach Japanese to Russian children in schools.
"Here lies Suvorov" - the inscription on the plate near the monument to the commander.
Boris and Gleb are the first Russians canonized as saints (1072).
Interesting historical facts in pre-revolutionary Russia
About the army and navy
In the Russian imperial fleet, the command "Cover yourself!" meant to wear a hat.
In the army of imperial times there was the rank of cornet, and in the modern one - ensign, in the army of imperial times - the rank of lieutenant, and in the modern one - lieutenant.
Facts from geography
1740 is the coldest winter in Russia.
After 1703 Poganye Prudy in Moscow began to be called ... Chistye Prudy!
About science
M. V. Lomonosov is the founder of Moscow State University, but he himself never visited this university.
About the people
In ancient Rus', grasshoppers were called dragonflies.
In Rus', the "original" is a stick used to beat a witness to a crime.
An interesting historical fact is that the Thai anthem was written in 1902 by a Russian composer.
Interesting about the politics of the USSR. historical truth
What was called the Cuban Crisis in the USSR was called the Cuban Crisis in the United States, and the October Crisis in Cuba itself.
An interesting historical fact is that legally the war between Germany and the USSR ended on January 21, 1955. The decision was made by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
In 1931, the Red Army and White Guards fought on the same side, at the request of the Governor-General of the Chinese province Sheng Shicai, they suppressed the uprising of the Turkic population.
Unusual historical facts of the USSR
In the Second World War, the machine gunner Semyon Konstantinovich Hitler fought in the Red Army.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR used tractors in battles due to a shortage of combat vehicles.
During the entire period of the Cold War, the world twice stood on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe due to failures in computer systems in the USSR and the USA. A nuclear war was averted only thanks to the experienced military leaders of both superpowers.
During the Great Patriotic War, mines were neutralized by dogs specially trained for this, they were the main assistants to sappers.
In the USSR, the main opponent of the Nazis, according to Hitler, was the announcer Yuri Levitan, and not Stalin, as many believe.
Entertaining science and technology in the USSR
In the village of Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR, a wooden spaceport was built in the 1950s. This was done in order to mislead enemy states. This spaceport is located more than 350 km from this village.
During the Second World War, a flying tank was designed in the USSR based on the design of the A-40 tank, but the project was closed due to a lack of powerful tugs.
The laser pistol was invented in the Soviet Union in 1984.
The Americans offered the USSR to launch the first to space not dogs, but black.
GAZ-21 has a wide range of models, including a right-hand drive model with an automatic transmission.
The T-28 tank could overcome "lunar landscapes". This was the name of the territory, seriously affected by the hostilities.
A scientific and historical fact: a space device that the Soviet Union wanted to launch into space to explore Mars showed during tests that there is no life on Earth. After this incident, he was sent for revision.
About famous people
The list of gifts for Stalin's seventieth birthday was published in newspapers for more than three years.
Rokossovsky is a marshal of the USSR and Poland at the same time.
Khrushchev subjected to ridicule and sharp criticism of the paintings painted by artists in the direction of avant-garde. At the same time, he often used obscene language.
Vladimir Putin, when he served in the KGB, had the call sign "Mol".
About laws
In the Soviet Union there was a tax on childlessness.
About sport
Lev Yashin - famous football goalkeeper, took bronze at the USSR ice hockey championship in 1953.
The main prize in Sportloto has been won only twice in the history of this game.
Music and TV
Evgeny Leonov in cartoons voiced such a character as Winnie the Pooh.
The group "Aria" has a song called "Will and Reason", few people know that this is the motto of the Nazis in fascist Italy.
Facts from geography
In the early 1920s, the city of Novosibirsk had two time zones. On the left bank of the Ob River, the difference with the capital was 3 hours, and on the right bank, 4 hours.
In the 20s and 30s of the twentieth century, Vladikavkaz was the center of both the Ingush and North Ossetian republics.
About the meaning of words
The word "zek" means "a prisoner of the Red Army".
"Unknown" world history
This or that historical fact does not always sound plausible and understandable for a contemporary. Examples are shown below.
During the time of Genghis Khan in Mongolia, anyone who dared to urinate in any body of water was executed. Because the water in the desert was valued more than gold.
In England, in 1665-1666, the plague devastated entire villages. It was then that medicine recognized the usefulness of smoking, which supposedly destroyed the deadly infection. Children and teenagers were punished if they refused to smoke.
Ancient Egyptian beauties evenly distributed pieces of fat through their hair. In the sun, they melted and evenly covered the hair with a greasy, shiny layer, which was considered very fashionable.
The famous inventor of the sewing machine, Isaac Singer, was married to five women at the same time. In general, from all the women he had 15 children. He named all his daughters Mary. Probably not to be mistaken...
Interesting historical facts of the funeral theme: the English admiral Nelson, who lived from 1758 to 1805, slept in his cabin in a coffin that was cut out of the mast of an enemy French ship. His "feat" was repeated by a French actress who taught her texts while lying in a coffin. She often took this prop on tour, which made those around her very nervous. In the Middle Ages, sailors deliberately inserted at least one gold tooth, even sacrificing a healthy one. What for? It turns out that for a rainy day, so that in case of death he could be honorably buried away from home.
Approximately half of New Yorkers speak more than one language other than their native American English by the age of 5.
In 2007, about 46 million tourists visited New York, leaving more than $28 billion in the city!
The entire story lasted only 38 minutes. So many "fought" Zanzibar and England in 1896. England won.
A few more myths. Or is it true?
Historians claim that on Cocos Island, located 300 miles south of Costa Rica, pirates hid a treasure worth two billion dollars. Archaeologists are searching.
The most incomprehensible mystery of mankind is death. What happens to a person after he dies? Modern scientists are conducting large-scale and multi-million dollar research in this area. So far, there is only a 100% conclusion that human consciousness continues to exist after physical death.
Official figures from the British Admiralty claim that as a result of shipwrecks, an eighth of all gold and silver mined on earth rests on the seabed. Today, on the black market, you can buy an old map with the coordinates of the treasure. Is this true or a scam? In 1985, using such a map, Mel Fisher found the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora off the coast of Florida, which sank in the distant 1622. From the bottom of the ship, he managed to raise valuables worth 450 (!) Million dollars.
In some countries, every movement of citizens is tracked by special services with the help of Internet tracking programs. Sensors are built into modern phones, TVs, computers. Global espionage is rampant. Is it true? Who knows...
Good day, dear friends!
Recently, the last bells in schools died down - and the graduates took a breath: they were distracted from preparing for the unified state exam. And this is great, since periodic rest is a necessary component of any preparation. By the way, I wrote more about this in a post.
Today, I suggest that you also take a break from preparation and spend time with intellectual entertainment - acquaintance with funny historical facts. These facts will help you look at history not as a boring series of facts and events, but as entertaining stories that can motivate you to study more thoroughly this or that period of national history before the exam.
If the story has already finished the channel for you, then I also highly recommend that you read my post on how to learn history so that this teaching is more interesting and exciting.
Well, now let's move on to the most interesting: fun facts from history. I will focus on a few entertaining stories and facts, but I will draw parallels with national history. By the end of the article, you will understand why I did it :).
Let's move chronologically and start from the 13th century.
FIRST FUNNY STORY. KAMIKAZE
As you well remember, in the 13th century, Rus' was not going through the best of its time, it fought off both the Mongol-Tatars and the Crusaders ... At the same time, Japan was also experiencing the aggression of the Mongol-Tatars. Japan, as well as Rus', was fragmented into different principalities, and therefore it could not withstand the onslaught of the Mongols. Meanwhile, her enslavement did not happen. Therefore?
In the event of Mongol-Tatar aggression, the western principalities of Japan would be the first to suffer. The princes of these principalities ordered a service in a Shinto temple (Shinto is Japanese paganism). And when the Mongol Khan gathered a huge fleet and sent it to enslave Japan, a storm broke out that scattered the Khan's fleet! This storm was called kami kaze (kami - deity, kaze - wind). That is why during the Second World War, Japanese pilots called themselves that, because they, like the divine wind (kamikaze), fell on the enemy fleet ...:
SECOND FUN FACT. LIFE AND MORALS OF MEDIEVAL Rus'.
There is every reason to believe that domestic violence and alcoholism are almost a tradition in Russia. Here, for example, is a quote from Domostroy Sylvester:
“Punish your son in his youth, and he will give you rest in your old age, and give beauty to your soul. Loving your son, increase his wounds - and then you will not praise him. Punish your son from youth, and you will rejoice for him in his maturity, and among ill-wishers you will be able to boast of him, and your enemies will envy you. Raise children in prohibitions and you will find peace and blessings in them.
And here is the testimony of the doctor of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Samuel Collins:
“At Maslenitsa, before Great Lent, Russians indulge in all kinds of amusements with unbridledness, and in the last week of fasting there is so much, as if they were destined to drink for the last time in their lifetime. Some drink vodka, distilled four times, until the mouth flares up and the flame comes out of the throat, as from the mouth of hell (Bocca di inferno); and if they are then not allowed to drink milk, they die on the spot. .
Some, returning home drunk, fall asleep in the snow, if there is no sober comrade with them, and freeze on this cold bed. If one of the acquaintances happens to walk past and see a drunken friend on the brink of death, then he does not give him help, fearing that he will not die in his arms and fearing to be subjected to the anxiety of investigations, because the Zemsky Prikaz knows how to take a tax from any dead body coming under his department. It is a pity to see how a person is being transported on a sleigh by twelve frozen ones; some had their hands eaten by dogs, some had faces, and some were left with nothing but bare bones. Two hundred or three hundred people were brought in this way during the fast. From this you can see the pernicious consequences of drunkenness, a disease (Epidemick), which is characteristic not of Russia alone, but also of England.
“The most amazing thing is that her death was not avenged by anyone, because in Russia there is no criminal law that would prosecute the murder of a wife or a slave if the murder is committed as a punishment for a misdemeanor; but murder is a strange punishment: the purpose of punishment has never been to end life, but always to correct. Some husbands tie their wives by the hair and flog the completely naked. Such cruelties, however, are rare, and the only causes are infidelity or drunkenness. Now it seems that husbands do not treat their wives so cruelly, at least the parents try to warn them and, giving their daughters in marriage, conclude a condition. They demand from the son-in-law that he supply his wife with decent dresses, feed her with good and healthy food, do not beat her, treat her kindly and offer many other conditions somewhat similar to those rules that are prescribed in England by customs that have received the force of law.
Something needs to be done about this! Or what do you think? Unsubscribe in the comments! I'm waiting!
THIRD HISTORICAL FACT: Emperor Peter the Third had two great people in his pedigree: Peter the Great and Charles 12. Irony of fate?
FUNNY FACT FOUR: Hitler and Lenin played chess with each other:
THE FIFTH FUNNY STORY ABOUT HOW THE EMPRESS ANNA Ioannovna Became Single.
All of you know very well that Peter the Great had a weak-minded brother, Ivan. By the way, you don’t have to laugh at this, because in order for you to be considered weak-minded in the old days, you would just have to not believe in God.
So, the weak-minded brother Peter Ivan had a daughter, who was named Anna, who then became the Russian Empress during palace coups. She was given in marriage to the Duke of Courland. Well, they celebrated the wedding there, everything is as it should be. On the way to Courland, the duke died. The official version claims that he was old and died of a heart ... A more avda-like version says that the dear one was distant, his wife was young ... well, the duke could not stand it, he overdid it, so to speak ... 🙂
This is how Anna Ioannovna became a widow ... which did not prevent her from becoming the Russian Empress.
SIXTH FUNNY STORY. VERA ZASULICH
Vera Zasulich is known for shooting the mayor of St. Petersburg, General Trepov. I shot twice, but didn't hit, or I hit where I was aiming. As a result, Yeral remained alive, and a trial was carried out over Vora, which, as you remember, became the most advanced: with the bar, the prosecutor's office and jurors. So, at the trial, the lawyer presented the case in such a way that Vera Zasulich became a victim of terrorists and she was not really to blame, he himself came 🙂
And what do you think? The jury acquitted the terrorist, who after the trial safely fled abroad. The authorities realized it, but it was already too late ...
SEVENTH FUNNY STORY
What actually started the Russo-Japanese War. Otsu Incident=>>
EIGHT FUNNY STORY: HIROO ONODA
Hiroo Onoda is a Japanese army officer who fought in World War II in the Philippines until 1974. Officially, the authorities recognized him as dead, but he did not die, but fought. He did not believe all the rumors that the war had ended back in 1945, and only when his direct general arrived in the Philippines, who gave him a task and gave the order to hand over his weapons, Onoda obeyed. Subsequently, Onoda left Japan for Brazil, hiding from excessive attention to himself. After all, he just followed orders and stood to the end. Since 1984, Hiroo Onoda has been writing his memoirs. When I read it, I'll be sure to post them.
And now you ask why he did not make himself seppuku (harahiri). In August 1945, an order was given not to do seppuku, but to stand to the last.
I think we will focus on these eight fun facts and stories. I hope they entertained you in some way. I plan a few more posts on this topic, so don't miss it! See you!
If you look back at the history of mankind, you can find many events that influenced its development. These are wars that determined the borders and destinies of states; world religions and their laws; scientific discoveries. But the most interesting facts in the history of mankind may relate to his daily life. It was they who formed the habits, traditions and way of life of people.
1. Invention of the alphabet. It is well known that one of the first examples of phonetic writing is the Phoenician alphabet. It is from him that most modern alphabetic systems originate. It is also a well-known fact that the Phoenician alphabet became the basis for the writing of the ancient Greeks.
It was the Hellenes who made an important transformation in the alphabetical system - they began to write vowels. There are two alphabetic systems in the world: consonant, where only consonants are written, and consonant-phonetic, where both consonants and vowels are written. It is to this system of recording sounds that the alphabets of modern European countries and Russia go back.
According to archeology, the first records using the Hellenic alphabet were made in the 8th century BC. One of the theories for the emergence of a consonant-phonetic system for recording sounds is the need to record Homer's poems and other poetic works.
Already in the 13th century, there was a practice in Europe that made it possible to quickly create several copies of one book - scribes simultaneously copied different parts of the embroidered book, and then took new ones.
Since the 15th century, woodcuts have been used - printing with wooden blocks. Around 1450, movable types made of metal were invented, which made it possible to create books more quickly. The first printing press was opened by Johannes Gutenberg. Following his initiative, printing houses began to appear throughout Europe. The Department of Printing began to operate at the University of Paris, the best books were printed in Antwerp and Venice. In the 16th century, the typographic press opened the way for new books with a secular content.
3. Create an encyclopedia. Most Internet users at least occasionally turn to Internet encyclopedias. The most popular of them is Wikipedia. In addition to it, there are a number of more specialized projects that are replenished according to a similar principle - by enthusiasts at no cost. The very idea of an encyclopedia as a book, where all knowledge is collected together, belongs to the ancient world - the "Disciplines" of Mark Terentius Varro. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, many works were published that claimed to present all the knowledge available at that time.
The 18th century brought a new idea of encyclopedism - a book where articles are grouped alphabetically rather than by topic. In 1704-1710, under the editorship of John Harris, a scholar and priest of the Anglican Church, the Lexicon Technicum was published. Articles in it were arranged in alphabetical order and were devoted to the natural and mathematical sciences. One of the authors of the lexicon was Isaac Newton. The success of the new encyclopedia inspired publisher Ephraim Chambers. In 1728 he published the Cyclopedia. It was followed by multi-volume universal books in the 18th - 20th centuries - the Encyclopedia of the French Enlighteners, British, Great Soviet. The Internet has opened up new possibilities for the encyclopedia, which led to the creation of Wikipedia, but the Lexicon Technicum volumes are at the heart of it.
4. The emergence of coffee in Europe.The most interesting facts in the history of mankind may relate to the history of the culture of drinking. According to statistics, in the last decade in Russia, 70% of the population regularly drinks coffee. This drink is also popular in other countries. In the modern world, a whole culture is being formed around this drink - traditions, popular brands, the very image of coffee in popular culture.
The homeland of coffee beans is East Africa. From there, in the Middle Ages, they came to Arabia, and then to Turkey. The first coffee houses began to operate in the Ottoman Empire. In the second half of the 16th century, coffee came to Europe, where they also began to open coffee houses.
The new drink, along with tea, changed the way of life of Europeans, because in Western countries they began to drink less alcohol. The Spaniards and the British began to establish coffee plantations in their colonies, and this is how the drink crossed the ocean. There were heated debates at the scientific departments of Europe: some doctors assured listeners of the harmfulness of the drink, others called it a panacea for all diseases. The drink had many opponents, and even Johann Sebastian Bach in a cantata ridiculed the commitment of Leipzig women to it. But in the 16th century, coffee firmly entered the lives of Europeans (and later Russians) and remains there to this day.
On September 30, 1847, the Vegetarian Society was founded in the English city of Manchester. A few decades before him, in European and especially English societies, there were disputes about the benefits and harms of eating meat and the moral aspects of the problem. The famous poet Percy Shelley published a treatise defending the "natural" vegetarian diet.
The founders of the society were members of the Biblical Christian Church, a religious organization, one of the principles of which was vegetarianism. During 1847, preparations were made for the creation of a new society of vegetarians. In the summer, a “physiological conference” was held, in which 130 people took part, and it was decided to meet again in September.
Paradoxically, the development of the vegetarian movement in the 19th century was a response to the spread of meat. Until recently, this product was elitist, and the general population could not afford it. In the 19th century, the situation changed, and large sections of the urban population became "meat-eaters".
The Vegetarian Society in Manchester continued to exist and meet. Six years later, the number of its members approached 900, and by the end of the century - to 5 thousand. In the 20th century, vegetarians were engaged in promoting their views on healthy eating, demanding that manufacturers remove "non-vegetarian" components from some products.
Over the years, well-known people of their time were members of the society. In particular, the Indian freedom fighter and non-violent resistance Mahatma Gandhi.
These are a few episodes from world history. But they show that the most interesting facts in the history of mankind occurred in different eras. And with seeming insignificance, they shaped the world as it became by the beginning of the 21st century.
History is a most interesting science, it tells about distant epochs and various events, makes us analyze the facts and confuses scientists. Historical finds are still not uncommon, and some refute the generally accepted versions of the development of human civilization, and force us to put forward new hypotheses. More than once, history has been rewritten, adjusted to fit patterns, and interpreted in a form convenient for the ruling class. It seems that the current level of technology and knowledge allows us to explain the most incredible and strange events. But in the world there is still room for the unknown and inexplicable.
Ancient archaeological finds
The work of archaeologists has repeatedly presented the world with surprises: the found artifacts and household items baffled historians. Their antiquity did not correspond to the official version of the development of mankind. How to explain the presence of iron weapons among savage tribes unfamiliar with metallurgy? What were the objects built for? How could they be built, if even modern technologies are not capable of reproducing similar or simply transporting building materials of the same weight? Get acquainted with some architectural objects around which disputes still do not subside, despite the presence of many articles and scientific theories.
pyramids
The pyramids of the pharaohs of Egypt, well known all over the world, existed already 2600 thousand years BC. (this time is estimated approximately, the exact age has not been established so far). A lot is known about the life of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, but many questions still remain unanswered. Why does the angle of inclination along the line that can connect all the pyramids exactly match the angle of inclination of Orion's Belt in 10,500 BC? match exactly?
Another inexplicable fact: construction technologies during the reign of the pharaohs do not explain the appearance of such large and majestic buildings. Amazing stories about the curse of the pharaohs raise many questions, but even now it is impossible to fully explain why punishment overtakes everyone who disturbed the peace of the ancient rulers of Egypt.
And one more important and unusual point: the pyramids found on different continents are surprisingly similar to each other. In addition to Egypt, they can be proud of their huge monuments:
- Latin America (Mayan and Aztec pyramids);
- Andes (religious buildings of Norte Chico);
- China (tombs of the rulers of the Zhou and Zhao, Ming, Tang, Qin, Han, Sui dynasties);
- Rome (Pyramid of Cestius);
- Nubia (city of Meroe);
- Spain (Pyramids of Gumar);
- Russia (pyramids of the Kola Peninsula, Aryan temple in Rostov-on-Don).
All religious buildings date back to different centuries, but have a number of similar features. An interesting fact: the artificially created pyramids of the Kola Peninsula were built about 10 thousand years ago, which allows us to speak of them as the oldest in the world. And it makes you remember the mysterious Hyperborea, which is considered either a myth, or the cradle of all mankind.
It is also worth mentioning underwater finds. It is possible that pyramidal structures have been found in the Bermuda Triangle, which have already been called the legendary Atlantis that has gone under water. True, there is very little information about the find and they are contradictory. But the Japanese underwater pyramidal structures are studied carefully.
Disputes about their age are still ongoing: some scientists talk about 5 thousand years, others - about 10. Apparently, there is a lot of truth in ancient myths, new data can change the history of human development.
Mysterious finds
Historical religious buildings, unusual monuments, strange ancient monuments, interesting archaeological finds have baffled scientists more than once. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand and explain how and why certain objects and structures appeared. A number of objects can be added to the list of the most inexplicable.
Idols of Easter Island. Their age is more than 1000 years, but who created them from pressed volcanic ash?
Stonehenge. Many legends are associated with this place: the druids, the wizard Merlin, the legendary Grail are mentioned. But the question is that Stonehenge was created much earlier. This is precisely established by scientists. Radiocarbon analysis indicates an age of 3,500 BC. But this does not prevent us from putting forward the most incredible theories of the origin of this mysterious structure. There are already about 200 of them.
Interestingly, in addition to the famous English Stonehenge, there are similar buildings:
- Small henge in England;
- Karahunj in Armenia;
- ancient stones found in the city of Gela (Italy);
- basalt boulders in Australia (near Melbourne);
- prehistoric earthen henge of Ireland;
- cromlech in the Rostov region (Russia);
- cromlech of Khortitsa island (Ukraine);
- boulders of Salem (USA);
- stone forest in Bulgaria.
All of them are unique. They are often called ancient observatories, sundials, places of worship, but their true purpose remains a mystery.
Nazco drawings in Peru. The Nascu plateau is painted: there are images of birds, animals, geometric figures. What is unusual about this? Only the fact that the scale is amazing, you can see them in their entirety from a bird's eye view. But they were created about 900 years ago, then they seemed to only dream of flying ...
Stainless column in Delhi. For 1,600 years, it has stood in an open-air Indian city. The height of the column is 7 meters, it is not clear how it was smelted. But the most amazing fact is this: rust does not form on the iron, there is not even a speck.
Kailasanath Temple. According to legend, seven thousand craftsmen carved a majestic Indian temple in a hundred years with a simple pick and chisel, moving from top to bottom along a huge rock. How they managed to reproduce such precise forms and maintain all proportions is not clear.
These and other interesting historical findings baffle scientists. Will humans ever be able to pinpoint their purpose or how they were created? There is no such certainty. In the meantime, we have to be content with more or less plausible theories.
Science is interesting
The history of the development of various sciences is filled with interesting facts. It is no secret that many discoveries were accidental, and sometimes unrelated scientists living in different countries came to the same conclusions almost simultaneously. Or they went down in history as inventors, although they only improved and distributed other people's ideas.
Some myths are still stubbornly perceived as real historical events:
- Edison light bulb. He is still considered its inventor, although he only improved the finished invention, and with the help of his employees after numerous experiments. But at the origins of the creation were the Russian inventors Yablochkov and Lodygin, the Englishman Joseph Swan, the British Frederick de Moleyns and the American John Starr.
Little-known, sometimes specially “forgotten” facts from the history of various sciences can significantly change the usual ideas about their development and formation.
Some historical events are associated with animals. Remember the legendary story of how the geese saved Rome. It so happens that our smaller brothers become the cause of global upheavals and can change the fate of peoples.
Check out the highlights:
- The mass destruction of sparrows in China caused the death of about 30 million people. The natural enemies of locusts and caterpillars that disappeared from the fields led to their mass reproduction. As a result of the destruction of crops, famine began. And the bugs also bred, which also brought a lot of inconvenience and problems to the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom.
These are negative examples, but there are also positive ones. Pets have repeatedly saved their owners during earthquakes. They felt the approach of catastrophe and warned by their behavior about the coming disaster. Seismic biologists have learned to correctly interpret the signals of snakes, birds, fish and mammals.
unusual medicine
The historical facts about what was sometimes used as medicines are amazing.
Here are some of the most unusual treatments:
- Calming syrup for children. Nannies and young mothers in England and America in the 19th century used a syrup based on ammonia and morphine. The medicine was considered universal.
- Children used to be treated for coughs with heroin, which was used as a substitute for morphine.
- The tobacco enema was used in Western Europe for medicinal purposes. By the way, back in the middle of the last century, cigarettes were advertised as a healthy product.
- In the Middle Ages, an iron stake heated on fire was used to treat hemorrhoids.
- Ancient physicians performed trepanation with a hammer, this is how mental disorders were treated, it is not surprising that patients often died right on the operating table.
- It was believed that venereal diseases could be cured with mercury or lead. After such rubbing, people died more often than from the disease itself.
Reincarnation: myth or truth
There are many references in history to the re-incarnation of dead people. Is this a myth or does reincarnation exist?
You will seriously think about this if you learn some facts from the life of great people:
- Napoleon and Hitler. Having studied their biography, it is not difficult to believe in reincarnation, many significant events in the life of both dictators occurred with an interval of 129 years. 1760 and 1889 are the birth years of Napoleon and Hitler. Further dates follow respectively: coming to power - 1804 and 1933, the conquest of Vienna and the attack on Russia - 1812 and 1841, the defeat in the war - 1816 and 1945.
- Lincoln and Kennedy. These American presidents have a difference of exactly 100 years: Lincoln was born in 1818, Kennedy - in 1918. And further coincidences: they became presidents in 1860 and 1960, respectively. Both were killed on Friday, Lincoln at the Kennedy Theater, Kennedy in a Lincoln car. Their killers were also born 100 years apart. So did the successors to the presidency: both Johnsons, Andrew and Lyndon, took over the presidency after the assassination, one was born in 1808, the other in 1908.
By studying historical legends, myths and theories, you can learn a lot of interesting facts about humanity, the lives of great people, their discoveries and inventions.
In 1992, a group of Australians set themselves the goal of winning the national lottery jackpot at all costs. They invested $5 million in lottery tickets ($1 per ticket) to cover almost every possible combination and won $27 million.
II
One nun really needed a ladder, and she had no one to turn to. The pious woman began to earnestly pray to the patron saint of carpenters, Saint Joseph. Soon a man appeared on the doorstep, who offered his services and in a couple of months made a beautiful strong spiral staircase. When the work was completed, the man simply disappeared without receiving any payment or gratitude, and all attempts to find him were unsuccessful. It is curious that the staircase is made without any props, without a single nail, and at the same time makes a 360-degree turn. 
III
Elephants rape and kill rhinos. In the Pilanesberg National Park (South Africa) alone, 63 such cases have been reported. 
IV
In 1995, the New York magazine Newsweek published an article "Why the Web Can Never Become Nirvana" mocking the future of the Internet. The author of the article ridiculed the idea that someday people will get the news, buy airline tickets and study online. This article can still be read on the publication's website. 
V
There is a territory between Egypt and Sudan that is not claimed by any state. It is called Bir Tawil and is a quadrangle with an area of about 2000 kilometers. In theory, this territory should now belong to Egypt. However, in 1958, Egypt demanded that Sudan return to the 1899 borders and transfer the Halayib Triangle, refusing Bir Tawil in return. Sudan refused. So Bir Tawil turned out to be the only "no man's land" outside of Antarctica. 
VI
In 1730, the French pirate Olivier Levasseur was sentenced to the gallows. Just before the execution, he unexpectedly threw a note with a cryptogram into the crowd, shouting: “Find my treasures if you can!” The treasure has not yet been found. 
VII
During the excavation of an ancient Roman temple in London's Southwark, a jar of ointment was discovered, which is at least 2000 years old. The substance retained its structure, it even left fairly clear fingerprints. 
VIII
The largest robbery in Japan took place in 1968. One day, a bank car carrying a large amount of money was stopped by a policeman on a motorcycle. He said that according to his information, a bomb was planted in the car and ordered everyone to get out. He then climbed inside "to defuse the explosive device." Suddenly, the car filled with smoke and the bank employees who were escorting the valuable cargo fled in a panic. And the “policeman” calmly left. During this heist (crime scene pictured below), 300 million yen was stolen and remains unsolved to this day. 
IX
Most of the borders of the Middle East were set by a couple of European aristocrats in 1916. The Frenchman François Georges-Picot and the Englishman Mark Sykes developed the so-called "Sykes-Picot Agreement", which delimited the spheres of interest of Great Britain, France, Russia and Italy in the Middle East after the First World War. 
X
In 1967, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared without a trace. Went for a swim with friends in the bay and vanished. He could not drown, as he was an excellent swimmer, there were no sharks in those places, and the cheerful prime minister had no reason to commit suicide. Holt's body was never found. This disappearance has entered Australian folklore. The expression "make Harold Holt" means to the locals to disappear suddenly and mysteriously. 
XI
In May 2013, an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York was forced to make an emergency landing to expel a Whitney Houston fan who had driven passengers and crew to despair. The woman, without stopping with a good obscenity, yelled the famous hit “I Will Always love you” and flatly refused to shut up. She sang even when the police took her out of the salon:
