Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down Which Actual Historical Events Are Stranger Than Fiction

Make us preferred on Google

Ever heard of the Great Emu War of 1932?

Well, if you haven't, now you have. It's a very real event, believe it or not.

It was fought between the Australian Army and emus that were destroying crops. The Australians lost and the emus continued to wreak havoc.

Emus: 1 Humans: 0

If that sounds too weird to be true, then just know that the Great Emu War has some competition. People shared their favorite odd but true historical events after Redditor AquaTax asked the online community,

"What historical events are so absurd that they would be too strange for a fiction story or a movie?"

"She screamed and tried to fight him off..."

"Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer, once snuck up on his own wife, Marcia Winslow, as they were getting out of their car after a party and began to strangle her."

"She screamed and tried to fight him off until she realized it was him, at which point he stopped and tried to convince her that it wasn't him strangling her, it must have been someone else."

"She stayed with him for several years after that incident."

rubyredrising

Ummm... has anyone checked on Marcia? How's she doing?

"They were displaced from their normal hunting grounds..."

"The Germans and Russians once called a temporary (unofficial) ceasefire in World War I because of wolves invading the battlefield."

"They were displaced from their normal hunting grounds and looking for something to eat, which turned out to be local livestock, corpses, children, and unwary or incapacitated soldiers."

"It got so bad that everyone stopped shooting at each other for a while so they could hunt them down, proving once more that the threat of being eaten is stronger than any political ideal."

Arafel9162

The wolves were trying to teach them a lesson, weren't they?

This sounds like a prequel to The Grey.

"In Anne Frank's original diary..."

"In Anne Frank's original diary, she openly talked about her changing body, periods, and her questions about sex but they were edited out of the final print."

AlienationsYT

The day I learned this blew my mind.

These Actors Were Perfectly Cast In Their Roles | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

Sometimes an actor comes along that is able to reach the audience on a deeper level. The actor that immediately comes to mind is Robin Williams. Although it ...

"John Tyler..."

"John Tyler, the 10th U.S. president, still has a living grandchild."

Boi_inc

Yep! He's in his 90s, and still kicking. John Tyler, you rascal.

"It was just a coincidence..."

"Thomas Crapper actually did invent the first reliable modern toilet. (The kind with a raised cistern.) But the word crap/crapper was already a very old slang term by that point."

"It was just a coincidence. Or maybe he felt like he had no choice. But crap and crapper have nothing to do with Thomas Crapper."

SoldMySoulForHairDye

Okay, but this is perfect. We hope Crapper just rolled with it.

"John Adams..."

"John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day. The day? The 50th anniversary of the Fourth of July. Adams's last words were, 'Thomas Jefferson still survives.'"

wizardvictor

Oh, the irony.

John, someone's gotta tell you...

"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

This paragraph just grew more and more absurd the more I continued reading.

"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

What?

How?

Huh?

Explain yourselves, Austria

"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

This led a crazy life. Just check out his Wikipedia page.

He was known for the motto: "Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed."

"In 1184..."

The latrine disaster of Erfurt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfurt_latrine_disaster

"In 1184, the King of Germany Heinrich VI held court in the Petersberg Citadel in Erfurt. On the morning of 26 July, the weight of the assembled nobles caused the wooden second-story floor of the Peterskirche to collapse."

"Most of them fell through into the latrine cesspit below the ground floor and about 60 of them drowned in liquid excrement."

Supraspinster

Oh, there's a joke here.

It'd be so bad of me to make it....

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.

Have some historical facts of your own to share? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

'The Craft' cast, including Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Rachel True and Neve Campbell
Columbia Pictures/Getty Images

'The Craft' Star Speaks Out After New Bratz Dolls Were Sent To Influencers But Not Original Cast

Bratz enthusiasts have a lot to be excited about right now, as a new collection of the dolls have rolled out, this time inspired specifically by the original cast of the 1996 horror film The Craft, from which Bratz dolls came to be.

But just because it's an exciting campaign doesn't mean it's perfect.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trick-or-treating
The Boston Globe/Getty Images

HOA Sparks Debate After Sending Letter Telling People Not To Hand Out Full-Size Candy Bars On Halloween

Within our communities, it's important to make everyone feel welcome and included, and sometimes that means making changes so that everyone can afford to be included. But sometimes changes are made simply because someone with the power to change it doesn't want to do something.

The question is whether changes are being made for inclusivity or convenience.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @serena_loscalzo's TikTok
@serena_loscalzo/TikTok

College President Goes Above And Beyond To Help Student Prank Her Chronically Oversleeping Roommate

University of Vermont President Marlene Tromp and UVM student Hannah Lapier have gone viral after their fabulous wake-up call—and fortunately not the negative, reality-check kind!

Lapier opened up to her roommate, Serena LoScalzo, about struggling to get out of bed in the morning for her classes. Lapier prompted her friend to use any means necessary to help her make it to her morning classes on time, because she wanted to take school seriously.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @itsvictoriavega's TikTok
@itsvictoriavega/TikTok

Woman Sounds Off About 'Worst First Date Of My Life' After Guy Made Truly Unhinged Request

There are bad first dates, there are the worst first dates ever, and then there are the dates that are so terrible, you can't help but wonder how they occurred in the first place.

TikToker Victoria Vega, for example, went on a first date with a guy after what she thought was a promising start, but when she actually went on the date, it was nothing like she'd expected. In fact, she called it the worst first date of her life.

Keep ReadingShow less
TikToker Kae; Walmart storefront
@lolxdlolxdlolxd23455/TikTok; Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

Fired TikToker Shares Bonkers Behind-The-Scene Stories About What It Was Like Working At Walmart

Whether or not we've ever worked there, we've all heard horror stories and seen internet memes about "people at Walmart" and the weird things that often happen within the oversized chain convenience store.

TikToker Kae, or @lolxdlolxdlolxd23455 on the platform, worked at Walmart for more than six months and ultimately was fired because he'd accidentally logged his PTO time incorrectly and also requested multiple days off,—but he'd intended to quit anyway given his unpleasant time working there.

Keep ReadingShow less