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

Andy Cohen, Anderson Cooper and Cheri Oteri
@latenightercom/X

Cheri Oteri Just Revived Her Iconic Barbara Walters Impression During CNN's America 250 Broadcast—And Anderson Cooper Totally Lost It

He may be one of the most poised news anchors out there, but even CNN's Anderson Cooper isn't immune to the church giggles—especially when Cheri Oteri is around.

The legendary SNL alum joined CNN's coverage of America's 250th birthday, doing her impression of Barbara Walters.

Keep ReadingShow less
Larry David; Donald Trump; Rob Reiner
HBO; Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images; HBO

Rob Reiner Gets In One Last Dig At Trump In Surprise Final Acting Role Alongside Larry David—And It's A Mic Drop

Viewers this week of Larry David's new HBO historical sketch comedy series Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America learned that the late award-winning actor and director Rob Reiner filmed a sketch for the show before his death in December of 2025.

His appearance in the show, playing the United States' first President George Washington, was kept secret until the episode aired on Thursday, July 2.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Giorgia Meloni
Aaron Schwartz / AFP via Getty Images; Ludovic Martin / AFP via Getty Images

Trump Ripped After Mocking Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni With Bizarre 'Restraining Order' Meme

President Donald Trump was criticized after he continued his feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by sharing a photo of her looking up at him with the words "restraining order needed" above it.

That phrase is featured above a photo Trump shared as part of a flurry of other posts on Truth Social. It features him with Meloni from the recent G7 summit, showing her—who is about a foot shorter than him—looking up in his direction.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ron DeSantis
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Ron DeSantis Gets Brutal History Lesson After Making Patently False WWII Claim About Great Britain

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was swiftly fact-checked after he attempted to school an X account that was already trolling the United States by making a false claim about U.S. contributions during World War II.

To mark America's 250th birthday, the X account No Context Brits—which is known for posting memes, jokes, and sarcastic commentary—celebrated by highlighting a British pub that predates the United States by centuries.

Keep ReadingShow less

Woman Sparks Debate About Flight Etiquette After Preaching To Plane About Jesus During Flight In Viral Video

Well, travelers, we've heard flight attendants belt out "I Will Always Love You" on a 6:00AM flight, a young girl sing "How Far I'll Go" from Moana to "entertain" the masses during a delayed Delta flight, and we've even witnessed a surprise wedding, reception and all, down the center aisle before passing out the snacks.

And now, we've witnessed a woman breaking one of the biggest plane etiquette rules in the world, reminding all of the passengers that they could die before the flight begins, all to launch into a prophetic monologue about being saved by Jesus Christ.

Keep ReadingShow less