Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down Which Actual Historical Events Are Stranger Than Fiction

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

yellow note with "I QUIT!" on keyboard
Nick Fewings on Unsplash

People's Best 'F—k This, I Don't Get Paid Enough' Work Experiences

In 1977, singer and songwriter Johnny Paycheck scored a mega hit with his working-class anthem, "Take This Job and Shove It."

The lyrics embodied the sentiments of workers and their ultimate fantasy of telling off their boss, as the chorus said:

Keep Reading Show less
Lauren Boebert; Kid Rock
Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

Lauren Boebert In Hot Water After She's Busted Spending Campaign Funds On Kid Rock Concert Tickets

Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert is facing criticism after Federal Election Commission (FEC) records showed she spent over $3,300 of her campaign funds on concert tickets and a hotel in Texas on the same weekend her once-rumored boyfriend—MAGA singer Kid Rock—was performing.

Boebert’s campaign reported expenses for a hotel stay in Arlington, Texas, and for event tickets purchased in May. On May 16, Boebert attended the Rock N Rodeo — part of the Professional Bull Riding Championship World Finals at AT&T Stadium — an event hosted by Kid Rock. She even shared a photo of herself with the singer on social media.

Keep Reading Show less
Left: Ron Perlman; Right: Harvey Weinstein during a court appearance.
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images; Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Ron Perlman Leaves Fans Stunned With Story About Peeing On His Hand Before Shaking Harvey Weinstein's

During an especially unsanitary round of storytime on Inside of You with Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum, Ron Perlman resurrected one of Hollywood’s most infamous bits of petty rebellion: the “pee-pee handshake” he claims he once served to convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein.

Back in the political chaos of 2018, the Sons of Anarchy star revealed that he deliberately peed on his hand before greeting Weinstein at a charity event.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshots from ​@unpunishablewoman's TikTok video
@unpunishablewoman/TikTok

Single Woman Explains Why Married Women Are 'Self-Centered' In Their Friendships—And People Have Thoughts

There's nothing quite like the feeling of investing so much of yourself into your friendships and realizing that these people you love are unwilling to reciprocate your love and care.

In recent years, it's become an increasingly common and devastating problem for single women to feel taken advantage of by their married friends. They often feel pressured to support their married friends in their milestones, especially when it comes to their kids, while their milestones as a single person are ignored.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshots from @helsmcp's TikTok video
@helsmcp/TikTok

TikToker Sparks Debate After Saying She's Suffering From 'Millennial Age Dysmorphia'

Did you know that experiencing trauma, even at a societal level, can have a lasting impact on your brain development, your aging process, and your perception of your age and capabilities?

Millennials, especially Elder Millennials, have become a classic example of this, and it's a wide-spread problem.

Keep Reading Show less