Fun Facts about World History

1. WORLD HISTORY

2. Did you know?

3. The ancient Egyptians slept on
pillows made of stone.

4. The total number of Americans
killed in the Civil War is greater
than the combined total of
Americans killed in all other wars.

5. The Hundred Years War actually
lasted 116 years (1337 to 1453).

6. Roman Emperor Caligula made his
horse, Inciatus, an official Senator
of Rome.

7. There are 92 known
cases of nuclear bombs
lost at sea.

8. Despite popular belief,
Napoleon Bonaparte stood
5’6 tall. Average height for
men in the early 1800’s.

9. Did you know?

10. Only two people signed the
Declaration of Independence on
July 4th, 1776.
The majority of others signed on
August 2nd, 1776.

11. Influenza (Bird Flu) caused over
twenty-one million deaths in 1918.
So much for the swine flu.

12. Leonardo Da Vinci designed the
first
helicopter, tank, submarine, parac
hute and ammunition igniter…
…over 500 years ago.

13. Did you know?

14. In ancient China, doctors could
receive fees only if their patient
was cured.
If their health deteriorated, the
doctor would have to pay the
patient.

15. The shortest war on record was
fought between Zanzibar and
England in 1896. Zanzibar
surrendered after 38 minutes.

16. Seven of the eight US Presidents
who have died in office - either
through illness or assassination -
were elected at precisely 20-year
intervals.

17. The great conqueror, Attila the
Hun, died from a nosebleed.

18. Did you know?

19. During the US Civil war, 200,000
African Americans served in the
Union Army; 38,000 gave their
lives; 22 won the Medal of Honor.

20. The Black Death reduced the
population of Europe by
two thirds , nearly 50 million
people in a 4 year period from
1347 to 1351.

21. Ancient Romans at one time used
human urine as an ingredient in
their toothpaste.

22. King Henry VIII married 6 times!
He divorced twice, one died and
he beheaded two others! The last
outlived him.

23. The very first bomb dropped by
the Allies on Berlin during World
War II had just one casualty…
The only elephant in the
Berlin Zoo.

24. Did you know?

25. Cleopatra married two of her
brothers.

26. Grenades were invented in China
over 1,000 years ago.

27. It is rumored that Adolph Hitler’s
grandmother was Jewish.

28. In 1992, Pope John Paul II
declared that the Church was
wrong to condemn Galileo for his
theory regarding the sun being
the center of the universe, 350
years after Galileo’s death.

29. X-rays of the Mona Lisa show that
there are 3 different versions
under the present one.

30. Did you know?

31. During the Hundred Years War,
the larger French army threatened
to cut off the middle fingers of the
outnumbered English archers.
When the English won the battle,
they taunted their French captives
with a certain “one fingered
gesture”.

32. At the height of its power, in 400
BC, the Greek city of Sparta had
only 25,000 citizens and over
500,000 slaves.

33. The tyrant Roman Emperor
Caracalla was murdered by his
own guards while relieving
himself; hence the phrase, “caught
with your pants down.”

34. At Andrew Jackson's
funeral in 1845, his pet parrot had
to be removed because it was
swearing too much.

35. The average life span of a peasant
during the medieval ages was 25
years.

36. Did you know?

37. Alexander the Great had
conquered nearly half the known
world by the time he was 20 years
old.

38. Leonardo da Vinci was
dyslexic, and he often
wrote backwards.

39. In ancient Egypt,
people shaved their eyebrows as
a mourning symbol when their
cats died.

40. Members of the Nazi SS had
their blood type tattooed on
their armpits.

41. In a strange twist of irony, King
Louis XVI of France thought old
ways of execution were too
inhumane. So he had a doctor
invent a new device, the
guillotine.
He would later be beheaded by
that very device.

42. History is filled with a ton of
interesting facts!

43. Are you ready to learn
more?

44. WORLD HISTORY