History Facts They Didn’t Teach You At School

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The first official Medals of Honor were awarded during the American Civil War.

They were awarded to Union soldiers who participated in the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862.

Volunteers of the Union Army, led by James J. Andrews, snuck in deep behind Confederate lines, commandeered an armored train and took it northward towards Tennessee, wreaking havoc on their Confederate foes along the way.

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Hollywood moved from New York to Los Angeles to escape Edison’s patents.

Hollywood is globally recognized as the movie capital of the world. Yet it wasn’t always so.

The movie industry was originally based in New York in the 1800s, which was close to New Jersey – and New Jersey was where patent-master Thomas Edison was based.

Edison had patents on over 1,000 different things, including most of the technology needed to make high-end movies, and boy did he flex on them patents.

In short, if you wanted to be in the movie business, you basically had to go through Edison.

So the “independent” film-makers chose an alternate option to fighting Edison: fleeing Edison. And that’s what they did!

They moved to California, to an area of the country where the judges weren’t as friendly to Edison and his patents, and where the wheels of copyright law would take longer to roll over them.

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During World War II, Americans called hamburgers “liberty steaks”.

This was due to the fact that “hamburger” sounded a little bit too German!

Also, during World War I, sauerkraut was re-dubbed “liberty cabbage”.

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The 7.62mm rifle bullet was created 129 years ago.

Even if you’re not a gun nut, you’ve probably heard someone refer to this type of ammunition before. It’s the ammunition AK47 assault rifles use.

Therefore it should come as no surprise that it was developed by the Russian Empire in 1891.

Originally designed for the Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle, this round is still in-use today.

It’s one of the most common types of firearm ammunition in history.

[01dragonslayer]

Adolf Hitler helped design the Volkswagen Beetle.

That’s right, the fella who gave a big thumbs up to the Holocaust also invented Herbie.

Nothing from your childhood is safe from Nazis.

Between Hitler and Ferdinand Porsche, the iconic and globally-loved Beetle was designed as part of a Hitler-revived German initiative to create “the people’s car” – an affordable and practical car that everyone could own.

In fact, the car manufacturer’s name “Volkswagen” translates to English as “People’s car”.

[01dragonslayer]

Winston Churchill had a Doctor’s note to drink an “indefinite” amount of alcohol in Prohibition America.

Other than defiant hand gestures, iconic speeches, cigars and dapper hats, Winston Churchill is also renowned for his love of alcohol. Whiskey in particular.

In 1931, Churchill was involved in a car accident which left him with chest pain, as well as having bouts of depression to contend with.

Because of this, he was granted a Doctor’s note in 1932 for his time in the United States This allowed him drink an “indefinite” amount of alcohol for his duration of time in the Prohibition-era United States.

[01dragonslayer]

In Ancient Greece, they believed redheads became vampires after death.

This was partly due to the fact that redheaded people are very pale skinned and sensitive to sunlight… unlike the bronze Mediterranean Greeks.

As well as the fact that a fair bit of vampire folklore existed within Greek mythology.

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Abraham Lincoln was a wrestling champion.

Before becoming America’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln was an avid wrestler. He only lost one fight out of 300.

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The guillotine was invented to create “equality in execution”.

The guillotine is an image that is fairly synonymous with France and the French Revolution.

Until it’s advent and widespread use, the regular methods of execution in France were rather savage. Punishment like being drawn and quartered were common.

The idea to use the guillotine as the main method of execution was part of the movement for equality in France that spurred on the revolution.

This created an equality in death and execution for citizens from all backgrounds.

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Ferrets, dogs and monkeys were the most popular pets in the Roman Empire.

Rather than having cats to hunt down vermin like mice and rats, the Romans used ferrets.

They also used dogs as sentries and guards, whilst they used monkeys for entertainment…

…Because monkeys are funny.

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A Chernobyl firefighter was exposed to so much radiation, it changed his eye color.

Vladimir Pravik was one of the first firefighters to reach Reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26th, 1986.

His job there was to contain the flames spewing from the building.

During his shift dousing the highly-radioactive flames of the burning reactor core, he was exposed to a shockingly lethal dose of radiation.

It was so deadly that it changed his eye color from brown to blue.

Like the majority of the first responders to the Chernobyl disaster, Vladimir died 15 days later from severe radiation poisoning.

[01dragonslayer]

Before Julius Caesar invaded Britain, many Romans didn’t believe it existed.

Julius Caesar was the first ever Roman to invade Britain. He did it twice in the years 55 and 54 BC.

Up until this point, there were many divided opinions on Britain within the Roman Empire.

Some believed Britain to be just the foot of another huge northern continent. Others thought it was a place full of unbelievable riches, whilst most thought it just didn’t exist.

Caesar’s first invasion of Britain was, in a militaristic sense, a resounding blunder.

Yet, due to the mythical nature of Britain, his invasion of the country was a huge PR success. It made him legendary in the eyes of many Romans.

[01dragonslayer]

Cleopatra wasn’t Egyptian.

She was part of the Ptolemy dynasty, who were derived from one of Alexander the Great’s generals, Ptolemy.

Her ancestors ruled over Egypt from the city of Alexandria. Named after… you guessed it, Alexander the Great.

Bonus fact about the Ptolemy dynasty: All male members of this dynasty were called Ptolemy. It makes learning about them really confusing.

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Cleopatra was the first member of her dynasty to speak Ancient Egyptian.

Ancient Egyptian is considered one of the most difficult languages to master in history.

Well, Cleopatra was able to master it.

Along with 8 other languages including: Ancient Greek, Ancient Iranian, Ancient Parthian, Syriac, Ethiopian, Troglodytae, Hebrew and Arabic.

[01dragonslayer]

Alexander the Great named over 70 cities after himself.

That might sound a touch egocentric on the face of it…

But let’s not forget that Alexander the Great conquered over 2 million square miles of the Earth’s surface. And he did this all before he was 30 years old.

So yeah, over 70 cities might be a little excessive.

But, if you’re a boy wonder with the world literally knelt at your feet, why not go a little crazy. Am I right?!