Weird History Facts, Not like, in the “aced every test and owned a powdered wig for fun” way, but in the “I fell into a Wikipedia rabbit hole for 4 hours and forgot to eat dinner” way. You feel me?
And the more I dig into this stuff, the more I realize: school totally robbed us. Like, we spent three months memorizing the Monroe Doctrine, but not once did anyone mention that a pope literally put another pope on trial after he was dead.
You read that right.
Dead Pope. On. Trial.
So buckle up, because today we’re going full conspiracy-meets-clown-car with some weird history facts that’ll have you yelling, “Why was this not in the textbook?!”
The Pope Who Dug Up a Dead Pope Just to Yell at Him
You think your workplace drama is bad?
Back in 897 AD (yeah, we’re time-traveling way back), Pope Stephen VI had some serious beef with his predecessor, Pope Formosus. So what does a totally rational guy do?
He digs up Formosus’s rotting corpse, dresses it in papal robes, props it on a throne, and puts it on trial. Actual, honest-to-God trial.
Charges? Something like “being pope while not being worthy”—whatever that means. The poor skeleton was found guilty, had his papal title stripped, and was thrown into the Tiber River. I mean… talk about grudge-holding at Olympic levels.
The Great Emu War (Spoiler: The Birds Won)
This one’s an all-time favorite. And yes, it’s very real.
Australia, 1932. Farmers were having a hard time because thousands of emus—yes, the giant, angry birds—were destroying crops. So the government sent soldiers with machine guns to fight the birds.
I repeat: Machine. Guns. Versus. Birds.
And guess what? The birds won. They outran, outmaneuvered, and just kept being emus. The soldiers wasted thousands of bullets and barely made a dent. It was such a failure that they had to call it off. Nature: 1, Humans: 0.
We had an actual war with birds… and lost.
Still better than any PowerPoint we sat through in 10th grade.
The Time People Danced Themselves to Death
No, this isn’t some wild TikTok challenge gone too far.
In 1518, a woman in Strasbourg (modern-day France) just started dancing in the street. She couldn’t stop. A day passed. Then two. Then three. Soon, dozens of people joined her—dancing for days, some for weeks. Some dropped dead from exhaustion, strokes, or heart attacks.
Historians still don’t know exactly why. Mass hysteria? Contaminated bread? Demonic flash mobs?
All I know is, it’s weirdly comforting that even in 1518, people were like, “I don’t know what’s happening, but I have to dance.”
Napoleon Was Once Attacked by a Horde of Bunnies
Yes, the Napoleon. Short guy, hand-in-jacket, war genius.
So he’s out celebrating a military victory, and someone has the bright idea to organize a rabbit hunt for fun. They release hundreds of bunnies for Napoleon and his men to chase.
Except… the rabbits didn’t run away.
They charged him.
Turns out the event organizer got tame, domesticated bunnies. These fluffy dudes thought they were being fed, not hunted. So they swarmed Napoleon, and he had to flee his own rabbit attack like it was a Looney Tunes sketch.
You really can’t make this stuff up.
The U.S. Once Had a Town Mayor Who Was a Dog
I wish my mayor was this cool.
In Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, they elected a dog as mayor. Not metaphorically. Literally, a dog. His name was Goofy Borneman, and he “served” in 1998.
Since then, they’ve had several canine mayors, including a pit bull named Brynneth Pawltro. And honestly? Probably fewer scandals than most human politicians. No tweets to delete. No lobbyists. Just belly rubs and walkies.
I love this country sometimes.
Ancient Romans Used Pee as Mouthwash
Let that one sink in.
They believed the ammonia in pee could whiten teeth. So yep, people were swishing around urine like it was minty-fresh Listerine. Bonus: they imported Portuguese urine because they thought it was the best quality.
Imagine being the person whose job it was to collect and sell Portuguese pee. Makes your job look pretty great, right?
File Suggestion: Grossed-out face meme or someone pretending to gargle
Filename: ancient-mouthwash-ew.jpg
Titanic’s Lookout Had No Binoculars Because… of a Key
Alright, this one just hurts.
The Titanic’s lookout team didn’t have binoculars on the night it hit the iceberg. Why? Because the key to the locker that held the binoculars was in the pocket of a guy who’d been reassigned last-minute and forgot to hand it over.
The man literally left the ship with the key in his pocket.
It’s like if your WiFi went out during a job interview, except way, way worse.
A President Was Arrested—While in Office
You ever get pulled over and just hope they don’t notice that expired tag?
Well, Ulysses S. Grant—yes, the President of the United States—got arrested for speeding. With a horse.
Apparently, he was flying around D.C. in his horse-drawn carriage like he was in Fast & Furious: 1872, and a local cop actually stopped and fined him.
Not only did Grant respect the arrest, but he also paid the fine like a total champ.
Try imagining that happening today. I’ll wait.
Cleopatra Wasn’t Egyptian
Total plot twist.
Everyone’s favorite eyeliner queen? Yeah, she was actually Greek. Her family descended from Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. So, technically, the last pharaoh of Egypt wasn’t even Egyptian.
And to be real, I just learned this like… last year. So if you also thought she was Egyptian—you’re not alone, friend.
The Dancing Goats That Discovered Coffee
No, I didn’t just mash up random words.
According to legend, an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi noticed his goats were acting wild after eating berries from a certain tree. They were hyped. Like, “3 Red Bulls and a cold shower” hyped.
He tried the berries himself—and boom: coffee.
So next time you’re sipping that overpriced cold brew, say a silent “thank you” to those Weird History Facts goats that couldn’t chill.
Final Thoughts (aka, History’s Outtakes Are the Best Parts) about Weird History Facts
Look, if history class had included even one of these weird history facts, I might’ve paid attention instead of doodling band logos in the margins of my notebook. You ever think about that?
Why did we spend weeks on tariffs and treaties when we could’ve learned about dancing plagues and Napoleon’s bunny beatdown?
Honestly, it just proves that history isn’t boring. It’s just been edited for school. The fun, chaotic, human parts got left on the cutting room floor.
But now you know. And hopefully, you’ll bring some of these chaotic little truth bombs to your next party, group chat, or awkward first date.
You’re welcome.
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