Historical facts you won't believe are real

[jw5]

Historical facts you won't believe are real​

It is true that there are many historical 'facts' that are anything but factual, but the opposite is also true. There are some very bizarre facts that indeed sound like they are made up. Except, they're not! Did you know, for instance, that forks were once considered sacrilegious? Or that Albert Einstein was actually offered the position of president of Israel?

 

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Sacrilegious forks​

Back in 11th-century Italy, forks were actually considered sacrilegious.

 

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Sacrilegious forks​

But why were forks offensive to God? Well, God created humans with fingers, which they used to eat, so they wouldn't need such a tool, right?

 

[jw5]

Jeremy Quek is a gongcheebye spammer.

 

[jw5]

Swearing parrot​

President Andrew Jackson famously owned a pet parrot. When the president died, the animal attended his funeral in 1845.

 

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Swearing parrot​

However, the parrot started to swear, and mourners were obviously disturbed by it. The bird ended up having to be removed from the funeral.

 

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Human alarm clocks​

Before alarm clocks, people would pay "knocker uppers" to wake them up. They would do so by using long poles and knocking on people's windows.

 

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Human alarm clocks​

Alternatively, they used pea shooters. Sounds like a fun job, right?

 

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Pope Gregory IX deemed cats evil​

In 1232, Pope Gregory IX wrote a letter called Vox in Rama (“A Voice in Rama”) to the king of Germany expressing his concerns about witches in Germany, whose rituals included cats.

 

[jw5]

Pope Gregory IX deemed cats evil​

Mass killings of cats reportedly followed. Really, cats (black ones in particular) have been demonized ever since.

 

[jw5]

Pope Gregory IX deemed cats evil​

But the reported cat killings may have contributed to the proliferation of rats, which consequently helped spread the plague!

 

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Mary Shelley kept her dead husband's heart​

The English novelist, best known for writing the Gothic novel 'Frankenstein,' actually kept the heart of her dead husband in a box in her desk.

 

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Mary Shelley kept her dead husband's heart​

Shelley’s husband, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, drowned in a boating accident when he was 29.

 

[jw5]

Romans would use urine as mouthwash​

Sure, the Romans had some dubious practices, but using urine for dental hygiene is pretty out there even for them!

 

[jw5]

Romans would use urine as mouthwash​

Though there is some method to the madness. Urine is rich in ammonia, which has stain-removing properties. Maybe the Romans were onto something after all...

 

[jw5]

Peter the Great made his cheating wife feel guilty every day​

Peter the Great's wife, Catherine, cheated on him with Willem Mons. So Peter the Great not only killed him, but found a creepy way to remind his wife of her adultery.

 

[jw5]

Peter the Great made his cheating wife feel guilty every day​

Peter the Great decapitated his wife's lover, put his head in a jar, and placed it in Catherine's bedroom as a reminder of her affair.

 

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'Mary Had a Little Lamb' is based on a true story​

The real person was called Mary Sawyer, and indeed she took a little lamb to school in 1816.

 

[jw5]

'Mary Had a Little Lamb' is based on a true story​

A young man named John Roulstone witnessed Mary sneaking the lamb into school and wrote a poem about it. He then gave it to Mary.

 

[jw5]

Toilet meetings​

US President Lyndon B. Johnson was said to have conducted meetings on the toilet.