27 Fascinating Facts That Might Change Your View of History

1.

The Earth's crust is so thin, that it can be compared to the skin of an apple, with a thickness-to-diameter ratio of about .4%.

2.

In 2019, a doghouse in Costa Rica was struck by a meteorite. Shockingly, it's actually incredibly rare for an object to actually be hit by a meteorite, and as a result, the doghouse became one of the most valuable pieces at a space-themed auction. The doghouse ended up selling for $44,000, while a piece of the meteorite itself went for $21,000. And in case you were wondering, the house belonged to a pup named Roky, who was in the house when the meteor struck, but was luckily unharmed.

3.

Domino's pizza recorded one of its busiest days in history during O.J. Simpson's 1994 car chase, during which he attempted to evade police in his white Ford Bronco as more than 95 million people tuned in. "People were so enthralled by the bizarre nature of what was happening, they didn’t want to miss a moment, so instead of going out to dinner or making dinner, many people ordered pizza," Tim McIntyre, vice president of corporate communications for Domino's said.

4.

During the trial a year later, Domino's claimed that not a single person ordered a pizza for the five minutes it took to read the final verdict. More than 150 million people tuned into the final moments of the trial.

5.

Point Nemo is the location in the ocean that is farthest from land, coming in at about 2,688 kilometers or 1,450 miles from Ducie Island, which is the nearest land. The location was named after a submarine sailor from Jules Verne's classic novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Point Nemo is known as the space junk graveyard because it's the safest place for space debris to fall. In 2030, the International Space Station will crash into the ocean at Point Nemo. More than 263 pieces of debris have fallen at Point Nemo since 1971.

6.

Ever wondered why some countries drive on the left side of the road? It dates all the way back to the Roman Empire. Because most people are right-handed, it made it easier to stab strangers who passed them on the right side.

7.

Marcel Petiot was a French doctor who was suspected of killing over 60 people. Petiot served in World War I, but was discharged after he injured his own foot with a grenade. After the war, Petiot turned to medicine, and completed an accelerated medical program designed for war veterans. He moved to Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, a commune in Northern France. Petiot quickly gained a reputation of dubious practices after performing illegal abortions and supplying patients with narcotics, which he was also suspected to be abusing himself. Despite this, Petiot became mayor of Yonne, but was soon accused of theft.

8.

After this accusation, Petiot fled to Paris, where he opened a new medical practice. He used fake credentials to attract patients and in 1936, was appointed médecin d'état-civil, which meant he was able to write death certificates. During World War II, he provided people fake disability certificates so they could avoid having to serve. Petiot also created a fake escape route under the name Dr. Eugène. He told people he could get them out of France, and lured Jewish people and Resistance fighters to a secret passageway. Petiot told them they needed a certain vaccine before escaping, and then injected them with cyanide and burned their bodies in the basement of his house after stealing their belongings.

9.

French authorities discovered this plot in 1943 after several of Petiot's accomplices ratted him out. Much to the authorities' dismay, they couldn't find Petiot anywhere. Turns out, he had adopted a new identity, and was now acting as Henri Valeri. As Valeri, he joined the French Forces Of The Interior and quickly moved up the ranks to become captain. One of his main duties? Find Marcel Petiot. He was recognized at a train station and captured several months later. Petiot went on trial in 1946, where he admitted to killing 63 "enemies." The media began calling him Dr. Satan. He was executed by guillotine two months after the trial.

10.

Vincent Van Gogh didn't begin his painting career until his late twenties, and enrolled in art school in 1880 at age 27. Despite his late start, he created over 2,100 works of art.

11.

Those 2,100 works of art included over 850 oil paintings and over 1,300 watercolors and sketches. Most of his paintings are from the last two years of his life. Van Gogh died by suicide in 1890.

12.

Finches, sparrows, and other species of birds who live in cities will often line their nests with cigarette butts from the streets. Why? The nicotine smells deter predators and parasites. While this tactic keeps out pests, researchers are investigating the potential consequences of this practice. Many compounds in cigarette butts are known carcinogens, while others are pesticides.

13.

In the 1930s, Louis Rothschild, the Jewish heir to the Austrian branch of the Rothschild banking dynasty, was worth about 2 billion shillings, or $10 billion in today's money. During World War II, Rothschild refused to leave Austria, which prompted the Nazis to capture him, believing they could leverage the businessman's life to gain access to his billions. After being held for 14 months, the Rothschild family gave the Nazis $21 million, which equals about $400 million in today's money in exchange for the safe return of Rothschild. It was the largest ransom for a single individual in history.

14.

The time period of 1.8 billion BCE to 800 million BCE is known as the "Boring Billion" because nothing happened. During this period, the climate stabilized, oxygen levels steadied, and evolution stalled. Recent research leads biologists to believe that this time was actually crucial for the emergence of animals, which brought the planet out of the "Boring Billion" and into the Neoproterozoic era.

15.

George Carlin, the comedian who was also the narrator for the first several seasons of Thomas The Tank Engine, was nervous about performing his lines without an audience. Someone suggested a child be brought to the booth where he was recording, so that Carlin could perform to the child. While this request was denied, a producer suggested bringing along a teddy bear. For the next four seasons, Carlin spoke all of his lines to the stuffed animal.

16.

When developing the game cartridges for the Nintendo Switch, the game company decided to coat them in a foul-tasting film to dissuade babies and animals from putting them in their mouths. They used Denatonium Benzoate, which is known as the most bitter chemical compound. The coating is non-toxic, and designed to be so gross that anyone who puts it in their mouth will want to immediately spit it back out.

17.

Palm trees actually aren't trees — they're just large plants, like bamboo.

18.

While we're all now familiar with the long process of Supreme Court justice hearings, it used to be a much simpler affair. In fact, before 1916, Supreme Court justice nominees were simply voted on by the Senate. The hearing process began when President Woodrow Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis, a successful lawyer who served as one of Wilson's aides, to the court. Brandeis was Jewish, and several members of the Senate were opposed to the nomination of a Jewish man. It took four months of hearings before Brandeis' nomination was confirmed.

19.

At least nine fatal military flights were caused by the pilot having to pee during the flight. Military pilots used to have to unzip their flight suits and pee into a bag called a "piddle pad." This was especially difficult for women, who often would refrain from drinking water before a flight, even though dehydration can dramatically affect vision and reaction time. As a result, the US Air Force is developing a new technology that involves a pad for women, and a cup for men attached to a tube through a special pair of underwear, which will pull their pee through the tube to a collection bag.

20.

There was once a time when Burger King wasn't quite fast food. From 1992 to 1994, the chain used to offer table service, with waiters delivering patrons their food to promote their new BK Dinner Baskets. They even brought popcorn to every table as an appetizer. The initiative only lasted for two years, and was quietly discontinued.

21.

After the Titanic sunk in 1912, over 118,000 people claimed that they were supposed to be on the ship, but missed the inaugural voyage for various reasons. “Up to the present time the count shows that just 118,337 people escaped death because they missed the Titanic or changed their minds a moment before sailing time,” an Ohio newspaper wrote weeks after the tragedy.

22.

After leaving office, President Ulysses S. Grant was facing financial failure after a series of bad investments and lavish living. His son had started his own investment firm with a friend named Ferdinand Ward. Grant agreed to let Ward handle his money. What Grant and his son didn't know was that Ward was running a large Ponzi scheme, and was pocketing Grant's money for years. In poor health and close to bankruptcy, Grant decided he would sell his memoirs. He began writing, but was diagnosed with cancer while working on the project.

23.

Grant was desperate to finish writing before his death so that his family wouldn't face poverty. He signed a contract stating he would receive 10% of the profits, a deal that was standard for the time. Mark Twain, who was one of Grant's close friends, heard about the deal and thought it was appalling that a former president on the verge of death wasn't given a larger deal. Twain stepped in and offered Grant a new contract, complete with a large advance payment, living expenses, and 70% of the book's profits. Grant reluctantly accepted, and finished the book in July 1885. He died a week later, but his wife Julia earned nearly $11 million (in today's money) thanks to Twain's deal. Talk about a good friend!

24.

In November 2008, a factory worker named Ronald Ball allegedly found a dead mouse in his can of Mountain Dew. He said that he had given Pepsi, who distributes Mountain Dew, the mouse and later sued the company for $50,000. The case made headlines again in 2012 when Pepsi revealed that they had called a veterinary pathologist to testify in the case. The pathologist said that the drink was so acidic that a mouse would turn into a jelly-like substance within 30 days of being trapped in the can. The mouse Ball had given them was too young to have been trapped in the can given the timeline. By August 2012, the case had been settled out of court.

25.

William Shakespeare wrote about a tenth of the world's most quoted lines. In fact, the only thing that is quoted more often than Shakespeare's work is the Bible.

26.

The Dahomey Amazons was a military comprised of women who were trained to protect the kingdom of Dahomey, a West African empire that existed from 1625 to 1894. The Amazons were known for their fearlessness, and were seen as equals to men. They were officially incorporated as official members of the army in the mid-1800s, and went on to fight against French colonizers.

27.

The women in this army were known for being ruthless, stopping at nothing to protect their kingdom. An Italian priest recounted a training exercise during which he watched the Amazons scale 120 meter-high thorn bushes. He said that not a single one complained during the exercise. The Amazons went on to inspire the Dora Milaje, the all-women army in the Black Panther franchise.