Weird History

Weird History

14 Actors, Authors, Athletes, and Artists (and One Scientist) Who Died Broke

Celebrities, Interesting / By / 2020-11-27 / , , , , , , ,

History is full of riches-to-rags stories about fallen stars and tragic historical figures who died dead broke – or close to it. Some were starving artists, some made terrible decisions, and some were unjustly persecuted. But everyone on this list made huge, lasting contributions to our culture and still somehow croaked dirt poor. As you’ll see, …

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Historical Facts That Movies Got Totally Wrong

Entertainment, Weird History / By / 2020-11-26 / , , , , , , , , , , , ,

History class is tough – there are lots of dates and names to remember. But when you’re making historical movies, you’d think Hollywood would do some fact checking. Not all films, even if they are historical films about real historical figures and actual historical events, actually honor that history. On this list, films from all …

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Weird Historical Notions and Beliefs About Pregnancy

Weird Historical Notions and Beliefs About Pregnancy

Health, People, Weird History / By / 2020-11-25 / , , , , , ,

Ask any parent: pregnancy is a pretty scary ordeal. There’s so much that can go wrong, even with 21st-century science and medicine. So it’s easy to see how weird pregnancy beliefs formed thousands of years ago: young parents were scared out of their minds without reasonable explanations for much of what was going on. Many backward beliefs …

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How to Celebrate Christmas Like a Medieval King

Christmas, Weird History / By / 2020-11-25 / , , , , , ,

Christmas in the Middle Ages didn’t just last a day, sometimes it lasted for weeks. From early December to January – even early February – people in the Middle Ages celebrated the holiday with feasts, music, and, of course, religious ceremonies. Medieval Christmas celebrations included a ton of fun games (like having a poor guy …

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The Real Couple That Inspired 'Beauty And The Beast' Is Far More Tragic Than Anything Disney Would Make

The Real Couple That Inspired ‘Beauty And The Beast’ Is Far More Tragic Than Anything Disney Would Make

Interesting, Weird History / By / 2020-11-18 / , , , , , , , ,

It’s a tale as old as time – or, at least as old as the 1500s. But the real couple that inspired Beauty and the Beast lived a tragic life. The real life Beauty and the Beast were Catherine and Petrus Gonsalvus, and they were treated like freaks of nature by Europe’s kings and queens.  Just like P.T. Barnum …

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14 Hardcore Ancient Olympic Athletes Who Would Easily Smoke Modern Athletes

Sports, Weird History / By / 2020-11-17 / , , , , , , , ,

We like to think we’ve made a lot of social, scientific, and technological progress throughout the last few centuries, but that’s not always the case. Many studies have shown that our ancestors from various times were smarter, more practical, and tougher than we are. For example, many contemporary historians suggest that an unarmed battle between …

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Michaelmas

15 Weird Forgotten Holidays We Should Totally Bring Back

People, Weird History / By / 2020-11-11 / , , , , ,

Are you happy with the holidays we currently have? Or do you think it’s time to bring in some new blood? We don’t necessarily have to start from scratch – there are dozens of holidays from history we could just revive. It turns out there are plenty of old-fashioned holidays people basically don’t celebrate anymore. This list features alternatives to Groundhog …

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10 Unsolved Crimes and Disappearances That Happened on Thanksgiving

Amazing, People, Weird History / By / 2020-11-07 / , , , ,

When most Americans are feasting and celebrating on Thanksgiving day, some people are killing, dying, or vanishing. Creepy Thanksgiving crimes, unfortunately, are a ghastly tradition, too, one we rarely speak about. But disappearances on Thanksgiving and other unsolved Thanksgiving mysteries can make for interesting dinner conversation to distract from the usual chatter about sports, or …

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