History Facts

    Random History Facts

    There are 163 History Facts!

    Approximately 40% of the U.S. paper currency in circulation was counterfeit by the end of the Civil War.
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    Because metal was scarce; the Oscars given out during World War II were made of plaster.
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    The first telephone book was one page long and had only 50 names in it.
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    The flushing toilet was invented in 1596, not by Thomas Crapper as most people think, but by Sir John Harington.
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    Recently, archaeologists excavating in the old medieval town of Odense in Denmark uncovered 700-year-old barrels of poop - and, to their surprise, they still smelt.
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    Ching Shih
    Ching Shih
    Ching Shih, once a prostitute, became one of the most powerful pirates to have ever sailed. She commanded one of the most formidable pirate fleets in all of China during the early 1800s, with hundreds of ships under her command.
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    In medieval Italy, if a man was caught kissing a woman in public, he had to marry her whether he liked it or not.
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    During World War 1, starving wolves amassed in such great numbers that Germans and Russians had a temporary cease fire to fight off the wolf attacks.
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