In the 1830s, a Greek prime minister tried to spread the potato in Greece but people weren't interested so he put armed guards in front of shipments of potatoes so people would think they were important. People then started stealing these potatoes so much that the crop spread to all of Greece.
29
Napoleon Bonaparte thought torture should be abolished because the information obtained from it is worthless.
25
The University of Oxford (teaching since 1096) predates the Aztec empire (1428 - 1521).
14
There's no evidence that pirates made people walk the plank.
151
Only eight men were killed in the battle of lexington!
62
In 1963, the US Military created an artificial ring around Earth, similar to that of the planet Saturn. The ring was made of copper needles and was used for worldwide communications in the case that the Soviets disabled all other methods of communication.
26
The oldest glowing lightbulb was first switched on in 1901 and lives in fire stations in Livermore, CA. It is known as the Centennial Light.
118
In the 1930's, American track star Jesse Owens used to race against horses and dogs to earn a living.
50