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.
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English sailors were referred to as "limeys" because sailors added lime juice to their diet to combat scurvy.
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The site where the Parthenon was built had to be cleared of hundreds of dinosaur bones (then called giants' bones) before construction could begin.
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In 1518, a "dancing plague" struck Strasbourg, Alsace, whereby hundreds of people danced fervently in the streets over the period of a month. Some suffered heart attacks or strokes, and many others died from sheer exhaustion. It remains unexplained.
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Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: spades - King David, clubs - Alexander the Great, hearts - Charlemagne, and diamonds - Julius Caesar.
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