The Day a Cheese Cannonball Was Fired in War (Yes, Really)
Yes, a cheese cannonball was really fired in war. Discover this bizarre moment and other strange facts from the devastating Paraguayan War.
Keep readingYes, a cheese cannonball was really fired in war. Discover this bizarre moment and other strange facts from the devastating Paraguayan War.
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Priests in ancient Egypt plucked every hair from their bodies, including eyebrows and eyelashes. source

“Ring Around the Rosie” first appeared in Mother Goose in 1881. However, the origin of the poem may actually rest with the original Black Death outbreak of the mid-fourteenth century. The Black Death struck Europe with a fury in 1347. The disease depopulated the world by at least 20% and killed between 30-60% of Europe’s…
Drinking coffee in Turkey was against the law in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Those caught breaking the law were put to death. source

Cleopatra married her brother, Ptolemy XIII. She was 18 years old and he was 10 years old at the time. They married in keeping with the Egyptian tradition and served as co-regents. Not only were they far from affectionate toward each other, they actually fought a civil war against each other, attempting to claim sole…

In the Greek monastery of Mount Athos, nothing female is allowed. Men can enter, but not women; roosters, but no hens; horses, but no mares, bulls, but no cows. The border is patrolled by armed guards to ensure that nothing feminine passes the gates. It has been this way ever since an official proclamation by…

In Calama, Chile, a town in the Atacama Desert, no rain fell for 400 years, from 1570 to 1971. source

They say that genius and eccentricity go together. Perhaps that’s why these creative geniuses required Rudyard Kipling would only write when he had black ink in his pen. Ludwig von Beethoven poured ice water over his head when he sat down to compose music, believing it stimulated his brain. Charles Dickens wrote (and slept) facing…
Australian tennis player Samuel Groth holds the record for the fastest serve in a game. He smacked a ball at 163 mph (263 km/hr) in an event in Busan, South Korea in May 2012. source
Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States more often than any other person. Despite being elected four times, he failed to carry his home county, Dutchess County, New York, in any of the elections. source

Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, witnessed the assassinations of three U.S. presidents—Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Explore his eerie reputation as America’s unluckiest VIP guest.

When he was a child, Blaise Pascal once locked himself in his room for several days and would not allow anyone to enter. When he emerged, he had figured out all of Euclid’s geometrical propositions totally on his own.

Matthew Buchinger (1674-1740) was known as “The Little Man of Nuremberg.” Buchinger was born without hands, legs, or thighs and was less than 29 inches tall.

What is the scientific definition of a second? Find out here.

About 20 minutes before the onset of pain from a migraine headache, many sufferers experience a phenomenon called “the aura.” During this time the sufferer may see intense colors, flashing lights, and even hallucinations such as monsters and ghosts. Lewis Carroll, who suffered from migraines for most of his life, is said to have been…

A Japanese scroll art created 200 years ago during the Edo period (1603-1868) is dedicated to gas warfare, but not the kind of gas traditionally used in combat.