Amusing & Informative History Tidbits From Tumblr

If you think history is boring you obviously haven't been paying attention. To Tumblr, that is. Over the years, Tumblr users have been consistently delighting one another with unintentionally (and intentionally) hilarious history factoids. While some of these posts aren't educationalin a way that will enrich your brain, they'll definitely lift your mood. And that's saying something.

1.

Text - glumshoe The word "undermine" originally meant to literally attack a fortress by digging tunnels under its defenses. I'm not sure why I find this so interesting. beefcakebogwitch and now it means when my partner reverses ALL of my parenting efforts by giving our dog child pieces of human food every time they sit pretty and make the Begging Face glumshoe "This is just like Dover Castle under the Great Siege of 1216," you say irritably as your partner slips food scraps to your dog under the

2.

Text - I hate linguistic anthropology. Why? One of the most influential experiments in linguistic anthropology involved teaching a chimp asl. One of the most influential linguistics is named Noam Chomsky. You know what the chimp's name was? Nim Chimpsky. Fucking monkey pun. And this is in textbooks, in documentaries, everywhere. And everyone just IGNORES THIS GOD AWFUL PUN cause of how important the experiment was. But BUT LOOK AT THIS SHIT. FUCKING NIM CHIMPSKY. I HATE THIS WHOLE FIELD. dendrit

3.

Text - If you ever, and I mean EVER think that you fucked something up royally, remember that the organizers of the 1904 Olympic marathon: - Had zero stations for water on the 26 mile (42 km) course - Accidentally gave North American competitor Tom Hicks a cocktail made of egg whites, brandy, and actual fucking rat poison - Had a guy come into the race late wearing a beret and cutoff slacks, sneak into an apple orchard during the race because no food had been given to him for 40 hours, eat rotte

4.

Text - REI tilthat TIL Wi-Fi doesn't stand for anything; it's a made up word. "IEEE 802.11' didn't have much of a ring to it, and the industry association wanted a catchy name. They came up with wi-fi, and that's what's been used ever since." via reddit.com toastpotent "wi-fi" stands for "wireless fireless" because it is both wireless and fireless

5.

Text - a person from 150 years ago would be terrified by modern stuff . however, a duck from 150 years ago would just be all like ,still got lakes? yes ? okay cool elodieunderglass "How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks." - Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night (1935) chatdomestique Reblogging again because I thought they changed the quote so I decided to look up the actual quote and it's not fake that is very much the actual quote

6.

Text - yesterday i learned about a mythical creature called a squonk that lives in the hemlock forests of pennsylvania and is so ashamed of how it looks that it spends 80% of its time crying, only comes out at night, and if you corner it it will literally physically dissolve into a puddle of its own tears until you go away and if that's not the most relatable thing i've ever heard idk what is

7.

Adaptation - talesfromweirdland A woman and her pet dragon. Illustration from 1912 by German/Czech artist, Anton Robert Leinweber (1845- 1921). copperbadge I love that her expression is like "Yes, I love you despite the fact you just puked brimstone all over the carpet."

8.

Standing - unexplained-events Siberian Bear Hunting Armor Studded all over with 1-inch iron nails about 34 inches apart.

9.

Text - The unicorn, tamable only by a virgin woman, was well established in medieval lore by the time Marco Polo described them as "scarcely smaller than elephants. They have the hair of a buffalo and feet like an elephant's. They have a single large black horn in the middle of the forehead... They have a head like a wild boar's... They spend their time by preference wallowing in mud and slime. They are very ugly brutes to look at. They are not at all such as we describe them when we relate that

10.

Text - REI A tilthat TIL that the astronauts of Apollo 11 were refused life insurance, so they signed photos of themselves so that their families could auction them for money in case the landing failed and the crew were killed. via reddit.com

11.

Text - KREI tilthat TIL that, when a pope dies, it is tradition to strike him three times on the head with a silver hammer to ensure he is actually dead. via reddit.com actualnymph Vibe check Source: tilthat

12.

Photo caption - ya'll i am fucking sobbing at these photos of a horse catching a frisbee

13.

Text - TIL that Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson were supposed to record several duets together for Mercury's debut solo album. However, after only recording one song, Mercury dropped out due to feeling uncomfortable by the presence of Jackson's pet llama being in the studio. via reddit.com

14.

Text - RE tilthat TIL that according to legend, the Corgi was a gift from woodland faeries and their markings were caused by saddles and stirrups placed on their backs via ift.tt dwinkus how can you spend hundreds of years breeding a dog into a little sausage shape and then just forget about it and say fairies did it Source: tilthat

15.

Text - Ok, so I was reading this news story: Man survives weeks in remote Alaska wilderness after cabin burns down, writes 'SOS' in snow A man managed to survive more than three weeks in the rugged Alaskan wilderness after his remote cabin burned down until he was rescued last week by state troopers who spotted an "Sos" signal stamped in the snow. So far so normal, right? But then: Steele's shoulder-length hair, chestnut brown near the roots fading to golden blond near s frayed tips, hung matted

16.

Text - Fun Fact: When the Roman legions were fighting the rugged celts of Scotland they used slingers who using a leather slingshot would hurl lead shot which had the stopping power of a .44 Magnum pistol and could kill a man from over 120 yards the distance between the end zones of an American football field. They used specially made shot with holes in them. Archeologists had no idea the purpose of those holes. So, they did exactly what I would have done. They tossed a few and then the purpose

17.

Text - The Demicolon Invented by a mad Andorran monk in 1422, the demicolon is a versatile (if a bit showy) punctuation tool. While a semicolon can only connect two related-yet-independent clauses, a demicolon can connect anything to damn well anything else it pleases. Then it calls all of semicolon's friends and leaves threatening voice- mails on their answering machines. Demicolon: connects an independent clause to another independent clause, a dependent clause, an adverb, a picture of a bear,

18.

Finger - Dead Guy- Roman, c. 300 BCE, terra cotta Part of a tableau depicting a battle between the Greeks and the Amazons. Photo by Charles Reeza at the Museum of Art and History, Geneva.

19.

Text - amaradonis: elyon61: beepony: artekka: fapoleon-bonerparte: I was doing research on Napoleon when I found it again My favorite picture of him "Try to beat me THIS time, Russia!!!" I just laughed out loud at this for 5 minutes Ikea monkey Napoleon. "Mom, I am not going out in this." "But Leon, you're going to catch a cold!" "Mother, I am conquering Russia, not playing in the snow."

20.

Text - partybarackisinthehousetonight: *christopher columbus arrives in america* “lol first" he writes in the sand

21.

Text - ohmygil: formaldejekyll: Yesterday I learned that tampons were not originally created for -feminine hygiene~ but for plugging up bullet wounds for WW1 and the nurses started using them and were like actually this is p effective and voila tampons thanks WW1 so what you're saying is that tampon commercials should be shot like war films Yes.

22.

Text - also michelangelo painted a baby angel flipping off the pope the blond one, you see his right hand? that's called the fig and it's an old world european gesture for 'fuck you" because apparently Pope Juluis II was a total raging asshole and everyone hated him but nobody ever noticed this little fucker because the ceiling was so high and then thirty years later they called michelangelo back to paint the wall behind the altar and he wasted no time in painting the gates of hell behind the po

23.

Photograph - someonetoshoutfor desminborges D skullinski: this girl has some hella fine legs right? right? RIGHT? RIGHT? WRONG it's albert einstein 167,274 notes

24.

Text - bombing: the 1700s called.they want their clothing back. haha just kidding the first telephone was invented in 1876 a good post AND i learned something. thanks tumbrl

25.

Text - poorchrysalis: i hate when ur out of the loop and miss everything important. what do u mean they hooked up. what do u mean u have a boyfriend. what do u mean someone shot archduke ferdinand

26.

Nose - speedyrawr one-million-medics D aviculor: hotweiners: methlabrador: i accidentally just wrote "the soviet onion" on my paper and now i can't stop laughing Layers and layers of communist propaganda Did someone say layer?

27.

Organism - ui elegatus regndoft: The Middle Ages was a very exciting time in Europe.

28.

Text - satansanalfisting: I've been laughing for three years over the fact that in ye old England you could chose to have 'trial by cake' in which you ate a piece of cake and if you choked you were guilty and if you didn't you were innocent, and the only time it was used the guy on trial fucking choked and was executed for it 185,286 notes ...

29.

Text - 1353 Moscow Stockholm Copenhagen Kiev LondonCologne • Cracow Vienna Paris Milan Marsailles, Constantinople Rome Barcelona The spread of the black death. Poland Poland, tell us your secret. Poland is the eld new Madagascar. If I remember correctly, Poland's secret is that the jews where being blamed all over europe (as usual) as scapegoats for the black plague. Poland was the only place that accepted Jewish refugees, so pretty much all of them moved there. Now, one of the major causes of g

30.

Text - gettinwhiggywithit: gettysburgaddress: One term for you, John Adams, and one for you, James Polk. Two for you, George Washington, and two for Teddy Roosevelt. FOUR TERMS FOR YOU, FDR YOU GO, FDR And none for Henry Clay, bye. You people always have to fucking bring that up I'm sorry Mr. Clay

31.

Text - theprettygoodgatsby: pausequoi: samandriel: if you don't think history is amusing then you're wrong because one time 3 different guys declared themselves pope all at once and they all excommunicated each other and it was basically the funniest shit ever what about that time the Lichtenstein army sent 80 men to Italy to fight and came back with 81 what about the time that the prussian emperor kidnapped tall people because he really wanted his armies to be tall 306,931 notes ...

32.

Text - alexandmileshadsex: world history is basically just europe pulling a bunch of dick moves on the rest of the world

33.

Text - if you were a twin in ancient rome they would name the firstborn and then name the secondborn after the firstborn except if your older twin's name was geminus, your name would be anti- geminus that is the equivalent of naming your children steve and not steve #those wacky Romans so what happened when triplets were born Steve, Not Steve, Definitely Not Steve.

34.

Bridle - randomfactory kirstenthedestroyer napoleon bonaparte more like napoleon BORN2PARTY

35.

Text - hannibalthecanibal: caseyanthonyofficial: kim-jong-healthy: caseyanthonyofficial: Of course Lincoln got shot he was 6'4" and wearing a top hat in a theater if I was sitting behind him l'd shoot him too Too soon It happened like 28 years ago thats plenty of time you're off by a few years there

36.

Text - rubywhiterabbit: calderonbeta: feralcastiel: can you imagine if twitter existed in the 1800s abe lincoln tweeting shit like "wow this play sucks just shoot me" too soon HE WAS SHOT IN 1865

37.

Fashion - reyairia: wandaventham: "selfie culture" seems so tame by comparison when you realize that not only did old timey rich people spend a fortune commissioning artists to paint flattering images of them, they spent many hours sitting for these portraits who's the me generation now #art museums are actually just full of renaissance selfies this post just changed my life

38.

Photograph - If you don't think history is amusing, you clearly haven't seen Adolf Hitler in shorts pure-blood-idjit-of-gallifrey: castiel-is-a-assbutt: Zis if from mein spring collection

39.

Text - ezekiekabaah minareen e duchessofkeys: thesuperjew: heronqueenblues: why are people surprised when they see depictions of hitler that show him doing nice things with his friends or people he cares about did they think he just sat in darkened rooms rubbing his hands together muttering “jews" disdainfully under his breath all day yes Superjew has spoken. 154,875 notes ...

40.

Uniform - hazzmaattack George WashingDONE with your attitude

41.

Text - we-have-history twogirlsonemajor O yao-i: Ring around the rosie A pocket full of posies Ashes, ashes 1/3 of the European population gets obliterated by the Black Death #history #ring around the rosie #black death #bubonic plague #ap euro #europe 191,270 notes ...

42.

Text - jenna-lousie: yurstrulyceleste: on a scale of one to invade russia in the winter how bad is your idea kicking hitler out of art school

43.

Text - scienceing if you ever think that you've made a big mistake, just remember that in 1788 the Austrian army attacked itself and lost 10,000 men 217,977 notes ...

Submitted by:



from Memebase https://ift.tt/3h1WEsL

Post a Comment

0 Comments