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History has a way of making the past feel much more distant and predictable than it really was. Then you discover one strange detail, and suddenly an entire period looks different. A famous president was incapacitated while his wife and doctors effectively managed the government, thousands of people once attended a Nazi rally in New York City, and a desperate military experiment involved attaching bombs to bats. Reddit users were asked which historical facts they thought would genuinely shock people, and the answers produced an incredible collection of strange, unsettling, and surprisingly recent details. These are the kinds of facts that make history feel much closer, stranger, and less predictable.
El Paso Times
Bats Were Almost Turned Into Bombs
During World War II, the U.S. military developed Project X Ray, a plan to attach small incendiary devices to bats and release them over Japanese cities. The idea was eventually abandoned, but during testing some bats reportedly escaped and set fire to buildings at a military base.
Media Rich Learning
Woodrow Wilson Was Effectively Incapacitated While President
Woodrow Wilson suffered a massive stroke in 1919 that left him severely incapacitated. His wife Edith and his doctors took on much of the responsibility for managing access to the president and his affairs for the remainder of his term.
History
20,000 Americans Attended a Nazi Rally in New York
On February 20, 1939, around 20,000 people attended a German American Bund rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Photographs and surviving footage make the event particularly startling because it took place in one of America’s most recognizable public venues.
The Daily Telegraph
The Last Guillotine Execution in France Happened in 1977
France continued using the guillotine until 1977, when Hamida Djandoubi was executed. That same year, Star Wars premiered, creating one of those bizarre historical overlaps that makes the past feel much less distant.
Jimmy Stewart Flew Combat Missions
Before becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Jimmy Stewart served in the U.S. military during World War II. He reportedly had to gain weight before being accepted for service and eventually flew 20 combat missions.
BBC
Hitler, Stalin, Freud and Trotsky Were All in Vienna at the Same Time
In 1913, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky and Sigmund Freud were all living in Vienna. According to the Reddit discussion, several lived within walking distance of one another, although there is no evidence that they ever met.
Psycholgy Today
The British Government Accidentally Had a Very Bad Pet Policy
In 1939, around 400,000 cats and dogs were reportedly killed by their owners amid fears about food shortages during World War II. The episode became known as the British pet massacre and remains one of the stranger stories from the beginning of the war.
Greek Reporter
The Third Deadliest War in History Was Started by a Religious Leader
The Taiping Rebellion in China lasted from 1850 to 1864 and resulted in an enormous death toll. Its leader, Hong Xiuquan, believed he was the younger brother of Jesus and sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty and establish a new religious state.
International Business TImes
A Giant Squid Was Reportedly Responsible for a Death
After the British ship Britannia sank, survivors reported that a giant squid attacked their raft and pulled one man underwater. The story was initially dismissed as unbelievable, but an injured lieutenant reportedly had scars that marine experts considered consistent with a giant squid attack.
BBC
Some Phones Originally Had No Way to Ring
The earliest telephones did not have a ringing mechanism to alert owners that someone was calling. According to the thread, it took another year or two after the first telephone systems appeared to develop a practical way of producing an audible alert.
The Guardian
The U.S. Nearly Had a Nuclear Disaster in North Carolina
In 1961, a B 52 carrying two nuclear weapons broke apart over Goldsboro, North Carolina. One of the weapons went through several stages of its arming sequence, but a safety mechanism prevented detonation and potentially catastrophic consequences.
George Washington’s Dentures Were Not Wooden
The famous story about George Washington having wooden teeth is a myth. His dentures were made from several materials, including ivory, metal, and human and animal teeth, with some of the human teeth believed to have come from enslaved people.
Nunatsiaq News
A German Listening Station Was Hidden in Canada
During World War II, Germany established a secret listening post in Labrador, Canada. The installation was reportedly not discovered until the late 1970s, decades after the war had ended.
The New York Times
A President’s Wife Became His Gatekeeper
After Woodrow Wilson’s stroke, Edith Wilson played an unusually powerful role in determining which information reached the president and which matters were brought to his attention. Her role was unofficial, but the arrangement gave her extraordinary influence over the executive branch.
Hungarian Conservative
The First U.S. Election Was Far Less Democratic Than It Sounds
When George Washington was elected in 1789, only a small fraction of the total American population was eligible to vote. One Reddit user estimated that just 6 percent of the population could participate, reflecting how heavily early voting rights were restricted.
The post 15 Historical Facts That Would Shock Most People to Learn appeared first on Den of Geek.
