These are 15 random historical facts that may shock you, let's get started.
1- Cleopatra was not actually Egyptian: although portrayed as the quintessential Egyptian Pharaoh, Cleopatra VII belonged to the Greek-Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt after the conquest of Alexander the great.
2.- The Great Wall of China was not built at once: the construction of the Wall stretched for centuries, with different sections built by different dynasties over 2000 years.
3- The shortest war in history lasted only 38 minutes: the Anglo-Zanzibar war of 1896 broke out due to a succession dispute and ended in a British victory after only 38 minutes of bombing.
4- The Vikings wore horned helmets, but not in battle: artistic images often show Vikings with horned helmets, but archaeological evidence suggests that these were ceremonial rather than practical headdresses.
5- The first firefighter in the United States was Molly Williams: disguised as a man named "Johnny Williams", she joined the New York City Fire Department in 1855 and served for nine years before discovering her true identity. Unfortunately, she was fired from Revelation due to sexual restrictions, but her story paved the way for future firefighters.
6- The population of the Roman Empire at its peak was approximately 50-60 million people:** this made it the largest empire in the pre-modern world, encompassing territories from Britain to North Africa.
7- It was believed that tomatoes are poisonous: the first Europeans believed that tomatoes belonged to the nightshade family, known for its poisonous members, and avoided them for centuries.
8- The first traffic light was not red, yellow and green: it was installed in London in 1868, it used gas lanterns - red to stop, Green to go, unfortunately, an explosion soon after led to its removal.
9- It is possible that the population of the Earth 12,000 years ago was higher than in 1600 AD This may seem surprising, but archaeological evidence suggests that hunting and gathering societies, although smaller in individual groups, probably covered a larger area and had a higher total population compared to early agricultural societies. This is due to factors such as limited resources and disease outbreaks in sedentary communities. So, despite the current population boom, perhaps the number of human beings has not always been this many!
10- The Mona Lisa was not always famous: Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was not widely appreciated until the early 19th century, when it was stolen and rediscovered, which led to enormous publicity.
11- The first computer error was the moth: in 1947, a Butterfly got stuck in a Harvard Mark II computer, which led to its short circuit. This led to the use of the term" error " for glitches in technology.
12- The Great Wall of China can be seen from space, but not with the naked eye: while satellites can take a picture of the wall, its width is too thin to be seen to the human eye from orbit.
13- The world population in 1000 AD was estimated at about 300 million: this number has grown significantly since then, reaching more than 8 billion today.
14- The first phone call included the phrase" Mr. Watson, come here - I want to see you": Alexander Graham Bell uttered these words to his assistant Thomas Watson in 1876, marking the first successful sound transmission by his invention.
15- The first known use of the thumb symbol dates back to ancient Rome: used in wrestling competitions, the thumbs up indicated mercy to the defeated wrestler, while the thumbs down meant death, but they were not often thumbs up.
I hope these random historical facts will arouse your curiosity and inspire you to learn more!
We will always publish more facts on our website and you can read our previous articles, and these are some of them: