You may learn about the most significant events in world history from textbooks, but there are many intriguing or gruesome details that you have yet to discover.
Here are 16 historical facts that textbooks have overlooked.
1. Witch trials have a long and dark history. You may have heard about the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, but the hunt for witches dates back much further. An anthropologist noted that around 600,000 people were killed in the Middle Ages for being labeled as “witches.”
2. Animals were also put on trial in the Middle Ages, even facing the death penalty.
3. Pope Gregory IX, the 178th pope of the Catholic Church, declared that cats were associated with devil worship. This led to the mass extermination of cats.
4. The wealthy class in Europe during the 1500s and 1600s consumed certain body parts of corpses because they believed it had healing properties. Human blood and fat were used to treat various ailments.
5. Grave robbers even invaded ancient Egyptian tombs to steal mummified remains, which the wealthy would consume.
6. Einstein was once “on the verge” of becoming president. In 1952, Albert Einstein was invited to be the president of Israel, but he declined.
7. The shortest war in history lasted only 38-45 minutes: the Anglo-Zanzibar War, which began and ended on August 27, 1896.
8. The parents of Pharaoh Tutankhamun were recently confirmed to be siblings. DNA from the mummy of Tutankhamun’s mother shows that she was both his biological mother and his father’s sister.
9. The 15th-century Romanian prince Vlad the Impaler was known to drink the blood of his enemies. Born in Transylvania, Romania, he had many eccentric habits and the surname “Dracula.” His character inspired Bram Stoker to write the novel “Dracula.”
10. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two “founding fathers” of America, were present to sign the Declaration of Independence (written by Jefferson). Both died on the same day—Independence Day of the United States in 1826 (July 4, 1826), exactly 50 years after the first Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776).
11. Before the invention of artificial teeth, people often extracted intact teeth from the deceased to create dentures.
12. Heroin was once used in medicine and prescribed by doctors to treat coughs, headaches, and more.
13. The image of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin was frequently altered as individuals in earlier photos were either dead or expelled from office.
14. The shortest war in the world is the Anglo-Zanzibar War, lasting only 38 minutes.
15. Speaking of torture, the Maya had even more horrific methods. For sacrificial offerings, the chosen victim had their still-beating heart ripped from their chest.
16. A giant fungus in Oregon’s Malheur National Forest has a root system that covers over 2,200 acres, making it the largest living organism in the world.
