History, in our experience, is rarely ever dull. It’s full of epic moments, witty remarks, and devastatingly dangerous individuals—heroes, villains, and a mix of both. And it seems like many people have a handful of favorite events that they like to bring up at dinner parties and on the internet.In a viral thread, the amateur historians of the r/AskReddit community sharedwhat they thinkare some of the most dramatic and powerful moments in history. You’ll find our collection of the best of the best below. Scroll down and upvote your favorite ones. But don’t blame us if this ignites a new passion for doing research and learning history!Bored Pandareached out toChristopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Stetson University,a published author, and the host of theCheckpoints blogon Psychology Today. He shed some light on why some historical events are dramatized and how someone can tell that things might have happened differently than claimed. You’ll find his insights as you read on.This post may includeaffiliate links.
History, in our experience, is rarely ever dull. It’s full of epic moments, witty remarks, and devastatingly dangerous individuals—heroes, villains, and a mix of both. And it seems like many people have a handful of favorite events that they like to bring up at dinner parties and on the internet.
In a viral thread, the amateur historians of the r/AskReddit community sharedwhat they thinkare some of the most dramatic and powerful moments in history. You’ll find our collection of the best of the best below. Scroll down and upvote your favorite ones. But don’t blame us if this ignites a new passion for doing research and learning history!
Bored Pandareached out toChristopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Stetson University,a published author, and the host of theCheckpoints blogon Psychology Today. He shed some light on why some historical events are dramatized and how someone can tell that things might have happened differently than claimed. You’ll find his insights as you read on.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
I’ve always been fond of the exchange between John Montagu and John Wilkes, both British politicians in the 18th century (Montagu was also the 4th Earl of Sandwich, the namesake and possibly inventor of the sandwich).During one of their many verbal battles, Montagu reportedly spat at Wilkes and said, “Upon my soul, Wilkes, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox.“Wilkes replied, “That depends, my lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress.”
We were interested in finding out why some moments in history might be exaggerated for dramatic effect.Dr. Ferguson, from Stetson University, had this to say: “As with anything else, you get more readers!“He noted that many people write history with a particular moral message in mind. “They leave out inconvenient facts and add in other things that just aren’t true in order to fit the narrative,” he told Bored Panda via email.Bored Panda also wanted to learn more about source reliability and the signs that historical events might have happened differently than someone claims. “For original sources, it’s good to know who they were writing for. Who was their audience? Often, they were flattering someone powerful,” the professor explained.
We were interested in finding out why some moments in history might be exaggerated for dramatic effect.Dr. Ferguson, from Stetson University, had this to say: “As with anything else, you get more readers!”
He noted that many people write history with a particular moral message in mind. “They leave out inconvenient facts and add in other things that just aren’t true in order to fit the narrative,” he told Bored Panda via email.
Bored Panda also wanted to learn more about source reliability and the signs that historical events might have happened differently than someone claims. “For original sources, it’s good to know who they were writing for. Who was their audience? Often, they were flattering someone powerful,” the professor explained.
This french guy named Favras was being sentenced to death and his last words were “you have made three grammatical errors” when they read his death sentence.
When Henry VIII proposed to Christina of Denmark, her reply was,“If I had two heads, I would happily put one at the disposal of the King of England”.
“The reliability of sources is improved if multiple sources say more or less the same thing, so different witnesses have the same account,” the psychology professor said, adding that if one source is writing generations later, it might be based on a prior source.
“Look at, for instance, the ‘official Gospels’: they vary on many accounts, but are also similar on some others. Where there’s agreement, that increases confidence those events actually occurred and aren’t just embellishments.” According to Dr. Ferguson, historical accounts that are unflattering for the group writing the account are another good indication of the truth.
Olga of Kiev has a pretty cool story. Summary:* Married Prince Igor of Kiev around 903 AD* When Igor took power, the neighboring Drevlian tribe stopped paying tribute, so Igor went to have a sit-down. He got paid and left, but then decided he wasn’t paid enough. So he went back, and the Drevlians didn’t appreciate this so they tortured and killed him.* The Drevlians sent some people to Olga, to encourage her to marry the Drevlian responsible for her husband’s death. Olga told them that sounded great, and that the next day she’d have them carried in their boat into her court for a formal announcement.* Olga had a trench dug overnight. The Drevlians returned with their boat, sat inside, then were carried directly to the trench and the boat was dumped in. As the Drevlians were being buried alive in the trench, ‘*Olga bent down to watch them as they were buried and “inquired whether they found the honor to their taste.”*'* Olga then invited the Drevlians to send more envoys to escort her to her new prince. The new group was invited to go have a relaxing bath, and Olga had the bathhouse barred and burned down, with the Drevlians inside.* Olga then wrote to the Drevlians and asked for a funeral feast where her husband was killed. She went with a small group, mourned at the spot of the murder, then they all had a big feast. The Drevlians drank a lot, and while they slept it off, Olga’s group killed like 5,000 of them. She went back home.* Olga raised an army in Kiev and marched it back to the Drevlians, who holed up in their walls where they held her off for a year. She told them she’d take a tribute of 3 pigeons and 3 sparrows from every house. The Drevlians thought they were getting off easy, so they accepted, and gave her the birds….* Olga took all the birds, tied a wad of sulfur wrapped in cloth on a string to the birds’ feet, lit them up, and let the birds go. They all flew back to their Drevlian homes, which then all caught on fire. As the Drevlians fled the burning city, Olga’s army caught them, and killed a bunch, took a bunch of others as slaves, and took tribute from whomever she let survive.Apparently she was upset about what happened to her husband.
The fact that the founder of Lamborghini made Lamborghini because his Ferrari broke down and the company screwed him out of a warranty.
Diogenes the cynic was a very extreme philosopher who didn’t believe in ANY amount of earthly possessions. Literally the only thing he owned was a tattered robe to cover himself and he lived in a discarded barrel in the middle of the city square. One day he was just chilling, sunbathing in his barrel when Alexander the Great, the most powerful person in the entire world, came to visit him, he was like “Diogenes, I’ve heard such great things about you and your philosophy, if there’s anything at all you want me to do for you, just tell me.” And this absolute mad lad replies “move two paces left, you’re blocking the sunlight” in that same exchange, Alexander tells him “if I weren’t Alexander the Great, I would want to be Diogenes” and Diogenes replies “If I weren’t Diogenes, I would want to be Diogenes as well” what an absolute unit.
“People tend to embellish in ways that flatter themselves, their patron or groups, so unflattering accounts tend to be more likely to be true, all things being equal.“Meanwhile, the psychology expert shared his thoughts on how someone can tell that claims made in the present are likely exaggerated or changed. He said that one thing to look out for are claims that “map on nicely” on contemporary moral or social controversies.
“People tend to embellish in ways that flatter themselves, their patron or groups, so unflattering accounts tend to be more likely to be true, all things being equal.”
Meanwhile, the psychology expert shared his thoughts on how someone can tell that claims made in the present are likely exaggerated or changed. He said that one thing to look out for are claims that “map on nicely” on contemporary moral or social controversies.
Oh, remembered another one. Yeah, I know, Ottoman again but these guys had 600 years and have performed some big fk you’s all around. This is more like a literal “eat st” moment but also funny.Sultan Selim, receives a chest from the Iranian King of the time. The two sides are not really fond of each other and the tension is definitely big. But the chest is covered with jewels and quality fabrics, looking good… except the smell. It smells awful. While the council inspects the chest and the gift, they find human feces placed in bottom. Yes, Iranians sent literal st to the Ottomon King of the time.You may think that’s the fk you moment, but there’s more.Selim, being the king, orders another chest to be prepared as a return gift. Only difference, they put Turkish Delight instead of feces. Oh, and a small, itty bitty note…“Everyone offers what they eat.”
After The Hobbit was published in 1937, Berlin publisher Rütten & Loening wanted to circulate the book in Germany, but asked Tolkien for proof of his “Aryan descent”. Tolkien drafted two replies, and the TL;DR is that he - a famous etymologist - not only questioned whether or not they knew what the word Aryan actually meant, but included the line “But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people”.
Harald Hardrada: How much land will you give me?> Harald Godwinson: Seven feet of English soil, for you are taller than most men.
Similarly, a red flag is when a source creates a binary—aka Manichean—narrative with clearly ‘good’ and ‘bad’ sides. Romanticizing one group of people and painting the other as complete villains ignores a lot of the nuances. Progressives and conservatives are both known to spin historical narratives, and focus on or downplay certain events, for their own ends.
Winston Churchill and a woman had a conversation:Woman: Mr Churchill you are drunk!Winston: And you my dear are ugly, but tomorrow i shall be sober
The winter war. When the soviet union invaded Finland expecting it to be a walkover. The fins captured entire divisions with small amounts of men, had no tanks or air force and inflicted massive losses on the Russians. The most effective sniper of all time “the white death” was fighting for the fins & there are loads of stories of russian soldiers waking up and finding their fellow comrades frozen solid with their throats cut. The Russians eventually overran the Finns but were internationally humiliated and had to settle with taking some slithers of land from the border as opposed to occupying the country.
A town in germany pretend it was part of Switzerland during ww2
As a rule of thumb, it’s best to be slightly skeptical about everything and anything that you read online. So before you share or reshare some fact or claim that you’ve stumbled upon on social media, take a moment to do some research.Now, we get it, we’re all super busy with work, school, parenting, and moonlighting as superheroes. There are very few people who have the time to double-check and cross-reference every single fact they find online. So your time and energy are better spent looking at the source that made the claim in the first place. Are they reliable?What kinds of biasesdo they have?Broadly speaking, there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ source. However, that’s not to say that all sources are alike. Far from it! The very best sourcesvalue journalistic integrityand transparency, do proper research, and admit to having made mistakes (and then correct them!).
As a rule of thumb, it’s best to be slightly skeptical about everything and anything that you read online. So before you share or reshare some fact or claim that you’ve stumbled upon on social media, take a moment to do some research.
Now, we get it, we’re all super busy with work, school, parenting, and moonlighting as superheroes. There are very few people who have the time to double-check and cross-reference every single fact they find online. So your time and energy are better spent looking at the source that made the claim in the first place. Are they reliable?What kinds of biasesdo they have?
Broadly speaking, there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ source. However, that’s not to say that all sources are alike. Far from it! The very best sourcesvalue journalistic integrityand transparency, do proper research, and admit to having made mistakes (and then correct them!).
Cromwell was so hated that after he was dead and buried, they exhumed his corpse so that they could execute him. He was drawn and quartered with his head piked on London Bridge two and a half years after he died.
So, for example, if you find an outlet that links back to the original sources for any claims they make, you can trust them more than their competitors. This way, they’re allowing their audience to double-check any info they share. The quality of the original sources themselves matters to a massive extent as well. There’s a huge difference between a peer-reviewed academic journal and random gossip shared on a sketchy internet forum.You should also always consider what the goal of someone making a specific claim is. Are they looking to make money? Do they have a particular political agenda? How well-versed is the person in that specific field? You’ll often find that people are simply parroting what they hear elsewhere or they might be biased when it comes to certain topics.
So, for example, if you find an outlet that links back to the original sources for any claims they make, you can trust them more than their competitors. This way, they’re allowing their audience to double-check any info they share. The quality of the original sources themselves matters to a massive extent as well. There’s a huge difference between a peer-reviewed academic journal and random gossip shared on a sketchy internet forum.
You should also always consider what the goal of someone making a specific claim is. Are they looking to make money? Do they have a particular political agenda? How well-versed is the person in that specific field? You’ll often find that people are simply parroting what they hear elsewhere or they might be biased when it comes to certain topics.
The Persians and the Byzantines had a treaty, which the Byzantines then broke. The leader of the Persians, Khosrau, decided he couldn’t have that. He marched through the Byzantine empire, looting towns, until he got to the Mediterranean Sea. He rigged a chariot race so that the Byzantine Emperor’s favourite team would lose. Finally, after the Byzantine Emperor had paid him to leave and stop sacking towns, Khosrau headed home, sacking every town he came across.The best part? He came to a major city, Antioch. He took notes of the city’s layout, then captured the whole population and burnt the city to the ground. When he got back to the Persian Empire, he used the money he had gained from his recent sacking of towns to build a new city, with the exact same layout as Antioch. He moved all the original citizens of Antioch into this new city. He named the city Weh Antiok Khusrau, which translates roughly as ‘Khosrau’s Better Version of Antioch’.
Sony releasing the PlayStation after Nintendo’s “f you” is one of the biggest technological Uno reverse cards in history.
“More weight.” –Giles Corey
Though complete neutrality is close to impossible, it’s well worth the effort to find sources and people you can trust to put in the effort to show a broader, more nuanced picture of the world.At the end of the day, don’t forget to trust your gut. If you feel that some sort of claim is ludicrous or sounds fishy, do some digging!
Though complete neutrality is close to impossible, it’s well worth the effort to find sources and people you can trust to put in the effort to show a broader, more nuanced picture of the world.
At the end of the day, don’t forget to trust your gut. If you feel that some sort of claim is ludicrous or sounds fishy, do some digging!
A governor put a bounty of $500 on the pirate Jean Lefitte. The pirate’s response was to put a $5,000 bounty on the governor’s head.Also, Julius Cesar was kidnapped & wasn’t released until a ransom was paid. After he was released, he raised an army & went after his kidnappers. Once they were caught he had them crucified.
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“Work out what you think about what you read. For instance, ask yourself: what is the author’s argument? Is it convincing? Why (or why not)? What evidence does the author use to make their argument? What is missing from their approach to the past? What else do historians need to find out? What primary sources would enable historians to understand this topic better?” the university sets out some guidelines.
On his Deathbed Voltaire was asked to renounce Satan to save his soul. His response, “Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies.” One last shot at stupidity.Edit: for those misunderstanding, I’m saying V “took a shot at” stupidity, in that on his death bed he pointed out the ridiculousness of such a stupid belief (deathbed conversion + afterlife) put in practice
Historians shouldn’t just spend their time in the library among gorgeous dusty books, however. They should also engage with the news, visit museums and historical sites, listen to podcasts, and take part in their academic community’s events.For some more dramatic moments in history,take a peekat Bored Panda’s previous post.
Historians shouldn’t just spend their time in the library among gorgeous dusty books, however. They should also engage with the news, visit museums and historical sites, listen to podcasts, and take part in their academic community’s events.
For some more dramatic moments in history,take a peekat Bored Panda’s previous post.
The reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. They defeat the Ottoman sultan’s army, but he sends them a message demanding their surrender, using a long and ridiculous title. They send back a reply mocking his titles, and telling him, literally, “f**k your mother” and “kiss our a*s."[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reply_of_the_Zaporozhian_Cossacks]
Don’t remember who it was, but there was a conqueror who sent a messenger to another country and the promptly killed said messenger, so the conqueror redirected a river to completely wipe out said country.
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That one time that Caesar was besieging a castle, got surrounded, and built a castle around that castle, so instead of being attacked, he to was besieged. He beat the first castle, then beat the reinforcements.Or when Hitler had France sign the surrender treaty in the same rail car Germany signed in WWI.Or the grand and pompous display of having a bridge built across a Bay for the sole purpose of riding your horse across, just to spite those in the Senate that said you’d only make a good emperor after you rode a horse across a Bay with out swimming. Forget what the name of that Roman Emperor was.
General Sherman’s March to the Sea. Burnt the f**k out of everything in his path.
It’s a bit understated, but the Battle of Surigao Strait qualifies for me.The American battleship line was primarily made of ships that had been damaged or sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack. Together they sank the IJN battleship Yamashiro, which had been part of the escort for the carrier force that hit Pearl Harbor. They probably would’ve also sunk her sister ship Fuso, which also had been in that escort fleet, had she not been torpedoed and sunk earlier in the battle.
The biggest “f**k you” moment in the history of technology: Torvalds' statement about cooperation with Nvidia
So Egypt you wanna attack me? Fk you I’m taking half your countryNow I’m gonna give it back because nobody wants to live in the fg desert when you can live in the city?OH right you don’t have a place in your country that isnt a f**g desert
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