History is often presented as a very serious collection of dates, places, people, wars and other events that shaped the world as we know it today. But the halls of the past are adorned with so much more…
Beneath the extravagant historical, important narratives lies a parallel universe of weird moments, bizarre traditions, crazy coincidences, questionable medical practices and wacky individuals that also played a part in shaping life for us and future generations. There’s an X account called Weird History that’s anything but your average history textbook. Its aim is to share the more absurd happenings of the past.
Bored Panda has put together a list of the page’s best posts. Some might make you cry with laughter, while others could leave your jaw on the floor. Don’t forget to upvote your favorites.
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A lot happened in 1977: South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko passed away in police custody on September 12, drawing international condemnation; two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on a runway in Tenerife, Canary Islands on March 27, resulting in the loss of 583 people; Jimmy Carter was sworn in as the 39th U.S. President on January 20, and granted unconditional pardons to Vietnam War draft evaders the very next day.
And a random woman hosted Saturday Night Live, becoming the show’s most unlikely presenter and the only non-public figure to ever take on the task… Proof that not all moments make it into the history textbooks.
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Robert Frost couldn’t read the poem he wrote for John F. Kennedy’s inauguration due to the glare on the snow being too strong. So he instead recited one he knew from memory.
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The 80-year-old grandmother from New Orleans had entered – and won – the show’s the show’s first only Anyone Can Host contest. Miskel Spillman found herself on stage, next to host, actor and screenwriter Buck Henry.
According to Australia’s Nine.com, Spillman’s contest entry was a “punchy pitch that abided by the 25-word count limit.” It simply stated, “I’m 80 years old. I need one more cheap thrill since my doctor told me I only have another 25 years left.”
“She told the Associated Press at the time that her message was inspired by her frequent declaration that she would live until 105,” the site reports. She sadly passed away roughly 10 years shy of her goal.
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A widow of a WWII veteran never learned the exact fate of her husband. After 68 years she found that he was not only buried in France, but that a town in France has been honoring him for the last 68 years.
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Major D Winters led perhaps the most storied U.S. army unit in all of World War II. On D-day, he and his “Band of brothers” in easy company defeated a far larger German force and allowed the allied advance to continue
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During the peak of the Cold War, one of the tasks given to niel armstrong was to place two soviet medals on the moon to honour their fallen soviet competitors.
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