Recent surveys show people are less interested in learning about history. But perhaps if the information came in the form of funny memes, for example, it would be an entirely different story.
Enter the History Memes subreddit. All 11 million members and counting share the same fascination with events that happened at least two decades ago. Here, you’ll find visual puns and wisecracks about the German-Soviet pact of 1939, the Russian Revolution, and medieval battles, among many others.
We’ve picked some standouts that may ignite your curiosity or, at the very least, provoke some interest. Scroll through each one, and hopefully, you will enjoy learning a thing or two about significant moments in history.
#1 Great Depression Farmers Were Based
Image source: Mrcinemazo9nn
#2 Historians Be Like:
Image source: SilentWalrus92
#3 Habsburg Moment
Image source: EduardHabsburg
#4 Aviation History Is Relative…
Image source: TeachMeImWilling69
#5 He Had To Ask
Image source: habeshasamurai
#6 Here We Go Again
Image source: OmegaBoi420
#7 The Death Of Stalin
In 1953, Joseph Stalin suffered a stroke which would lead to his death. The chance of his survival were very low due to several reasons. “The Doctors Plot” had be occurring for the last two years, in which Jewish doctors in the Soviet Union were falsely accused of conspiring to kill high ranking Soviets. This led to the imprisonment and death of many of the Soviet Union’s doctors. In fact, the KGB were currently torturing Stalin’s own personal doctor. High Ranking Soviets were also very weary of calling any doctors that were left due to the fear that Stalin may accuse them of trying to usurp power or anything really and have them killed or imprisoned if he got better. Basically everyone was kinda sick of him and knew that eventually it would be them on the chopping block. When doctors were finally called, it was too late. Barely anyone dared to even enter his room. When his maid finally did, she found him face down on the floor.
Image source: Some_Razzmataz
#8 Nothing To See Here…
Image source: SamwyseG
#9 Barrel Man Had The Right Ideas
Image source: Different-Soft-3124
#10 Plot Armour Is Really Thick Here
Image source: Giwargis_Sahada
#11 Still Decoded Neanderthal Dna And Got The Nobel Prize In The End
Image source: RolfDasWalross
#12 Why Everybody Likes Ike
Image source: MeQuista
#13 That Weird Time When Women Were Not Allowed To Take Part In Opera And Choirs So They Cut Boy’s Balls For That
During much of the XVII and XVIII centuries women were not allowed to sing in choirs and opera. So in Italy boys who showed a lot of singing talent as kids were transformed into “castrati”, in other words, they were castrated before puberty in order to prevent their voices to turn deeper so they could play women and characters with higher voices in opera, or be sopranos and mezzosopranos in choirs. In the process of castration many were administred near lethal doses of opium, causing many of them to die in the process.
The last of the castrati was a man called Alessandro Moreschi, who used to sang in the vatican choir. He died in the 1920s, and in fact he recorded himself singing in the early 1900s, leading to the only surviving archives of a castrati.
Image source: [deleted]
#14 It Stood For 300 Years In One Of The Harshest Environments On Earth
Context: The Tree of Ténéré was considered to be the most isolated tree in the world. The tree survived for around 300 years in one of the harshest environments in the world. It resided in the Sahara Desert where it was the only tree around for 250 miles. The tree overcame all odds by spreading it’s roots 100 ft below the surface in order to reach the water table that laid below. It was notable for being a well known landmark for travelers in a harsh and unforgiving environment. It also stood as a testament to the once green Sahara that later became the barren wasteland we know today.
In 1973, a drunk driver smashed into it, snapping its trunk, killing the tree. The driver became known as the man who managed to crash into the only obstacle in miles.
Image source: Some_Razzmataz
#15 Heart Warming To See Romans Capable Of Love
Image source: ReflectionSingle6681
#16 Happens Too Often
Image source: kyno1
#17 Always The Same Pattern
Image source: RamsZeyy
#18 Definition Of “Know Your Enemy”
Image source: ReflectionSingle6681
#19 It’s Just Less Cool Huh
Image source: JustMehmed2
#20 Maybe, Just Maybe, There’s A Reason They Told You Not To Eat That
Image source: Redqueenhypo
#21 And They All Had A Great Time Doing It
Image source: rodan1993
#22 It Really Doesn’t Change Much
Image source: ChiefsHat
#23 Imamura Hitoshi — War Criminal
“Imamura was detained at Rabaul by the Australian Army, as he and troops under his command were accused of war crimes, including the execution of Allied prisoners of war. One infamous example highlighted how the prisoners captured in eastern Java were locked up in bamboo cattle cages and thrown overboard into shark-infested waters. In April 1946, Imamura wrote to the Australian commander at Rabaul, requesting that his own trial for war crimes be expedited in order to speed the prosecution of war criminals under his command. Imamura was charged with “unlawfully [disregarding and failing] to discharge his duty … to control the members of his command, whereby they committed brutal atrocities and other high crimes …”. He was tried by an Australian military court at Rabaul on 1–16 May 1947; he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for ten years. Imamura served his imprisonment at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo until he was released in 1954. As he found that his imprisonment was too light with respect to his responsibility for the crimes of his subordinates, he had a replica of the prison built in his garden, and he stayed there until his death.
Image source: TheRenOtaku
#24 I Feel So Bad For The Poor People
Image source: ReflectionSingle6681
#25 A Cheap And Easy Way To Boost Worker Productivity
Image source: Zallre
#26 Darker Than You Think
One of unit 731 many experiments was to freeze people then splash them with boiling water they figured out the best temperature for treatment.
Image source: blazinfastjohny
#27 Remember Kids, Was Never Cool
Image source: mehmed2theconquered
#28 Truly Disgusting Experiment
Image source: ReflectionSingle6681
#29 The Cruelty Humans Are Capable Of Is Frightening
Image source: ReflectionSingle6681
#30 Chad
Image source: CheezyTito
#31 Spaniards Could Use A Shower
Image source: ReflectionSingle6681
#32 Larry Bird Was A Menace
Image source: lanzadelsol
#33 That’s Really Sad To Be Honest
Image source: mehmed2theconqueror
#34 The “Clean Emperor” Myth
Image source: AlfredusRexSaxonum
#35 I Think They Hoped Everyone Forgot About That
Image source: Kafkaesque_my_a*s
#36 What Was The Point Then, Lenin
Image source: Only-Arrival-8868
#37 It Happened An Uncomfortable Amount Of Times
Image source: CharlemagneTheBig
#38 A True Scientist Keeps Experimenting Even In The Last Seconds Of Their Life
Image source: Aemolia
#39 They Ain’t Getting Away That Easy
Image source: Sum-Duck
#40 They Weren’t All Stupid
Image source: The_main_man_cat
#41 It’s Been A Bumpy Ride, But I Would Say Britain And France’s Relationship Ended Up In A Pretty Good Spot, All Things Considered
Image source: MadRonnie97
#42 Hook Me Up With More Of That History Of Textiles!
Image source: lil_literalist
#43 It’d Be Like Messi And Ronaldo Fighting To The Death
Image source: ReflectionSingle6681
#44 If Only Religious People In My Childhood Knew This
Image source: captain_snake32
#45 Never Ask Your Fav French Philosopher What Petition They Signed Back In 1977
Image source: AlfredusRexSaxonum
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