50 History Facts - Ancient Civilisations, Wars & Hidden Stories

Ancient Civilisations

The ancient Sumerians were the first known people to invent writing, using wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets over 5,000 years ago.
Cleopatra lived closer in time to the first Moon landing than to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The Indus Valley Civilisation had advanced plumbing systems and grid-planned cities long before Rome existed.
The ancient Egyptians used honey as a natural antibiotic to treat wounds and infections.
Ancient Mayans believed chocolate was a gift from the gods and used cacao beans as currency.

Knights rarely wore shining silver armour in real battles, as it was impractical and expensive; they preferred dull steel for camouflage.
Medieval castles often had spiral staircases built clockwise to favour right-handed defenders against attackers moving upwards.
Contrary to myth, most medieval people bathed regularly, especially in bathhouses that doubled as social gathering places.
The Black Death killed an estimated third of Europe’s population in the 14th century, reshaping labour, economy, and religion.
Medieval manuscripts were often written on animal skin called parchment, requiring hundreds of calves for a single large book.

During World War II, the British military trained pigeons to deliver secret messages, some even awarded medals for bravery.
The ‘Great War’ (WWI) introduced widespread use of helmets; before that, most soldiers went into battle bare-headed.
The Soviets once built a tank made entirely of wood to mislead German reconnaissance aircraft.
A false army of inflatable tanks and fake radio chatter helped the Allies deceive Germany before D-Day.
During WWII, the Navajo language was used as an unbreakable code by the US military in the Pacific.

The printing press, invented by Gutenberg in the 15th century, revolutionised access to knowledge much like the internet later did.
The first recorded vending machine was invented in ancient Greece and dispensed holy water when coins were inserted.
Velcro was inspired by burrs that stuck to a Swiss engineer’s dog during a walk in the 1940s.
Early alarm clocks could only ring at one set time, usually 4 a.m., intended for factory workers during the Industrial Revolution.
The microwave oven was discovered accidentally when a radar engineer’s chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

Leonardo da Vinci wrote his notes backwards, a form of mirror writing, possibly to keep his ideas private.
Napoleon wasn’t particularly short; at 1.68 metres, he was about average height for his time.
Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952 but declined, saying he lacked the aptitude for politics.
Joan of Arc was only 17 when she led French troops to victory before being executed at 19.
Nikola Tesla once claimed he had received signals from outer space, though he was likely detecting radio interference.

Michelangelo’s David was carved from a single block of marble that had been abandoned as ‘unworkable’ by other sculptors.
Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime, yet his works are now worth millions.
The colour ultramarine, used in Renaissance paintings, was once more expensive than gold due to its rarity.
The Mona Lisa has no visible eyebrows because they were likely removed during early restoration attempts.
The famous ‘Venus de Milo’ statue has no arms because they were broken off long before it was discovered in 1820.

The Eiffel Tower was initially criticised as an eyesore by many Parisians and artists when it was built in 1889.
During Prohibition, American doctors prescribed whiskey as ‘medicine’, legally circumventing alcohol bans.
The first recorded computer programmer was Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century mathematician who worked on Charles Babbage’s engine.
Shakespeare invented or popularised over 1,700 English words, including ‘eyeball’, ‘lonely’, and ‘swagger’.
The city of London has its own police force separate from the Metropolitan Police, dating back to medieval times.

Pompeii’s ruins were preserved under volcanic ash, offering a time capsule of Roman daily life.
The Terracotta Army of China contains over 8,000 life-sized soldiers, each with a unique face.
Stonehenge’s bluestones were transported over 200 kilometres from Wales, though how remains a mystery.
Archaeologists once found a 3,000-year-old prosthetic toe in Egypt, proving early medical craftsmanship.
Many ancient mummies were ground up into powder and sold as ‘medicine’ in medieval Europe.

The French Revolution introduced the metric system to promote rationality and equality.
The American Revolution inspired several Latin American independence movements in the 19th century.
The Industrial Revolution began in Britain partly because of abundant coal and efficient waterways.
Women played crucial roles in the Russian Revolution, leading protests that sparked the 1917 uprising.
The Haitian Revolution was the only successful slave revolt to create a free state, established in 1804.

In ancient Rome, urine was collected from public toilets and used as a cleaning agent for clothes.
Victorians often used arsenic in cosmetics to achieve a pale complexion, unaware of its toxicity.
Before toilet paper, people used materials like wool, moss, or seashells depending on the culture.
Medieval peasants typically ate more vegetables and grains than the nobles, who favoured meat-heavy diets.
In the 18th century, coffeehouses were called ‘penny universities’ because a penny bought access to news and debate.