The version of The Diary of Anne Frank that we’ve all been reading was edited by her father to remove some more “young adult” type passages. In fact, now both editions are available in English, but I imagine they still go for the edited version in 4th grade classrooms. Some of the stricken passages contained writing on her period, discovering herself sexually, and learning about boys from a friend that was staying with the family. Her father also removed her documentation of his love of fart jokes.
Original Source: u/Swtcherrypie and u/Tiny_Feys_Mons_Pubis
Ben Franklin is one of America’s most revered figures, a polymath, a founding father, and an “upstanding genius”. And yet, verified claims about his womanizing are hard to ignore. Many are familiar with Franklin’s work in censored versions of Poor Richard’s Almanack, his work as a diplomat, politician, scientist, postmaster, etc., and are familiar with Franklin-isms like “Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes a Man Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” But fewer of us have probably seen some of his other work: “Neither a Fortress nor a maidenhead will hold out long after they begin to parley”. Franklin’s list of mistresses from this Chicago Tribune source is as long as this paragraph.
Original Source: u/Badwolf582
During the October Revolution of 1917 the Russian Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and stormed the Winter Palace only to be halted for a couple of days. What halted them? Was it a battle for the palace? Did they find the wine stores and proceed to get hammered? What do you think? According a passage in Red Victory by W. Bruce Lincoln, every successive waive of troops sent in to quell the “wine riots” only succeeded in become drunk themselves. Mayhem ensued until certain marines and sailors stayed sober long enough to gain control. It doesn’t get more Russian than Bolsheviks and booze. Wonder if Ivan Ivanov took a break from crossbreeding species to partake?
Original Source: u/benrawie and u/Brock_Sexington
During WWII Soviet Anti-Tank Dogs were trained and deployed in combat in 1941-1942. The dogs were supposed to find enemy tanks, crawl beneath them, and detonate an explosive. Ironically, the dogs actually sought out Soviet tanks because they had been trained to smell Soviet diesel tank engines instead of German gasoline engines. This oversight in training also really speaks to how desperate of a move, on the part of the Soviets, this was. It isn’t really clear how effective Anti-Tank dogs were; Soviet estimates of successful uses exceed all others. However, the program was only cancelled in 1996.
Original Source: u/topsey
Everyone knows that John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abe Lincoln. But lesser known is the fact that Boston Corbett, the man who captured and killed Booth was allegedly completely insane from handling mercury as a hatter. How crazy was Corbett, you ask? Years before shooting Booth, Corbett had calmly castrated himself with a pair of scissors.
Original Source: u/BalalaikaMiG
After WWII concluded the US used the Marshall Islands, most notably Bikini Atoll, as testing sites for nuclear weapons thousands of times more powerful than those used against Japan. In order to do so, they relocated the Bikini Islanders through a series of inept island swaps that led some to starvation. By the time the land on Bikini was declared safe in 1970 many had started lives on other atolls, but many returned. Within ten years researchers declared the island unsafe yet again due to high levels of cesium-137 in water, plants, and individuals. Women reported miscarriages, stillbirths, and genetic abnormalities in children. The 178 residents left the island again in 1978. Although Bikini Atoll is today again declared safe, there are only four residents. Only 36 of the 4880 Bikini Islanders in 2013 were residents of Bikini Atoll in 1946.
Original Source: u/iwanttofork
Byzantine Emperor Basil II was engaged in a conflict with the Bulgarians led by Emperor Samuel. Basil routed the Bulgarian army at the Battle of Kleidion and took 15,000 prisoners. Basil then divided the men into groups of 100, blinded 99 men and left one man in each group with one eye to lead the others home. Blinding, however, was a typical punishment for rebels, and Byzantine’s felt the Bulgarians qualified. Emperor Samuel reportedly died of a heart attack upon seeing his soldiers return in such condition.
Original Source: u/phargle
One horrific story from ancient Greece that is almost certainly true is of the invention of the Brazen Bull. The bull was invented by Perillos of Athens and given to Phalaris, the tyrant of Akragas, Sicily. This torture/execution device was a life-size bull made from metal with a hollow chamber inside for a person. The person would be stuffed inside and a fire lit beneath the bull until the individual inside roasted to death. Perillos also devised a system of tubes and stops to make the screams of the person inside reverberate and sound like a bull. Phalaris was so disgusted with how Perillos described his haunting acoustics system that he threw Perillos inside and set a fire underneath. Perillos was extracted before he died but was then thrown from a cliff. Ironically, Phalaris perished in the bull when overthrown by Telemachus.
Original Source: u/Corrupt_T
In 1089 during the First Crusade, the Siege of Ma’arra took place in modern day Syria. During the siege some crusaders got waylaid in the town for longer than expected. Ma’arra during winter had less food and riches than crusaders had expected. So, while they waited for orders to march to Jerusalem, many crusaders took to cannibalizing the bodies of dead Muslims. The town was full of dead bodies, as most had been massacred after surrendering. A chronicler wrote that people “boiled pagan adults in cooking-pots, [and] impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled”.
Original Source: u/nikhilvoidQueen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are both married and 3rd cousins (also 2nd cousins once removed). Due to high inbreeding in royal families in the 19th and 20th centuries such occurrences are rather common. The Queen and Prince share two common ancestors, both Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria was both Elizabeth’s and Philip’s great-great- grandmother. Christian IX was Elizabeth’s great-great-grandfather and Philip’s great grandfather. Good grief.
Original Source: u/LFCMick
According to Roman Imperial historian Suetonius, Emperor Tiberius (14-37AD) of Rome was a violent and crazy man. Suetonius had access to imperial records, and so he is somewhat qualified to speak. However, it is no secret that many of the historians in Rome like Suetonius, Tacitus, Cassius Dio, etc., would write scandalous things about previous emperors in an effort to support a different leader, or discredit the whole imperial system and lobby for a return to the Republic. Nonetheless, Suetonius reports that Tiberius had a man’s face shaved off with the scales of a fish, killed one of his own Praetorian guard for stealing a bird, and orchestrated the deaths of his two Senator sons Nero and Drusus.
Original Source: u/The_Scarecrows
Original Source: u/vaaarr and u/prettyforariot and u/Gallagrrrr
Original Source: u/GhettoMuppet and u/drboylove
English explorer James Cook sailed to Hawaii in 1779. It just so happened that he arrived on a holiday celebrating the sex god “Lono”. Cook arrived in the middle of the festival and thought that he himself was the sex god being praised and celebrated by the Hawaiians. Unfortunately Cook wouldn’t make it back from this trip alive. He was reportedly clubbed to death, the incident stemming from some misunderstanding.
Original source: Pridwyn and i_haz_username
There are conflicting reports about the penis of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Some say he would unzip and waive it about in meetings to intimidate. Still others say Johnson really just had no shame about unzipping to urinate anywhere, even in mid stride while walking. In an off-the-record encounter with reporters Johnson is said to have replied to questioning of US action in Vietnam by pulling down his pants and saying “This is why!” Johnson is reported to have carried meetings into the bathroom, and invite foreign leaders to go skinny-dipping – to establish the dominance of his Johnson, nicknamed “Jumbo”.
Original Source: u/Spiro_Agnew and u/Ordem_E_Progresso
Highest on the thread is the very real notion that it was not uncommon during much of the Middle Ages for an important marriage consummation to be attended by many guests and relatives. The most important guests would even be treated to the best seats in the bedroom, much like having a box at a sporting event. Charles II is noted for having watched the entire consummation of his nephew and future King, William of Orange. Charles also shouted encouragement like any rabid fan.
Original Source: u/Captain_Darling and u/Catatronic
9th-century regent of Kievan Rus’, Olga of Kiev, is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Olga’s husband, Igor was a ruler murdered by an Eastern Slavic tribe called the Drevlians. The Drevlians didn’t want a female ruler, and provided Olga a husband in the Drevlian “Prince Mal”. The Drevilians sent twenty men to persuade Olga. Olga rebutted by burying the suitors alive. Olga sent word to Prince Mal that she had accepted the offer, but that she required more of the finest Drevlian men to accompany her on her journey. The men arrived in Kiev and were treated to a bathhouse. The bathhouse was locked and burned down. At a memorial for the Drevlians that died in the bathhouse, Olga invited Drevlian guests to a funeral feast. After they were drunk all 5,000 Drevlians were slaughtered. The remaining Drevlians begged for mercy, and all Olga asked for in return for mercy was three pigeons and three sparrows from every Drevlian house. The birds were fitted with a piece of sulfur bundled with cloth on their legs. Upon being released the birds flew back to their homes and set fire to all the Drevlian houses. Olga’s army pursued the fleeing Drevlians and many were executed and enslaved.
Original Source: u/OtakuSoze
Soldiers will often keep all sorts of keepsakes from combat. Unfortunately, during WWII the American propaganda campaign to dehumanize the Japanese worked with such efficacy that American GIs would sometimes bring back body parts as souvenirs. Some examples of the propaganda that helped feed this type of behavior seem rather innocuous at first, like a Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs kills 100 Japanese soldiers called “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips”.
Original Source: u/GlastonBerry48 and [deleted]
The Nanking Massacre (1937), and the entire Japanese occupation of China during WWII is one of the most often ignored and horrific chapters of recent history. In total more than twenty million Chinese would die as a result of the Japanese occupation, seven million killed directly. Aside from the mass killings in Nanking, the Chinese population endured unspeakable treatment including the war crimes of mass rape, torture, and human experimentation. To this day the Japanese government acknowledges its awful pre-war behavior but insists that because no record was kept at the time, modern Japan cannot pay reparations, charge individuals with war crimes based on testimony, or do more than briefly refer to very censored versions of the incident in textbooks.
Original Source:u/FiFibonnaci
Though none of this is verified, it would appear that many believe President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was quite the lover and adulterer. The common allegations claim that Roosevelt was involved with secretary and close friend Marguerite “Missy” LeHand, Eleanor Roosevelt’s social secretary Lucy Mercer, and his own distant cousin Margaret “Daisy” Suckley. While not a shred of evidence exists to suggest that any of FDR’s purported affairs were real, it remains a popular belief, largely because of the potential for scandal, the fact that he and his wife slept in separate rooms, and simply because FDR had many female friends (and with suggestive names).
Original Source: u/ludnik
Believe it or not, the modern vibrator was invented as a “medical” instrument. In the 19th and early 20th century America (and in Western European medicine since ancient Greece) women who were “causing trouble” and/or likely suffering from an undiagnosed disorder would often be labeled “hysteric”. Hysteria was referred to as “the widow’s disease” as one cause was thought to be “female semen” which would turn venomous if not released through regular climax. A common treatment for this catchall illness, whose symptoms included everything from shortness of breath, sexual desire, and “a tendency to cause trouble,” was manual masturbation by a doctor. Evidently this task became so time consuming and labor intensive that the vibrator was invented. The vibrator would become the world’s largest selling household appliance.
Original Source: u/Scrimpasher
We don’t normally think of astronomers or physicists to be hip types of people -- unless we’re talking about Anders Celsius. And yet, Erwin Schrödinger one of the most influential figures in quantum physics of the 20th century, best known for the thought experiment dubbed “Schrödinger’s Cat,” apparently, was also known for having a ménage-à-trois relationship with his wife and mistress, as well as for other lewd exploits. Schrödinger’s name is one of select few actually on the Wikipedia page devoted to the “ménage-à-trois”.
Original Source: u/420Blaze1t