Cool History Facts

The Great Wall of China is visible from space.

Cleopatra was actually Greek, not Egyptian.

The shortest war in history lasted just 38 minutes.

The first computer was invented in 1946 and weighed over 27 tons!

The oldest known writing system is cuneiform, developed in ancient Mesopotamia.

The Vikings used to wear amulets made from bear teeth for protection.

Marie Antoinette never said Let them eat cake.

The first known use of anesthesia in surgery was in 1846.

The longest reigning monarch in history was King Louis XIV of France, who ruled for 72 years!

The Colosseum in Rome could hold over 50,000 spectators.

The first recorded Olympic games were held in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece.

The Taj Mahal was built as a mausoleum for Emperor Shah Jahan’s wife.

The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed over 80 percent of the city.

The Pilgrims on the Mayflower originally intended to settle in Virginia, not Massachusetts.

Tutankhamun, the boy pharaoh, was only 9 years old when he became king.

The Statue of Liberty was gifted to the United States by France in 1886.

Leonardo da Vinci was both an artist and an inventor, designing flying machines and even a tank.

The Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency.

The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, and it was missing for two years.

The Russian Empire spanned three continents: Europe, Asia, and North America.

Cool History Facts part 2

The last public execution in France was in 19

The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, reunifying East and West Germany.

The first-ever photograph was taken in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.

The Great Depression, which started in 1929, lasted for about a decade.

The first successful airplane flight was conducted by the Wright brothers in 1903.

The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, leading to major changes in maritime safety regulations.

The Black Death in the 14th century wiped out an estimated 75-200 million people.

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776.

The pyramids of Giza were built as tombs for the pharaohs over 4,500 years ago.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris was initially intended to be a temporary structure.

Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896.

The United States bought Alaska from Russia for just 7.2 million dollars in 1867.

The Great Sphinx of Giza has the head of a human and the body of a lion.

The Rosetta Stone was the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the late 18th century.

The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a major event leading to the American Revolution.

The painter Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime.

The Terracotta Army in China was created to protect Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the afterlife.

The first successful heart transplant was performed in South Africa in 1967.

The Great Famine in Ireland during the mid-19th century led to mass emigration to the United States.

The first electric light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879.

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted from the late 1940s to the early 1990s.

The ancient city of Pompeii was preserved by volcanic ash, allowing us to see a snapshot of Roman life.

The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 marked the end of Napoleon Bonaparte’s reign as Emperor of France.