20 Historical Facts That Prove Living In The Past Was Actually Kind Of Frightening
by N/A, 10 years ago |
4 min read
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The world was on some messed up stuff.
1. 2.5% of the population of the United States died in the Civil War.
That equals about 750,000 people.
2. The Native American population declined from about 12 million in 1500 to 237,000 in 1900 due to Europeans arriving on the continent.
3. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Basically, Europeans ruined a lot.
4. The Aztecs made human scarifies to please their Gods.
At the dedication of a temple in Tenochtitlan, 20,000 people were sacrificed.
5. The Mayans made human sacrifices too.
The most common way they did this was by pulling out the still-beating heart of a victim.
6. People in Great Britain used human skulls as cups during the Ice Age.
Image credit: London's Natural History Museum
7. Dentures made before the mid-1800s were usually made out of the teeth of dead soldiers.
8. Joseph Stalin is believed to have killed between 12 million to 15 million people while dictator of the Soviet Union from 1929-1953.
9. Genghis Khan and his armies killed about 40 million people across Europe and Asia.
10. Some pharaohs were buried with their pets and sevants.
11. Speaking of the servants, they would smear themselves in honey in order to attract flies away from the Pharaohs.
12. A zoologist and his team ate the flesh of a 36,000 year old bison they discovered preserved in ice in Alaska.
NOPE.
13. In the 19th century, the "safety coffin" was made so people who were mistakenly buried alive could ring for help.
Imagine waking up like THIS!
14. A form of contraception in 16th century Canada was a potion that consisted of ground up beaver testicles.
15. In the Middle Ages, animals were put on trial.
Their defense probably wasn't that great.
16. Another weird Medieval tradition? In order to prove someone's innocence, the accused would have to stick their arm in a pot of boiling water. If the arm remained unharmed, it proved their innocence because God was seen as protecting them.
17. In the 19th century, a popular medicine for kids included morphine.
18. When in danger of being captured, Japanese samurais would stab themselves with their swords.
It was an act called seppuko.
19. How did Emperor Vlad the Impaler get his name? He impaled 20,000 Turks and displayed them on the banks of the Danube River.
20. If that wasn't bad enough, he would soak their blood in his bread. He is said to be the inspiration for Dracula.
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