6 Darkest History Facts You Didn’t Learn in School
While our history books may tell us part of the story, many of the darkest history facts are hidden. Whether it’s due to horrible experiments conducted during wartime, the true horrors of war, or the use of toxic elements to complete everyday tasks, these six darkest history facts will make you take a deeper dive into the world. Keep reading to learn more.
6. Tuskegee Study
Starting our list of darkest history facts is the Tuskegee Study. Scientists during the 1930s studied syphilis in 600 Black men (201 were controls and did not have the disease). None of them were told they had syphilis or what they were being treated for, and they had no access to penicillin, which was an effective treatment. The experiment lasted 40 years and only ended when the Associated Press broke a story on the horrors. The government did not apologize until 1997.
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5. Painting Watches with Radium
Fifth on our list of darkest history facts concerns radium’s harmful effects. During the early 1900s, many women were employed painting watches due to their smaller hands. However, the paint contained radium. The women were assured it wasn’t dangerous and instructed to lick the brushes to get them to a fine point. Soon, the women became ill and died horribly as their bones were being eaten away from the inside out.
4. Japan’s Unit 731 in WWII
Next on our list of darkest history facts is Japan’s Unit 731 during WWII. While many war crimes were committed during the war, Unit 731 was its own unique beast. The unit conducted experiments on prisoners of war; many centered on how much the human body could withstand before death. Many of the leaders were granted immunity from the U.S. in exchange for their information, including how to treat frostbite.
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3. U.S.-Dakota War Mass Execution
Rounding out our top three darkest history facts is the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. While not well-known, the war was one of the largest mass executions in U.S. history. After the war ended and the Dakota people surrendered, 392 Dakota men were tried without representation in trials that sometimes lasted as little as five minutes, and 303 were sentenced to death.
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2. U.S. Government Radioactive Experiments
Second on our list of darkest history facts is the effects of radioactive materials on humans. During the 1900s, the U.S. government wanted to figure out just how unsafe radiation was as they developed the atomic bomb. They ran tests on terminally ill patients, exposing them to different radioactive elements to see what would happen. The patients were not aware of the experiment, and some of them were not terminally ill.
1. Mengele’s Experiments on Twins in WWII
Last but not least on our list of darkest history facts is Mengele’s experiments. While the Nazi experiments are well-documented, not everyone knows about Josef Mengele’s experiments on twins. Reports claim he performed tests on 732 pairs of twins at Auschwitz, mainly focused on the idea of inherited genes. Survivors remember children having organs and limbs removed without anesthesia, some killed and dissected, and others getting injected with diseases.
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