15 Funny Historical Facts You May Not Know

Knock-knock jokes, for many, are peak humor. Finding the right combination of words can make anyone chuckle if planned out right. But where exactly did it come from? What was the first one?

Interestingly enough, the answer is Shakespeare. The infamous playwright, poet, and actor is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language and is constantly studied in school.

In his play Macbeth, readers can witness the first ever knock-knock joke in Act 2, Scene 3, however, it wasn’t intended to be funny. In fact, it’s after a rather gruesome scene after Macbeth just kills the king, Duncan. The phrase is continued throughout fiction and is now a common start to many jokes.

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War is a terrible thing, but there are moments throughout history that show a bit of humanity even when things are looking bleak. This happened with the Liechtenstein army.

The fourth smallest state in Europe and the sixth smallest state in the world, Liechtenstein, has managed to stay neutral during many wars, even the two world wars. Interestingly enough, they didn’t even have an army when banning the Nazi party, as they disbanded in 1868. Their final deployment was in 1866 with the mission to guard the Brenner Pass between Austria and Italy.

The deployment was iconic for many reasons, though, as they never lost a battle or suffered casualties. They also left with a force of 80 men but returned with 81. Apparently, they made a friend while defending the pass, which is one of the most wholesome, yet funny historical facts ever.

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Rabbits are often pictured as adorable, fluffy critters that might tear up your yard, but that’s about it. Unfortunately for Napoleon Bonaparte, that’s not entirely the case.

One of the most funny historical facts is that Bonaparte was attacked, and defeated, by a horde of rabbits. The attack took place in 1807 as Bonaparte and his coterie celebrated the Treaties of Tilsit, which brought an end to the war between France and Russia, with a traditional rabbit hunt.

There were around 3,000 rabbits, but instead of running away when uncaged, they swarmed Bonaparte and his men, biting them ferociously. They eventually retreated and left them in possession of the field.

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Everyone knows molasses — the rich, thick syrup that’s full of vitamins and is commonly found in gingerbread cookies and other baked goods.

But did you know that the sugary, sticky liquid actually wreaked havoc in Boston back in 1919? While a bit traumatic back then, one of the many funny historical facts is the Molasses Flood of 1919.

A 50-foot-tall steel holding tank located on Commercial Street in Boston’s North End, which was used to produce alcohol for liquor, ended up bursting, causing 2.3 million gallons of the liquid to course through the streets. While it unfortunately did immense damage, it’s one of the crazy stories that many look back on and smirk at.

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Today, solar eclipses are amazing events that many take off works or school just to catch a glimpse. Some even fly around the world to catch sight of these extraordinary moments. But back in the day, it was a terrifying experience.

One example that is considered one of the best, and most funny historical facts, is the Battle of the Eclipse which happened in the 6th century BCE in Anatolia. The battle was between the Medes and the Lydians, according to ancient Greek historian Herodotus.

During the battle, the day turned into night, presumably a solar eclipse, which caused both parties to negotiate a peace treaty and flee, quickly ending a six-year war.

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Jean Lafitte was a notorious pirate who thought himself to be a privateer. He was constantly dogged by local authorities but was also a war hero. Some consider Lafitte to be the Robin Hood of the bayou.

But while his story is immensely interesting, one of the best, and most funny historical facts about him is when Louisiana Governor William C.C. Claiborne was tired of Lafitte’s antics and put a reward of $500 for the capture of the pirate.

In response, Lafitte decided to up the anties by offering an even higher reward, around $1,500, to anyone who could catch Claiborne and bring him to Barataria, the island that he ruled. It’s a hilarious move that would make anyone snicker.

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History is odd. Even when the odds are against you, you could come out on top. One of the strangest moments of this happened in 1798 and is one of the most funny historical facts out there.

Set in the Battle of Texel during the French Revolutionary Wars, a group of cavalry troops — horse-riding soldiers — ended up capturing a fleet of ships. But how does something like this even happen?

In Holland, winter was coming in and it was incredibly cold. A Dutch fleet anchored in the straight of Marsdiep tried to take shelter by Texel Island until the storm blew over, but found themselves iced in.

News of this reached French general Jean-Charles Pichegru, who told Johan Williem de Winter, a Dutch admiral. De Winter sent out infantry, cavalry, and horse artillery. But instead of an epic battle, the French leader sent famed French cavalrymen, Hussars, to see if they could surrender from the Dutch, and five days later they succeeded.

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One of the most famous statues in the world is the Leaning Tower of Pisa located in Pisa, Italy. The freestanding bell tower is known for its nearly four-degree lean. What many might not know is that the Tower of Pisa wasn’t meant to be leaning, it was just not executed well from the start.

Construction started in 1173 as part of a grand cathedral project to flaunt wealth and military victories in the city. However, once building began, they realized the ground beneath the tower was composed of clay, fine sand, and shells from the Arno and Serchio rivers.

By the time the second of eight stories was being built, they realized that the tower’s foundation was settling unevenly, creating a lean. Over the centuries, the tower kept sinking, and by 1990, the tower was threatening to collapse entirely, creating a stabilization plan to fix the tower before destruction.

Art is incredibly important. Preserving it can be difficult, but well-preserved art — whether painted, written, or sculpted — can teach us so much about eras and periods in history. Along with that, architecture for many cultures and civilizations was immensely important to the culture.

That’s why the Greeks did everything they could to preserve their home and architecture by sending ammo to their enemy from dismantling architecture. In the 1821 Greek War of Independence, the Greeks ensured that they didn’t destroy any antiquities or the site itself.

The Turks were soon breaking down the walls in Acropolis, hoping to break down the shielding and melt it into bullets. When the Greeks noticed, they sent the enemy’s lead bullets to urge them to stop the destruction. While a bit counter-intuitive for a war effort, sometimes it’s more important to preserve the architecture and culture.

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Looking back at some of the best funny historical facts can make us question the sanity of the people we’re run by.

For instance, the government has done and said some crazy things, but nothing really beats the time they tried to bomb clouds back in 1891. Robert St. George Dyrenforth, a Washington patent attorney, traveled to Texas with a group of rainmaking enthusiasts with dynamite, kites, and balloons. They believed that clouds could produce rain when agitated with loud noise, and hoped to prove.

While it might sound strange, it was actually bankrolled by the United States Congress, allowing him to place his homemade mortars around Texas as he shot dynamite into the clouds. While no rain seemed to fall, he did report that dark clouds were forming.

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World War I was one of the most horrendous events and affected many. It also changed the way war was fought in general, urging many to go to extreme lengths to not only fight back but to hide in plain sight.

One instance revolved around France. When German bombings started to ravage France, they had to think hard to make sure that not only their cities were safe, but their people. So France did something spectacular, they built a fake Paris to fool the Germans into bombing away from their home.

Interestingly enough, the fake Paris was made out of just wood and fabric, which fooled the Germans enough to avoid the real Paris, saving many lives and homes in the process.

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Themyscera, home to a tribe of warrior women who excelled at horse-riding and archery, is referenced often in media, like Wonder Woman. The Amazons inspired fear in many people back then, and while many accounts were featured in mythology, there is one bit that was talked about in history.

According to the Greek-speaking Roman historian, Appian, who lived in the second century CE and wrote a number of works describing events of Roman wars, both civil and foreign, Romans tried to siege Themyscera.

During the Third Mithridatic War, the Roman general Lucullus led his forces against the city and besieged it, bringing all of the Roman siege tactics like mounds, and tunnels.

One of the most funny historical facts is that to fight off the tunneling, the Amazons would dig into the tunnels from above and fill them with wild animals like bears or even swarms of bees. The image of Romans thinking their plan is solid until a bear is chasing them out is not only a bit horrific but hilarious.

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History is full of weird and interesting events. Sometimes it’s the smallest of things that can make you snicker when reading, while other times, it’s the extremity of a situation that makes you question someone’s sanity.

One of the many examples of these funny historical facts took place in 1976 during Operation Paul Bunyan. The U.S. prepared an army of tanks, helicopters, B-52 bombers, special forces, Tae Kwon Do experts, and soldiers with grenade launchers to cut down a single tree that was blocking their view of North Korea.

While this was done in response to two Americans dying by North Korea after they trimmed the tree, it’s still an excessive amount of power to remove an obstacle.

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The University of Oxford in England is considered one of the most prestigious, or elite, universities that you can attend in Britain. Not only that, but it’s the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the second-oldest in continuous operation (The University of Bologna is number one).

But just how old is the University of Oxford? One of the many funny historical facts is that the University of Oxford predates the Aztec Empire by about 250 years. The University was established in 1096 A.D., with the Aztec Empire emerging around 1325 with the founding of the city of Tenochtitlan by the Mexica people.

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Assassinations, and even attempts, are terrifying. They turn the world upside down and leave countries grieving. But sometimes they can be hilarious, especially when assassination attempts just go horribly wrong.

Some funny historical facts include former President Andrew Jackson who had a few assassination attempts on him but still escaped. In 1835, Andrew Jackson became the first American president to experience an assassination attempt.

Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, approached Jackson with a gun, but when he pulled the trigger, the cap went off but the gunpowder failed to light. Jackson, obviously angry, approached him and started clubbing Larence with his cane.

To Lawrence’s relief, he managed to have a second loaded gun ready for this exact mishap, but when he pulled the trigger, the second gun also misfired. Jackson’s aides quickly intervened and wrestled Larence away, leaving Jackson unharmed, albeit very angry, and paranoid.