10 Craziest Historical Facts That You Never Knew
By: Daily Pakistan News
Tags: History, Mindfulness, Heroes, Facts, World

Daily Pakistan News

The stuff that you learn from school are quiet common and everyone knows that, but history is different from that typical information.

The facts of history that many people don’t know the specific knowledge.

For example: did you know that Hitler helped design a vehicle that we still drive today?

History makes you wonder that how many things you know about the world.

So, prepare yourself to be amused & amazed with these top 10 craziest history facts that you don’t know now.

No # 1: Alexander the Great was buried alive- accidentally

Alexander the Great

At age 32 when he died, Alexander the Great had conquered and created the largest land-based empire the world has ever seen. It stretched from the Balkans to Pakistan.

In 323 BC, Alexander fell ill and, after 12 days of excruciating pain, he seemingly passed away.

However, his corpse didn’t show any signs of rot or decomposition for a whole six days.

Modern-day scientists believe Alexander suffered from the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

They believe that when he “died” he was actually just paralyzed and mentally aware. Basically, he was horrifically buried alive!

NO # 2: The world’s most successful pirate in history was a lady.

The Pirate Queen of the East

Named Ching Shih, she was a prostitute in China. This was until the Commander of the Red Flag Fleet bought and married her.

But rather than just viewing her as a wife, her husband considered her his equal and she became an active pirate commander in the fleet.

Ching Shih soon earned the respect of her fellow pirates. So much so that after her husband’s death she became the captain of the fleet.

Under Shih’s leadership, the Red Flag Fleet consisted of over 300 warships, with a possible 1,200 more support ships. She even had a possible 40,000–80,000 men, women and children.

They terrorized the waters around China. The Red Flag Fleet were such a fearsome band of raiders, that the Chinese government eventually pardoned Ching Shih and her entire fleet — just to get them off the high seas!

NO #3 : Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times.

Julius Caesar is probably the most iconic name associated with the Romans. Likewise, his assassination and death are also highly notorious.

Due to his coup d’état of the Roman Republic and his proclamation of himself as Dictator for Life, along with his radical political views, a group of his fellow Roman senators led by his best friend Brutus assassinated him on March 15th, 44 BC.

During the assassination, Caesar was stabbed at least 23 times, before finally succumbing to his wounds.

He passed away with fabled words to his former best friend Brutus, allegedly being “you too, sweet child?”

NO # 4 : The Colosseum was originally clad entirely in marble

Colosseum

It was named the Colosseum because it was next to a statue called the Colossus.The stone exterior appears to be covered in pockmarks all across its surface.

Whilst you might assume this is just degradation of the material due to its age, it is actually because it was originally clad almost entirely in marble.

The reason for the pockmarks is, after the fall of Rome, the city was looted and pillaged by the Goths. Yes that’s right, the Goths!

They took all of the marble from the Colosseum, and stripped it (mostly) down to its bare stone setting.

The holes in the stone are from where the iron clamps and poles attaching the marble cladding to it have been ripped out.

NO # 5 : Rasputin survived being poisoned and being shot.

RASPUTIN

Grigori Rasputin was a Russian mystic and supposed holy man. He became friends with the last Russian Tsar and Tsarina.

Over time, he came to influence the Russian royals much to the displeasure of many members of the Russian nobility.

This, combined with his drunkenness and lechery, led to several Russian nobles forming a plot to assassinate the man.

They invited him over to one of their houses, gave him cakes and wine laced with cyanide all to no effect, and then shot him in the chest.

To their horror, Rasputin started to cough and they realized he was still alive!

How did they fix the problem? The nobles shot Rasputin two more times — once in the head. Finally they threw his body into the frozen Malaya Nevka River.

N0 # 6 : The Vikings were the first people to discover America.

Vikings

Half a millennium before Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, Viking chief Leif Eriksson of Greenland landed on the Island of Newfoundland in the year 1,000 BC.

The Vikings under Leif Eriksson settled Newfoundland as well as discovering and settling Labrador further north in Canada.

You may also like these history facts about The Vikings.

NO # 7 : In Ancient Asia, death by elephant was a popular form of execution.

As elephants are very intelligent and easy to train, it proved easy enough to train them as executioners and torturers.

They could be taught to slowly break bones, crush skulls, twist off limbs, or even execute people using large blades fitted to their tusks.

In some parts of Asia this method of execution was still popular up to the late 19th century.

NO # 8 : When Marcus Crassus died, molten gold was poured down his throat.

Marcus Licinius Crassus was known as the wealthiest man in Rome during his life.

The son of a Consul of Rome, Crassus fought in Sulla’s Civil War, played a key part in defeating Spartacus and ending the Third Servile War, and formed the first Triumvirate with Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great.

A shrewd man, throughout all he did Crassus accumulated more and more wealth — and it was his thirst for wealth that would eventually lead to his downfall.

Leading his troops in an ill-fated conquest of Parthia (modern-day Iran), Crassus and his forces were brutalized and bested by the Parthians time and time again.

After an unsuccessful parley for peace with the Parthian leaders, Crassus was killed. The Parthians poured molten gold down his throat, as a symbol of his thirst for wealth.

Some even say that his gilded head and hands were sent to the Parthian King to keep as trophies of his victory against Crassus and Rome.

NO # 9 : Cleopatra’s reign was closer to the moon landings than the Great Pyramid being built.

Cleopatra

This is one of those facts that gives you some impression of just how expansive the life of the Egyptian Empire truly was.

Cleopatra reigned from 51 BC to 30 BC, roughly 2,500 years after the Great Pyramid of Giza was built (between roughly 2580 BC — 2560 BC), and roughly 2,000 years before the first lunar landings in 1969.

NO # 10 : During World War I, the French built a “fake Paris”.

Fake Paris in WW I

Complete with a replica Champs-Elysées and Gard Du Nord, this “fake Paris” was built by the French towards the end of WWI. It was built as a means of throwing off German bomber and fighter pilots flying over French skies.

It also even had a fake railway that lit up at certain points to provide the illusion from above of a train moving along the tracks!