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Are you a history buff looking for some fascinating new facts to impress your friends and family? Look no further! Here are some strange historical facts that you probably didn’t know about.
1. In ancient Rome, people used urine to whiten their teeth. Yes, you read that right. The ammonia in urine was believed to act as a whitening agent for teeth. So the next time you complain about the taste of your toothpaste, just be glad you’re not using urine instead.
2. The shortest war in history lasted just 38 minutes. In 1896, the Sultan of Zanzibar declared war on the British Empire. However, the British had a significant military advantage and quickly defeated the Sultan’s forces. The war was over in less than an hour, making it the shortest war in recorded history.
3. The first recorded use of the phrase “OMG” was in a letter written in 1917. British Admiral John Arbuthnot Fisher used the abbreviation in a letter to Winston Churchill, writing “I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis—OMG (Oh! My God!)—Shower it on the Admiralty!”
4. During World War II, the US government created a fake army made up of inflatable tanks and trucks. The idea was to trick the Germans into thinking the US had a much larger military presence than it actually did. The fake army was so convincing that the Germans even bombed it on several occasions.
5. In the 16th century, it was believed that women who were accused of being witches could be tested by throwing them into a body of water. If they floated, they were deemed guilty of witchcraft. If they sank, they were innocent. Unfortunately, many innocent women drowned as a result of this practice.
6. In the 1800s, there was a craze for “tight-lacing,” in which women would wear corsets so tight that they could barely breathe. Some women even had ribs removed to achieve a smaller waistline. This practice was incredibly dangerous and led to numerous health problems.
7. During the Cold War, the US government developed a plan to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon. The idea was to demonstrate American military superiority and intimidate the Soviets. Fortunately, the plan was never put into action.
These are just a few of the many strange historical facts that you probably didn’t know about. History is full of surprising and bizarre stories that continue to fascinate us to this day. So the next time you’re looking for some interesting trivia, remember these strange historical facts.
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