Wait, what? That really happened?

[AM City Watch]

Ci Xi, Empress Dowager of China around 1900, had a boat built out of marble.

Lincoln cribbed the Gettysburg address from Pericles's funeral oration, delivered in Athens during the second Peloponnesian War 2000 years prior.

Speaking of Athens and the Peloponnesian War, one of their generals, Alcibiades, switched side multiple times during the war: he betrayed Athens to Sparta, betrayed Sparta to the Persians, switched back to Athens for a while, then retired to a fortress he built (with money embezzled from his "allies") on the Aegean coast.

 

[ZeroAE]

When I Chilean (yay, Chile!) bought the rights to the Moon.
Thats right, the Moon belonged to a Chilean, until the UN said it belonged to humanity (bah!)
Can you believe that the President of USA (Kennedy I think) had to call this guy to have his permission to land on the Moon?

 

[honestdiscussioner]

According to an article on cracked, during a World War (not sure which one) the Nazis bombed the French front lines with Chlorine gas. The gas gave off a green haze in the atmosphere and it killed many people making a large dint in the front lines.

The approaching reinforcements saw this and their medical officer told the troops to rip off their pants and piss on them. They then draped their pants around their noses thus effectively canceling out any harm the chlorine gas could have caused when they marched in. The medical officer was probably the most loved and most hated man at the same time.

As far as I know, Chlorine gas doesn't do damage physical damage. It's just that it is so heavy that it rests in the lungs and prevents oxygen from getting into the lungs, effectively chocking the person.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Did you know that a dog was once sentenced to death by stoning because the judge feared it was the re-incarnation of a dead lawyer? How far back in the dim mists of time, when superstition and fear of witchcraft held sway, do you think this bizarre event took place? 100 years? 200 years? Wrong. Saturday.
[link]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13819764[/link]

To be fair though, they thought it was a reincarnated laywer. Better to be safe than sorry.

But re-incarnation is the transference of a soul into a new body. So the one thing that dog couldn't be was a lawyer...

 

[Player 2]

It took three hundred years to give the giant tortoise a latin (scientific) name because no specimens ever made it back to London. They were all eaten on the voyage back because they were apparently so delicious. True fact.

I see you've been watching QI.


An interesting story about German spies in WW2, taken from the book "The Intelligence and Deception of the D-Day Landings";

"[The Abwehr instructor] had been up at Oxford and his function in Hamburg was to train the student agents to behave in every way exactly like Englishmen. He pointed out there was nothing to be gained by trying to avoid the police in Britain, and it was far better to get in touch with them as soon as possible in a way which would establish the respectability of the individual spy. He said that in Britain, respectability and the integrity of a citizen were judged by the size of the citizen?s bank balance. Therefore, when a graduate spy arrived in England he should place in the Post Office Savings Bank all the Abwehr funds supplied to him, and the post office would give him a savings book. After a while, the spy should go to the police and report the loss of this book and say how much was in it. The figure would be enough to convince the police that the spy was a very respectable person. When war was declared on September 3, 1939, the police had a list of practically all the agents in the second network, because the Abwehr instructor was a member of MI6."

 

[RuralGamer]

Around World War 2, French had a huge defensive line built up where they were bordered by Germany. How did the Germans cross it when they invaded in World War 2, you ask?

Simple, they walked around it, through Belgium's border.

EDIT: The Maginot Line, thanks Player 2 for reminding me of it.

Wasn't it also that having outflanked the Maginot Line, that the Germans launched a full-frontal attack on the line anyway and won with few casualties. The reason? The Maginot line was never built with air assault in mind so the Luftwaffe were able to bomb it largely with impunity before the German army rolled in.

Another funny WW2 Luftwaffe fact; they (more specifically, the Fallschirmjager paratroopers) captured the fort of Eben-Emael in Belgium it after landing gliders on the roof; apparently the plan was developed after Hitler joked the complex was so flat you could land on it.

Dusan Popov was one of the key inspirations for Ian Fleming's James Bond; he was a charming womaniser and a double agent, pretending to work for the German Abwehr when he was secretly in league with the British. He had early warnings of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour (the Germans showed significant interest in the US naval base there, despite it being on the other side of the world in a country they weren't at war with), but J Edgar Hoover ignored his evidence and several times tried to have him deported. He visited his handler in Lisbon regularly (Lisbon was the spy-capital of the world at the time) and Popov frequented the casinos as they were a common location for drops; had also a series of mistresses everywhere he frequently visited. His codename was Tricycle for reasons explained in his wikipedia article;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricycle_(spy)

 

[RuralGamer]

It took three hundred years to give the giant tortoise a latin (scientific) name because no specimens ever made it back to London. They were all eaten on the voyage back because they were apparently so delicious. True fact.

I see you've been watching QI.


An interesting story about German spies in WW2, taken from the book "The Intelligence and Deception of the D-Day Landings";

"[The Abwehr instructor] had been up at Oxford and his function in Hamburg was to train the student agents to behave in every way exactly like Englishmen. He pointed out there was nothing to be gained by trying to avoid the police in Britain, and it was far better to get in touch with them as soon as possible in a way which would establish the respectability of the individual spy. He said that in Britain, respectability and the integrity of a citizen were judged by the size of the citizen?s bank balance. Therefore, when a graduate spy arrived in England he should place in the Post Office Savings Bank all the Abwehr funds supplied to him, and the post office would give him a savings book. After a while, the spy should go to the police and report the loss of this book and say how much was in it. The figure would be enough to convince the police that the spy was a very respectable person. When war was declared on September 3, 1939, the police had a list of practically all the agents in the second network, because the Abwehr instructor was a member of MI6."

From what I gather, that is similar to what happened in WW1 as well; one of the key German spy-masters was actually a British double-agent, so he knew the cover names and destinations of every German agent sent into Britain.

 

[LuckyClover95]

According to an article on cracked, during a World War (not sure which one) the Nazis bombed the French front lines with Chlorine gas. The gas gave off a green haze in the atmosphere and it killed many people making a large dint in the front lines.

The approaching reinforcements saw this and their medical officer told the troops to rip off their pants and piss on them. They then draped their pants around their noses thus effectively canceling out any harm the chlorine gas could have caused when they marched in. The medical officer was probably the most loved and most hated man at the same time.

Somebody has already probably pointed this out, but read your sentence: You're not sure which world war it was, but it had Nazi's.
???????!!!!!!!!!!????????!!!!!!!!!!?????????!!!!!!!!?????????!!!!!!!!!
Since when did WW1 have NAZI'S?

 

[Amphoteric]

The British Empire defeated Zanzibar in 45 minutes.

I thought that was funny.

 

[Spoonius]

Look up: Simo Hayha

505 confirmed kills.
Fuck me sideways that man's a GOD!

He was a mass-murderer.

His combat and survival skills are to be admired, but why do so many people cite his feats as shining examples of humankind's potential? By that reckoning, the hijackers who hit the twin towers were Gods too.

War is shit, and I hate this "killstreak" mentality so common nowadays. He was in the right place, at the right time, with the right skill set, and with the right amount of luck to damage, demoralise and severely hamper the invading Soviets, the deaths of whom are no better than the deaths of the Jews in concentration camps, or the civilians in China, or the victims of the death-marches in the Pacific, or the victims of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings... or the deaths of any human beings killed during armed warfare.

 

[AlAaraaf74]

I heard of a Roman general who declared war on Neptune. He comanded his soldiers to throw spears into the sea at random.

 

[Spoonius]

Did you know that a dog was once sentenced to death by stoning because the judge feared it was the re-incarnation of a dead lawyer? How far back in the dim mists of time, when superstition and fear of witchcraft held sway, do you think this bizarre event took place? 100 years? 200 years? Wrong. Saturday.
[link]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13819764[/link]

To be fair though, they thought it was a reincarnated laywer. Better to be safe than sorry.

But re-incarnation is the transference of a soul into a new body. So the one thing that dog couldn't be was a lawyer...

Ah, but isn't it entirely possible that said reincarnation was assisted by Satan?

 

[Filiecs]

General Santa Anna brought in the first chicle which was used to make the first chewing gum.

 

[Spacewolf]

christopher lee of saruman fame was a secret agent in France during world war 2 and gave peter jackson advice on how a person sounds when they get their throat cut

 

[fragmaster09]

The battle of Antiedam (bloodiest battle of the american civil war and quite possibly a big turning point) was apparently the result of three Union soldiers stumbling across a cigar box containing Robert E. Lee's orders.

adding to that, the entire American Civil war was won by the Yanks because the blind British seer Theresa(who has been honoured in the Fable games) saw that when we won the Yanks would be in the worst poverty ever, so we left and let them control themselves, because we rule, and Theresa owns, and we're also kind and helpful and enjoy the company of Americans.

^that's my version, and history's written by the victor, now, i jet need to change my name to Viktor [insert russian sounding last name here]...^

okay, this is my best REAL (definately) one:

there was a man who ran around Nottingham forest, he stole from the rich and gave to the poor, he was called Robin Hood, he is celebrated in the town centre of Wollaton(town in Nottingham), but his Merry Men don't have a statue.

(By the Way, Nottingham is a city almost perfectly in the Centre of England(horizontally AND vertically)

 

[fragmaster09]

Look up: Simo Hayha

505 confirmed kills.
Fuck me sideways that man's a GOD!

He was a mass-murderer.

His combat and survival skills are to be admired, but why do so many people cite his feats as shining examples of humankind's potential? By that reckoning, the hijackers who hit the twin towers were Gods too.

War is shit, and I hate this "killstreak" mentality so common nowadays. He was in the right place, at the right time, with the right skill set, and with the right amount of luck to damage, demoralise and severely hamper the invading Soviets, the deaths of whom are no better than the deaths of the Jews in concentration camps, or the civilians in China, or the victims of the death-marches in the Pacific, or the victims of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings... or the deaths of any human beings killed during armed warfare.

Please. The twin towers was utter noob-tubing by comparison. Camps and bombs are BORING.
One man defending his country with two guns and a lot of snow - that's impressive because I don't know anyone else who could do that.
Jumping over a horse from a standing start is impressive. Stacking boxes next to a horse then pushing it over so some fell on the other side is boring. Understand the difference?

He got shot in the face with an exploding round! He survived!!!
What does someone have to do to be impressive in your book?

BOO!!! he killed Russians(so what if they were Soviets)
YAY!!! he helped his country!
BOO!!! he killed 505 people...

russia has always had a lot of people, but during both world wars, 1/2 of the soldiers either didn't have rifes, or had no ammo or other equipment necessary to survive, and do you fancy your chances of survival if you are running at a sniper who you have to find, run to, and then kill with your fists before he can fire a shot or two? short answer: No, long answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Did you know that a dog was once sentenced to death by stoning because the judge feared it was the re-incarnation of a dead lawyer? How far back in the dim mists of time, when superstition and fear of witchcraft held sway, do you think this bizarre event took place? 100 years? 200 years? Wrong. Saturday.
[link]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13819764[/link]

To be fair though, they thought it was a reincarnated laywer. Better to be safe than sorry.

But re-incarnation is the transference of a soul into a new body. So the one thing that dog couldn't be was a lawyer...

Ah, but isn't it entirely possible that said reincarnation was assisted by Satan?

No, Satan only intervenes directly for events of global suffering, like tsunamis, earthquakes, and the release of a new Coldplay album.

 

[Gabanuka]

I heard of a Roman general who declared war on Neptune. He comanded his soldiers to throw spears into the sea at random.

That would be Emperor Caligula, he also added his horse to the sentate and gave some of the weirdest speeches in history.