15 Crazy and Disturbing Facts in History

The world we live in is millions of years old and in that time there have been several occurrences and events that have happened and which have pretty much shaped the planet as we know it. These events are pretty much split between the good, the bad, and the ugly. Although, some

of them have been massaged and modified to be more accommodating of the times, we live in right now. History is one thing that never really changes. Right now, it is time to look into some of the most disturbing and accurate historical facts that have been unearthed over the years. So join us on this journey with some of these facts. Might not necessarily be the most important but they are still pretty unnerving.

15) Did you know that dentures have a pretty creepy history? Nowadays, if you're missing teeth or mouth tissues, you can just pop in a pair of dentures. But back in the 1800s and early 1900s, people didn't have the materials we have today to make dentures. They lost teeth a lot more often because of their high sugar diets and lack of knowledge about dental hygiene. So, rich people would get teeth from dead people and put them in their own mouths! This was called "waterloo teeth" because soldiers' teeth were taken from the battlefield at Waterloo. Some rich people even got teeth from poor people who were willing to sell them. Yuck! Other materials used for dentures included ivory wood and animal teeth. But let's be real, none of these options sound very appealing.

14) Have you ever been to an old church and noticed the pretty colored glass on the walls? That's called stained glass and it's been around since the 6th Century! But do you know how it's made? It's actually pretty cool. First, they heat up sand and pot ash and add some metallic oxides to color the glass. Then, they use paint made from copper and lead to add the details. But here's the crazy part - they also use a little bit of pee to help the paint stick to the glass! So next time you're in an old church, remember that some of the pretty pictures might have a little bit of pee in them. Yikes!

13) Back in the day, books were sometimes covered in real leather. But nowadays, it's hard to find books that are actually bound in real leather. Even if you do find a leather-bound book, it's usually made of fake leather. But did you know that there was a time when people used human skin to cover books? It's called anthropodermic bibliography. People would take the skin of executed criminals and use it to cover books. It's pretty creepy to think about, but not many of these books are around anymore. Can you imagine how people would feel if they found out their skin was used to cover a book? Yikes!

12) I'm scared of babysitters and caregivers because I don't know them very well. After hearing about Minnie Dean, I'm even more scared. She was the first and only woman to be legally hanged in New Zealand in the mid-1800s. She ran a babysitting service in her hometown and had between three and nine kids in her care. Sadly, some of the children died while in her care. Investigators found out that Minnie's home was not good enough to care for the children. They also found three more dead child bodies in her home. Even worse, Minnie had been looking for more children to join her daycare service and had been taking out life insurance policies on several of the children. She had also allegedly drugged the children and taken them on weird trips. The police eventually charged her with murder and she was found guilty. Minnie has become a famous name in New Zealand folklore and some people even say that plants won't grow on her grave.

11)The American flag is super famous, but did you know it has a really cool story? A guy named Robert G. Heft designed the flag when he was just a junior in high school! His teacher gave the class an assignment to make a project about history, and Rob decided to redesign the American flag. He knew that Hawaii and Alaska were going to become states soon, so he added 50 stars to the flag. But when he turned it in, his teacher gave him a bad grade because he thought the 50 stars were a mistake! Rob didn't give up though, and he even went to his congressman's house to submit his design. And guess what? His design was chosen to be the official American flag! Rob's teacher even changed his grade to an A. So, if you ever have a school project, give it your all because you never know what might happen!

10) Long ago, there was a Pope named Gregory IX who didn't like cats. He thought they were evil and carried the devil's spirit. He convinced a lot of people to get rid of cats, and even when the plague came, he still blamed the cats. But scientists found out that the plague was actually caused by fleas that traveled on rats. Since there were fewer cats around to catch the rats, the fleas spread even more and made the plague worse. It's kind of funny to imagine how surprised the Pope must have been when he found out the truth.

9) Hey there! Have you ever heard of Thomas Edison? He was a really smart guy who made a lot of cool things like light bulbs and movies. But did you know he also made a talking doll? It was a doll that could sing nursery rhymes like "Mary had a little lamb" and "Hickory Dickory Dock." All you had to do was turn a crank and the doll would start singing. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, not a lot of people thought so. The doll didn't sell very well because some people thought it was creepy and the records that made it sing wore out quickly. So, the doll was only sold for six weeks before it was taken off the shelves. Nowadays, you can only find the doll in museums or history books. Pretty interesting, huh?

8) Have you ever heard of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? He was a really famous composer who lived a long time ago. Even though he only lived for 35 years, he was super talented and wrote a lot of amazing music. When you think of Mozart, you might picture people dressed up fancy, sitting quietly and listening to beautiful music. But did you know that Mozart also wrote some really inappropriate songs? One of his earliest songs was called "Lick Me in the Arse" and he wrote another one about pooping in your bed! He even changed the words of some songs to make them sound dirty. It's pretty weird to think that someone who wrote such beautiful music also wrote songs about gross stuff like that.

7) Have you ever heard of Genghis Khan? He was a powerful leader from Mongolia who lived a long time ago. Some people think he was one of the worst men to ever live because he did some really bad things. He took over a bunch of different tribes and turned them into a huge empire that covered a lot of land. But he did it by being really mean and hurting a lot of people. In fact, his empire killed about 40 million people! That's a lot more than even World War One and Two combined. But here's something really interesting: because Genghis Khan and his army killed so many people, there were fewer people left to farm the land. That meant that forests were able to grow again and more trees started to grow. Scientists think that this actually helped to cool down the Earth's climate a little bit. But was it worth it to kill so many people just to make the climate a little cooler? That's something to think about.

6) Once upon a time, there was a man named James Jamison who really liked to drink Jameson Irish whiskey. He loved the way it tasted and how easy it was to drink. But then he found out something really gross about his family. One of his ancestors, named James S. Jameson, was the great great grandson of the guy who started the whiskey company. James S. Jameson was really rich and liked to go on adventures. In 1888, he went on an expedition to central Africa. While he was there, he did something really terrible. He paid for a 10-year-old girl to be given to cannibals as food. He even drew pictures of it happening! It's really gross and makes me not want to drink Jameson whiskey anymore.

5) During World War II, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This caused a lot of destruction and devastation. After the bombs went off, people found black shadows of humans and objects like bicycles and cars scattered around the cities. These shadows are known as the Shadows of the Dead. They are a haunting reminder of what happened when the bombs hit. Scientists believe that the intense heat and light from the bombs caused the shadows to form. Even now, almost a century later, some of these shadows can still be seen on the pavement and sidewalks. They serve as a reminder of the tragedy that occurred during World War II.

4) Hey there! Did you know that incubators are super important for helping babies who are born too early? They give these babies a chance to grow and develop like they would if they were still in their mom's tummy. But did you know that incubators weren't always used in hospitals? In fact, a long time ago, doctors were scared to use them! That's where Martin Cooney comes in. He was a doctor who believed in the power of incubators, even though other doctors didn't. He even set up a show at Coney Island where people could see premature babies in incubators! It was controversial, but it helped raise money to save more babies. In the end, Martin Cooney saved over 6,500 lives!

3) Once upon a time, there was a ruler named Pharaoh Pepe the second. He was in charge of a really big place called the Egyptian Empire. Since he was in charge of such a huge place, he had a lot of power and influence. But, he was a little weird. He became the ruler when he was only six years old! Some people think he ruled for 64 to 94 years. During his time as ruler, he really didn't do anything too crazy, except for one thing. He really, really hated flies and bugs. It's not too surprising since he was just a kid when he became ruler. But, he took it to a whole new level. He would keep slaves close to him and cover them in honey from head to toe. This way, the flies and bugs would go to the slaves instead of him. The slaves would get really sick and some even died from diseases like cholera and malaria. It's okay to not like bugs, but this was a little extreme.

2) Hey there! Did you know that Adolf Hitler was a really bad guy who did terrible things to Jewish people a long time ago? He even started a big war that lasted for six years! But did you also know that he secretly loved Disney movies? Even though he didn't let Germans watch American movies, he thought that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was one of the best movies ever made! In fact, he even had a copy of it delivered to his private movie theater so he could watch it whenever he wanted. He even drew pictures of Disney characters when he was younger! But don't worry, just because Hitler liked Disney movies doesn't mean you can't watch new Disney movies like Ant-Man Quantumania. It's up to you to decide what you want to watch!

1) Back in 1941 during World War II, Leningrad (which is now called Saint Petersburg) was the second largest city in the USSR. When the Nazis decided to invade the country, Leningrad became a major target. The Nazis wanted to take over the city and they did a brutal campaign where they blocked the city from getting any supplies. By September of that year, the only way to get supplies into the city was through a water route near Lake Ladoga. The rest of the city was blocked by German and Finnish forces for 872 days. During this time, the people of Leningrad went through one of the worst famines in human history. The city's population went from 2.5 million to under 800,000 in less than three years. The people of Leningrad didn't get any critical supplies like food, wood, coal, or gas. When winter hit, people were trying to stay alive in negative 40 degree temperatures without any food. People started to bring their possessions just to make fire. As time went on, things only got worse. People would leave their homes and never return. At first, it was assumed that these people died in the cold, but authorities drew a link between rising disappearances and the sudden availability of meat in the markets. Most of this meat was labeled horse or dog meat, but it was obvious that the Russians had started eating themselves just to survive. There are officially about 2,000 cases of cannibalism in this period.