These bizarre people in history were pretty strange. Do you think you know all the people and stories on this list? Joshua Norton of San Francisco, 19th Century After losing his fortune, Joshua Norton declared himself “Emperor of the United States” in 1859. He later expanded his imaginary empire to include Mexico. San Franciscans embraced …
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Have you heard of these strange medicals and epidemic events? May you know of something that isn’t on the list but should be added? Dancing Plague of Strasbourg — 1518 Hundreds of people reportedly danced uncontrollably for days or weeks. Some accounts say people died from exhaustion, stroke or heart problems. Modern explanations include mass …
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Do you think you know about these strange industrial accidents? You will have to add something to the comments if you think it was left off the list! Texas City Disaster — USA, 1947 The cargo ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate, caught fire in Texas City Harbor. The resulting explosion killed hundreds and caused additional …
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Do you know about this strange weather and phenomena? Like the fish rain? Tunguska Event — Siberia, 1908 On June 30, something exploded over remote Siberia with enough energy to flatten an estimated 2,000 square kilometers of forest. No conventional impact crater was found. The leading explanation is an asteroid or comet fragment exploding in …
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Families can have an uncanny ability to turn seemingly pointless things into a fight, like food. We’ve all at least heard of an awkward Thanksgiving dinner where Aunt Clare and Uncle Frank start yelling at each other over the pecan pie’s sweetness. Usually, though, these fights resolve with some hurt feelings and maybe a few …
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What do you think are the strangest animal-related disasters? Do you know about the horses? The Great Emu War — Australia, 1932 Thousands of emus invaded agricultural areas in Western Australia and damaged crops. The Australian government sent soldiers equipped with machine guns to control them. The operation was surprisingly ineffective: the birds scattered rapidly …
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Every structure serves a purpose, even if that purpose is just to look pretty. With some buildings, however, you might find yourself at a loss when trying to divine why they’re there. Certain structures are built for such hyperspecific reasons that they end up looking completely alien. In other cases, you can tell what the …
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These food-related catastrophes range from whiskey to rice. Do you think you know about all these events? London Beer Flood — London, England, 1814 On October 17, a giant vat at the Meux Brewery ruptured, releasing roughly 3,500 barrels of porter. The beer smashed through brewery walls and flooded the nearby St. Giles neighborhood. Eight …
It’s nothing uncommon for schoolchildren to pull some pranks on their places of learning. A recent spate of disturbing social media posts may have gone beyond a practical schoolyard joke, however. And whoever’s making the videos has enlisted a beloved Dr. Seuss character to help terrorize schools. From the U.S. to the U.K. and beyond, …
Some kinds of accidents happen every day. Every so often, though, unfortunate events come together in a way that feels less like reality and more like a cruel, universal prank. When the stars align just wrong, everyday items can turn deadly, normally benign natural phenomena become killers, and usually reliable machines fail horribly. That, or …