History Facts & Fun Daily Insights about History
You can find history facts all over the internet, yet most of them are copies of one another with little originality, from little-known black history facts to intriguing events that happened today in history. Deepstash brings these narratives to light, offering a collection of history facts curated by real users who have explored the depths of history through various media like books, podcasts, documentaries, and articles. They distilled their findings into flashcard-like idea cards, making these insights accessible and engaging for everyone.
Explore our entire collection of over 4,000 History Facts & Insights Across Eras and Cultures
Our platform hosts a comprehensive collection of history facts, ranging from random history facts to curated insights over the recent history, and everything in between. Each fact is a gateway to understanding the complexity and richness of what each user understood from history lectures, offering insights into events and figures that have left an indelible mark on the world. This collection is not just about learning; it's an invitation to celebrate the diversity and resilience of humanity throughout the ages.
Uncover the Richness of Historical Facts with Our Easy-to-Access Insights
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In the age of misinformation and disinformation, we’re (hopefully) all getting a little better about fact-checking—or at least, about not automatically believing every last thing we read or hear on the internet. But there are some fundamental truths we were taught as kids that, it turns out, were never true. Or they seemed true at one point but now we have more information and fresh facts that demote them to “myth” status.
From the very land and water of Earth, to the planetary bodies, to some supposedly basic history we’re remembering wrong, here are a few things it’s time to relearn.
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Based on records of stade-length races, the ancient Olympic games started in 776 B.C.E. But that era is not well-documented, so the actual date of the first Olympic Game is still contested.
The ancient Greeks told conflicting stories of the origins of the ancient Olympics. The stories were interlaced with mythology and history.
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Muhammad Ali, first called Cassius Clay, won Olympic gold in Rome in 1960.
Back in the US, when Clay was refused service in a whites-only restaurant, he threw his Olympic medal into a river. Thirty-six years later, Muhammad Ali lit the flame at the 1996 Atlanta Games, and the International Olympic Committee presented him with a replacement medal.
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If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you’re no longer a racing driver.
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At the Mexico Games in 1968, African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze in the 200m sprint respectively.
During their medal ceremony, they raised their fists in a "Black Power" salute while the flag was being raised and the national anthem played. Their demonstration took place amid the US civil rights movement, and the non-violent gesture of the two athletes brought international recognition to the struggle for civil rights.
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The connection between genius and possible insanity was first documented in 1891 in the Italian physicians’ book The Man Of Genius.
In 1869, this was taken up by the cousin of Charles Darwin, Francis Galton in his work Hereditary Genius.
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Most of history is derived from government documents, transcripts, newspaper articles, and recently, from digital data. Oral history, a tradition from the old, pre-written cultures are often crucial in providing a holistic, rich, and complete picture of a historical event.
Oral histories (and even personal journals) sometimes answer questions that aren’t found in the official texts, about the inner motivations and discarded facts that may be important.
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The first ice cream factories opened in the USA before the war. In Italy, pre-confectioned ice cream was a post-war delicacy.
In recent years, home-made or artisan ice-cream has become increasingly sophisticated in technique and ingredients.
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Ford’s Model T was the world’s first car produced by assembly line. This great leap in technology made the car much cheaper and therefore more widely affordable.
Its 20 horsepower petrol engine could reach speeds of 45mph, which was still slower than the galloping horses of the day.
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The first hands-free bluetooth kit appeared in 2001. Later that year, an even better bluetooth technology came out that worked with speech recognition. These days bluetooth is integrated with the cars’ infotainment system.
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Elon Musk was the first to offer autopilot technology on the Model S.
It’s the first commercially available driver assistance that can steer the car and even change lanes on the motorway.
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The end-of-history illusion is when we underestimate how much our personalities, work situations and values will change in the future.
The end-of-history illusion was coined in 2013. It is based on a series of studies showing that people tend to think that they will change relatively little in the future, even though they've changed tremendously in the past.
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The most important lessons from history are the takeaways that are so broad they can apply to other fields, other historical times, and other people.
The point is that the more specific a lesson of history is, the less relevant it becomes.
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Thinking about our past selves can help foster the right mindset about how we might change in the future.
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Ancient Rome built sophisticated infrastructure ranging from bridges, amphitheatres, aqueducts and even sewer systems.
The Roman network of roads, called Viae Romanae and meaning ‘Roman Ways’ was a huge breakthrough in quick and easy transportation of trade goods, military supplies, and free movement of civilians and soldiers.
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Since 1976, the United States celebrates the achievements of African-Americans during Black History Month.
Black History Month started as "Nero History Week" in 1926. Historian Carter G. Woodson was bothered that many textbooks and other historical reviews did not consider the contributions of black figures. Woodson allocated the second week in February to raise awareness of these stories.
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2020 is the projected release date of Google’s self-driving car, the Waymo.
It completed its first driverless ride on public roads in 2015 in Austin Texas with a blind man behind the wheel.
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I've been through a lot and I realise the future can't be controlled. I'm not worried. You can always learn to overcome difficulties.
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Black history month honours the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history.
The celebrations began as "Negro History Week," created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a noted African American historian, scholar, educator and publisher. In 1976, it became a month-long celebration. The month of February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
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Electric ignition starters were invented to replace manual hand cranks and to start the engine with a button instead. Hand cranks were considered to be dangerous because the engine could jump as the car started, occasionally injuring the driver.
The first electric starter was used on a Cadillac in 1912 and they were soon widely adopted.
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Music and its creation come with a larger context of culture, ethnicity, heritage, lifestyles and habits of humans in the particular era. This study is known as Ethnomusicology, a term coined by musicologist Jaap Kunst.
Non-western music, like world music and folkloric music, is studied by ethnomusicologists who look at the wider culture, purpose, social roles and the various facets of identity to create a larger circle which encompasses comparative and historical musicology.
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People believe that the person they are now will be who they are for the rest of their lives. It can create certain effects:
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Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 that celebrates the planet Earth and raises public awareness about environmental issues.
The day is observed worldwide with rallies, conferences, school projects and other activities.
Sen. Gaylord Nelson started Earth Day in 1970. The event helped increase public support for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address environmental issues.
Earth Day has since contributed to the passage of many environmental laws in the U.S.
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The phrase ‘existential crisis’ has its roots on the philosophy of existentialism.
Existentialists view life in terms of meaning, freedom, isolation, death and ponder about the choices that are made everyday. They look towards problems and obstacles in a deeply penetrating way, trying to find meaning and purpose of their existence.
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Many carmakers began looking at ways to make driving more comfortable, and they landed on coil spring suspension. Each wheel (initially just the front two) was given its own metal coil spring, which compresses itself to absorb the shock you feel when driving over bumps in the road. This made for a much smoother, relaxing ride.
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During the 1972 Games in Munich, a Palestinian terrorist group Black September took hostage and killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team, shattering the image of international cooperation and friendship associated with the Olympics.
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Ford first created computer diagnostics for its factory line in the 1980s. But over time the built-in 16-pin connector became essential for all carmakers because it also gave garage mechanics access to key information about the car for repairs. On-board diagnostics connections became compulsory in America in 1996 and Europe in 2001.
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The word was coined during the 1940s after a Canadian newspaper referred to a particular muffin as a "superfood that contained all the known vitamins and some that had not been discovered." It took nearly another 50 years for the idea of superfoods to gain traction.
In the 1990s superfoods were fruits, mainly berries. Pomegranate was supposedly a superfruit above the rest. Today, you can find superfoods in every category, from drinks to dairy products and baked goods such as acai-berry cheesecake.
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The Vikings were groups of traders, explorers and warriors that came in their ships. These travellers(The term Viking refers to a pirate) discovered the Americas much before Columbus, along with a host of other places across the globe, due to their seafaring occupation.
In many stories and history books, these people are attributed as ‘bad people’ who come for looting treasures and for women, but in reality, their motives and cultures are richer and more diverse.
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The North Korean and South Korean teams marched as one at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Female basketball player Chung Un Soon from South Korea, and Park Chong Chul, a male judo coach from the North, led the united teams. The teams were holding hands and wearing identical uniforms.
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Power steering technology uses hydraulic power to amplify the pressure on the wheels as you as you turn the steering wheel, saving you so much elbow grease. Power steering first appeared on a Chrysler Imperial and then in a Cadillac a year later.
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Looking for a better way to get the car running, Chrysler invented a technology to start both the electric starter and the ignition.
It placed this power inside a key and soon everyone was using one.
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Music has probably played an essential role in humans. Evidence shows that early man developed primitive flutes from animal bones and used stones and wood as percussion.
Surviving Greek notation has given scientists a clue to how the music of the early Greeks and later the Romans might have sounded. Instruments featured during these times include the trumpet as an instrument of announcement and the lyre as an integral player in the songs of poets.
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Toyota was first to launch this tech with its Intelligent Parking Assist that helped drivers parallel park.
In 2006, Lexus added a self-parking system to the LS model. Automatic parking is now available on many new cars.
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Gesture controls
Forget touchscreen – carmakers are already working on making displays that respond to gesture control.
Biometric access
Sorry 1949, but one day car keys might be a thing of the past! Carmakers are working on technology to let you unlock and start your car with your fingerprint.
Windscreen displays
Soon all the information you need about the car could be displayed on smart glass in the windscreen.
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“History never repeats itself. Man always does.”
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Adding a hybrid motor to a petrol engine was first dreamed up in the 19th century, but the idea was deemed unworkable.
Toyota picked it up again at the turn of the century and invented the Prius, taking the world by storm. Today every carmaker is working on hybrid cars.
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The smooth buzz of rolling down an electric window was originally only available on luxury models,and it was usually an optional extra on most cars until quite recently. But eventually winding down your car windows became a thing of the past.
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This technology was designed to clean up polluting exhaust fumes by reducing toxic emissions created by the engine. Catalytic converters became compulsory in petrol cars from 1993.
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Until this point, windscreen wipers had only had one speed, no matter the weather. Ford changed this to adjust the speed.
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In 1948, UK neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttman, who worked with war veterans suffering from spinal injuries, added sport into his patients' rehabilitation program.
Others started copying Guttman's methods, and athletic competitions ensued. At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Guttman brought 400 wheelchair athletes to compete in the Parallel Olympics. Since then, the Paralympics have gone from strength to strength.
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The first ice cream cup was found in Egypt in a tomb in 2700BC.
It was a kind of mould made from two silver cups, one of which contained snow or crushed ice, and the other cooked fruit.
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General Motors launched connected cars with its OnStar system, which used your mobile phone to call 911 in an accident.
Today the technology links with the phones’ GPS location to guide the emergency services straight to the car.
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You've been friends since when you were little and managed to stay friends through the years.
You got used to each other and most likely would not be friends if you were to meet today.
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To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble in the boundary of disaster.
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Pizza - pieces of flatbread, topped with savories - was a simple and tasty meal for those who could not afford plates.
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There were versions of GPS sat nav systems built in from the early 90s, but the US military added interference to the signals as they guarded the technology closely. In 2000, US President Bill Clinton ordered the military to stop scrambling GPS signals and open the technology up to everyone. Sat navs were quickly developed, though it was several more years before they were more accurate.
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Like so many large malls with built-in theatres nowadays, a grand plaza known as ‘The Forum’ became an influential marketplace and later the main civic center in Rome. It was a place where gladiatorial fights, court sessions, shopping and ceremonial activities happened.
A monument called Milliarium Aureum or the Golden Milestone was built there in 20 BCE.
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Consider penning down a vision statement - what you really want in the future.
Ask yourself:
Also consider relationships, children, running a company, or speaking another language. Once you have written your vision statement, you can plan to change for the better.
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Dozens of automatic technology features have been developed to assist the driver. Common examples include, lane departure warnings, blind spot warnings, cross traffic alerts and headlamp high beam control.
Carmakers have also begun adding smartphone integration, with many producing apps so you can find your car via GPS, and remotely lock the car and check its fuel levels.
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In 1901, Lady Duff Gordon presented her 'Gowns of Emotion' using models on a stage with scenery, lighting and music, while their entrances were choreographed with poses. This innovation introduced the idea of showing fashion to a larger audience.
The traditional catwalk took place in department stores where large spaces were available. These presentations for middle-class shoppers were vital in validating the fashionable styles set by designers.
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Did you know? The fruit, "orange," was named before the color, "orange."
It wasn't until two centuries later that people started using the word orange to describe the color as well.
Previously, it was called "yellow-red" before the citrus fruit's name was adopted as the general color name.
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Using a weight-to-height index devised by Adolphe Quetelet in 1832 (the Quetelet index), Dr. Ancel Keys coined the term "body mass index" as a convenient way to measure relative obesity.
He judged BMI as inappropriate for individual evaluation.
However, it is widely used for preliminary diagnoses today.
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The 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany were supposed to demonstrate the Aryan racial supremacy. But Jesse Owens, a black athlete, won gold in the 100m, 200m, the 4 x 100m relay, and the long jump.
After the latter event, German athlete Carl Ludwig Long was the first to congratulate Owens, and the two walked arm-in-arm to collect their medals. It took a lot of courage for Long to befriend Owens in front of Hitler, something that Owens had great admiration for at that moment.
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This technology has prevented many a reversing mishap. Little cameras stream live footage of the area behind the car as you reverse. The technology was first used outside of America in a Nissan Primera.
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Over the centuries, many misperceptions created popular Viking myths, like their usage of the horned helmet, when in reality they went bareheaded or had a simple leather and metal-frame helmet, sometimes with a faceguard.
Another myth was they the Vikings were filthy and unkempt, something which was proven false by archaeologists who found evidence of the usage of combs, spoons and grooming utensils.
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The ISS is a multi-nation super satellite, the largest single construct in space, made between 1998 and 2011.
As of 2018, 230 astronauts and 18 countries have visited the International Space Station. It includes contributions(money and resources) from 15 nations like Russia, USA, and Europe.
The ISS is assisted (and even controlled) by mission control centers in Houston and Moscow, along with a payload control center in Huntsville, Ala.
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There’s always something magical about the Olympics!
Athletes train for years to give their all and deliver the performance of a lifetime – often within a few seconds. We cry happy tears for the winners, sympathize with the losers, yell at the TV, and high-five strangers. Every two years, we adjust to a different time zone, feel a little bit more patriotic, and get really good at recognizing flags and national anthems from around the world.
In order to get into the Olympic spirit and the emotions that come with it, here are some onteresting facts about the Olympics-
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Previous iterations of airbags were installed in US government cars from the 1970s, but in 1988 Chrysler introduced the first production airbag.
Originally they were just for drivers, but today airbag technology can be placed all around the car to protect all passengers.
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Cruise control is a system developed to allow the driver to maintain a constant speed without the use of the accelerator.
The system made steady driving easier, especially on motorways. It was first used in another Chrysler Imperial and by 1960 it was a standard feature on all Cadillacs too.
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In the 1970s, carmakers began adding stereos that could play the latest cassette tape technology. Now drivers could blast out their favourite Led Zeppelin albums from their cars!
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