20 Real Historical Facts Scrubbed From the Textbooks
History isn't all treaties and tactics.
Published 5 months ago in Wow
Of all the things we've learned in our school history classes — that in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, how a stitch in time saved nine, and whatever the heck there is to know about the Teapot Dome Scandal — more than a few important tidbits fell by the wayside.
For example, did you know that we live closer in time to the T-Rex than the T-Rex did to the Stegosaurus? Or that bats almost played an integral role in World War II bombings?
From Annie Oakley's side hustle to the woman who is widely considered to be the first female president of the United States, here are 20 shocking facts you most certainly did not learn in history class.
4
“The Great Papago Escape. The Allies had POW camps for German soldiers. One of those camps was in Arizona. On the night of December 23, 1944, twenty-five Germans tunneled out of Camp Papago Park, near Phoenix, Arizona, and fled into the surrounding desert. The German plan was to escape by rafts on a nearby river. They dragged their rafts with them and escaped into the desert only to find the map was showing waterways that only existed during the monsoons. They had to walk back to the camp to avoid dying in the desert. Today Papago Park is a popular tourist attraction but there is no sign of the camp or tunnels.”
8
“During World War II, the United States military developed a plan to use bats as bombs. The idea was to attach small incendiary devices to bats and release them over Japanese cities at night. The bats would then roost in buildings, and when the devices detonated, they would start fires, causing chaos and destruction. While the project, known as "Project X-Ray," never saw combat, it's a bizarre example of the lengths to which military strategists were willing to go during the war.”
16
“Sharpshooter Annie Oakley had a stage act where she would shoot a cigarette out of someone's mouth. While she was touring Europe, Kaiser Wilhelm Il of Germany surprised everyone on a whim and insisted on holding the cigarette. Ever the professional, Oakley shot the cigarette without harming the Kaiser. Several years later WWI is underway and the US goes to war against Germany. Oakley wrote a letter to Kaiser Wilhelm asking if she could have another try at that shot. He didn't reply.”