25 Weirdest Facts From History You Surely Weren’t Taught in Schools

In 1982, after breaking through to stardom on Saturday Night Live by showcasing his prowess as an extremely talented physical comic, which then led to a successful film career, John Belushi was found dead from an overdose of heroin and cocaine at the age of 33. Fifteen years later in 1997, after breaking through to stardom on Saturday Night Live by showcasing his prowess as an extremely talented physical comic, which then led to a successful film career, Chris Farley was found dead from an overdose of heroin and cocaine at the age of 33.

Genghis Khan would marry off a daughter to the king of an allied nation, dismissing his other wives. Then he would assign his new son-in-law to military duty in the Mongol wars, while the daughter took over the rule. Most sons-in-law died in combat, giving him shield around the Mongol lands.

On 25 September 1066, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, a folk story has it that a giant Norse axeman blocked the narrow crossing. He held off an entire English Army alone on a small bridge, with just his big daneaxe. No arrow could bring him down. Only later did someone poke him from underneath the bridge into his balls, which killed him.

Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, was an Austrian-born Russian anti-Bolshevik lieutenant general during the Russian Civil War and then he became an independent warlord whose Asiatic Cavalry Division wrested control of Mongolia from the Republic of China in 1921 after its occupation. What a ride this lad had?. Yes, that’s right he formed his own Mongol horde in goddamn 1921. He's the only reason Mongolia and its people still exist today. They would have been assimilated into either China or Russia otherwise. Dalai Lama acknowledged him as the incarnation of makahala, the god of death. He wanted to restore the entirety of Europe to a Buddhist monarchist continent. When he was executed, a bullet ricocheted off one of his medals and killed one of the men in the firing squad. This guy was deemed demigod and his story reads like a myth.

(Saint) Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Catholic priest who was arrested and sent to Auschwitz after publishing anti-Nazi publications. When a prisoner in Auschwitz escaped, it was a common punishment to kill 10 people in his place, and on this day it was decided that 10 would be murdered in starvation chambers. One person chosen at random cried out for mercy, and Maximilian took the place of this stranger. As the 10 lay in the starvation chamber, he led them in prayer and despite two weeks without food or water, he stood up and looked at the Nazi guards calmly every time they entered to remove the dead. Running out of patience, the Nazi guards eventually killed him by lethal injection. He’s a national hero in Poland.

One of the more humorous things about the American Revolutionary era is that almost every single Founding Father were worse at managing personal finances than the average American is today (yes, it was that bad). By 1790, they had all amassed a crazy amount of debt, a lot of it was on extreme extravagances, like Washington ordering marble from Italy for his new fireplace or ordering green wallpaper (the most expensive color in the 18th century) from Northern Europe. Jefferson would reportedly spend $800 a day (in today’s dollars) on groceries while he was in the White House, a large portion of that was on wine. He also constantly renovated Monticello, bought books on credit and loaned money to farmers. Many of them were simply drowning in debt and had no clear plans for getting themselves out of it.

During the French Revolution, Maximilien De Robespierre was signing a lot of people to the Guillotine for execution, even his own comrades. Long story short, he wasn't telling who was on the list so in fear of the possibility of being on the list a bunch of other revolutionaries came to “arrest” him so Maximilien shot himself in the face, but only managed to shatter his lower jaw and didn't die. They left him to bleed for a while in a cell, healed up his bleeding as best as possible, then executed him the next day.

When King Edward I was assaulting a Scottish castle he built the largest trebuchet ever made called “the Warwolf.” The Scots surrendered upon seeing it. Edward then ordered them back into the castle and proceeded to fire on it, because he wanted to see it in action.

Prince Mikhail Alekseevich Golitsyn of Russia offended Empress Anna Ivanovna by marrying an Italian woman. After his wife died, the Empress had a giant ice palace built, replete with ice sculptures and even ice cannon in St. Petersburg in 1739. She had the prince dressed as a jester and forcibly married him to an ugly peasant woman in a big mock-ceremony, attended by animals and circus freaks. She then shut them naked into an icy chamber to freeze them to death. They survived only because the prince's new wife managed to bribe a guard for a coat.

In 1920, Yuan Shikai was defeated and Pu Yi was put as the symbolic head of China, although he was confined to the Imperial Palace at all times and had basically no power. When he was about 15 years old, he discovered what a telephone was, and wanted one installed in his palace, but the Eunuchs were really hesitant. What if Pu Yi used his phone to build powerful contacts outside the palace? What if Pu Yi learned about communism? How would this affect the people of China and the people in charge? What if Pu Yi posed a threat? They would have to raze the Imperial Palace and wipe out the imperial lineage once and for all! But he kept persisting, demanding to get his phone, even threatening some people. Finally, they relented. Pu Yi got his phone. He was overjoyed and demanded he be left alone with his new weapon of information. He then spent all afternoon prank calling restaurants and famous authors.