34 Historical Facts We Bet Were Never In Your History Books

In 1869 during the Paraguayan War 90% of the male population of Paraguay had already died at the hands of the invading Brazilian, Argentinian and Uruguayan armies. The Paraguayans went to make a last stand at Campo Grande but they didn't have enough men so they assembled a 6,000 strong army composed mainly by children. The children anywhere from 6 to 15 painted beards on their faces to look like grown men. A 20,000 strong Brazilian army charged and slaughtered them and by the end of the day, there were 3,500 Paraguayan children dead and 46 Brazilian deaths. To this day on August 16th, the day of the battle, Paraguay celebrates Children's Day.

In the USA, the record for the most criminals killed by the electric chair in a single day is six. They were all German saboteurs who invaded the USA during World War 2 as part of Operation Pastorius. Also, most people hanged in a single day is 38, a record held by Mankato, Minnesota for hanging Dakota Natives for their uprising following the Dakota War of 1862. This number is in spite of the fact that Lincoln commuted the sentences of 264 others who would have also been hanged for participating in the uprising.

If you look up Edward Russell in history books or even Wikipedia, you learn about his military service, including Admiral of the Royal Fleet for some famous battles. What they don't teach is that he threw a party so epic it's still being talked about 300 years later. In 1694, he threw a party for officers, and with 6,000 guests coming, he wanted to make it special. So, he made the world's largest cocktail. He drained the garden fountain and used that as a giant punch bowl with hundreds of gallons of liquor, over a half-ton of sugar, thousands of lemons, etc. He hired bartenders to paddle around in boats, scoop it up, and serve it to attendees. At some point, it began to rain, so they put a tent up over the fountain to prevent it from getting watered down. About a week after they started, they had drunk every last drop, the fountain was dry, and the party was over.

The first person who was sentenced to the electric chair died horribly. Someone forgot to wet an essential part of the machine and he ended up with bubbling skin, melting eyes and a foaming mouth among other things. The amount of electricity was so strong that he began to convulse violently, so much so that he weakened straps. He twitched so erratically that his index finger dug through the palm of his hand. The entire room smelled of burning flesh, and the stench even permeated some clothes. Many people who came to see had fainted during the execution. But do you know what's even more horrible? They heard him wheezing after they turned the electricity off.