1Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast could be based on the real-life story of Petrus Gonsalvus, a 16th century royal with a condition that covered his entire face and body in hair, who married a beautiful Parisian woman named Catherine.
2. 16th century Filipino hunters would use a rock yo-yo to hunt prey. The weapon was able to be pulled up and thrown back down for multiple attempts at the prey.
3. During the 16th century spike of increasingly large weapons, soldiers wielded Zweihänders, which were gigantic swords that reached 1.8 meters and could weigh 3.5 kg. Frisian hero, Pier Gerlofs Donia, reputedly beheaded several people with a single blow.
4. Oda Nobunaga was a powerful daimyō (feudal lord) who nearly unified Japan before his death in the 16th century during the late Sengoku period. He supposedly had a homosexual relationship with vassal Mori Ranmaru, an especially attractive man. At the time, their relationship wasn't seen as uncommon but was seen as strong and admirable.
5. The coats of arms of the islands Åland and Öland are almost identical because the islands got mixed up in the 16th century since their names are so similar.
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6Priest holes
To avoid capture and persecution in England in the 16th century, Catholic priests would hide in “priest holes”, which were secret spaces in many homes that were constructed to hide a priest during a search. Sometimes priests died from starvation or asphyxiation.
7. Leonardo DaVinci, who is now renowned as a great Italian artist and inventor of the 16th century, also worked as a party planner.
8. Martin Guerre, a French peasant of the 16th century, was at the center of a famous case of imposture. Several years after Martin Guerre had left his wife, child, and village, a man claiming to be him reappeared. He lived with Guerre's wife and son for 3 years. The false Martin Guerre was eventually suspected of the impersonation. He was tried, discovered to be a man named Arnaud du Tilh, and executed. The real Martin Guerre returned during the trial.
9. The expression "Yo" has been in use since the 16th century.
10. A community of monks in the Austrian Alps in the 16th century invented a method of painting on canvas made from spider webs, and today less than 100 known examples exist.
11Andrew Báthory
In 1599, Andrew Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, was killed and his head cut off. The head was then painted by a Greek artist and sewn back onto his body, before his burial.
12. In 1599, a Spanish governor in early colonial Ecuador was executed by having molten gold poured down his throat. Native Indians of the Jivaro tribe believed that they were unfairly taxed in their gold trade and as a result, attacked the settlement of Logrono and executed the governor.
13. There is a "prophecy" written in 1595 that predicts the future Popes. The next Pope to be corresponds with the last one on the list.
14. The word "swagger" was first used in 1590 by William Shakespeare in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
15. In 1586, a pregnant widow wrote a letter to her partner named Eung-Tae-Lee, who had died at the age of 30. This was found by archaeologists in South Korea in 1998, intact with the man's mummified body and a pair of sandals woven from hemp and the woman's hair.
16Siege of Antwerp
One of the earliest weapons of mass destruction was used during the Siege of Antwerp in 1585. A Dutch explosive fire ship containing 4 tons of explosive rammed a fortified Spanish bridge, killing 800 Spaniards, causing a small tsunami, and vibrating windows 22 miles away.
17. The Cagayan Battles of 1582 in the Philippines was the only recorded battle in the history to be fought between European infantry and samurai.
18. 16th century Puritans saw common names as too worldly, so they opted for virtuous/religious names instead. This led to names such as If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned.
19. During the 16th century, Western Ireland was under the control of Pirate Gráinne Ní Mháille. After years of fighting against England, Queen Elizabeth agreed to personally meet with her. Gráinne showed up with a dagger, refused to bow, and threw a noblewoman's handkerchief into a fire
20. In the 16th century the Pope declared Capybara's as “fish” so that his followers could eat it.
21Wearable computer
The first example of wearable computing was a ring with a usable Abacus in 16th century China.
22. The reason that so many working-class British men wore a flat cap is that a 16th-century Act of Parliament designed to stimulate wool consumption penalized non-nobles over the age of 6 if they weren't wearing a woolen cap.
23. Ishikawa Goemon was a 16th-century legendary Japanese outlaw hero, who stole gold and other valuables from the rich to give it to poor, for which he was sentenced to death. He and his son were boiled alive in public in an iron cauldron, but he was able to save his son by holding him above his head. His son was later forgiven.
24. The gibberish language being spoken in the stop-motion clay animated series ‘Pingu’ is actually a language which has been used by the clowns and mimes since the 16th century.
25. Tycho Brahe was an enormously rich 16th-century Danish astronomer, who is well known for the pet moose that accompanied him everywhere and developed a strong taste for the beer, eventually becoming so intoxicated at a party that it fell down a flight of stairs and died from subsequent injuries.
