11Queen Isabella
In 1475, when Queen Isabella was crowned, the queen chess piece became female, and could only move one square at a time, like the King. In 1495, when Isabella was the most powerful woman in Europe, the present rules of chess were established, in which the Queen moves in all directions on the board.
12English sweating sickness
In 1485, a disease named English sweating sickness broke out causing people to sweat to death in a matter of hours. The disease claimed the lives of tens of thousands before mysteriously vanishing.
13King James II of Scotland
In 1457, King James II of Scotland banned golf because he felt that young men were playing too much golf instead of practicing their archery. The ban was not removed until 1502 by King James IV who was a golfer.
14Mehmed II
In 1462, it is said that Mehmed II, who conquered Constantinople and was noted for his own psychological warfare tactics, was so sickened by the sight of 20,000 impaled corpses outside Vlad the Impaler's capital that he turned around and went home.
15Chicken
In 1474, a chicken, mistaken for a rooster, laid an egg in Basel, Switzerland. The town then prosecuted it in court and later burned it alive as punishment for being found guilty of an unnatural crime.
16Meteor shower
In March or April of 1490, tens of thousands of people were likely killed by a meteor shower over China.
17Republic of Cospaia
In 1440, a land sale treaty between the Pope and Florence accidentally left out a small strip of land around Cospaia. The people of the area promptly declared their independence and remained sovereign for nearly 400 years.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
18Alhambra palace
The 15th-century Islamic mosaics in Spain's Alhambra palace display a near-perfect understanding of mathematical logic and 16 of 17 types of symmetry identified by modern mathematicians.
