There’s a lot more that happened throughout history than battles, treaties, and geopolitical tensions. While all of those aspects are incredibly important, they don’t show the full depth and breadth of the human experience. Historical events can often be bizarre, odd, and even humorous… just like the people living through them.
Our team at Bored Panda has compiled this list of funny and weird moments from history that sound made up but are actually completely true. Keep scrolling for a good laugh and a reminder that, very often, fact is stranger than fiction.
#1 Liechtenstein's Army Came Back With More Men Than They Set Off With
The tiny nation of Liechtenstein had one of the most successful and wholesome military campaigns in history during the 1866 Austro-Prussian War. They dispatched their entire army of 80 men to guard a mountain pass, where they saw absolutely no combat. After the war ended, the army marched back home having suffered zero casualties. In fact, they returned with 81 men, having reportedly made a new "Italian friend" along the way who decided to come back with them.
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38points
#2 An Exhausting 18-Hour Piano Performance Was Met With An Encore
In 1963, a team of pianists in New York City undertook the monumental task of performing Erik Satie's "Vexations," a short musical phrase with the composer's instruction to repeat it 840 times. The marathon performance took a grueling 18 hours to complete. In a perfect display of deadpan humor, as the final, long-awaited note faded, a single member of the exhausted audience stood up and enthusiastically shouted, "Encore!"
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37points
#3 The Embarrassing Records Of A Korean King
The official historical records of Korea's Joseon Dynasty are famous for being incredibly detailed and uncensored, as proven by a hilarious entry about King Taejong. After an embarrassing incident where he fell off his horse while hunting, the king immediately looked around at his staff and commanded, "Do not let the historians know about this." True to their mission of recording everything, the court scribes not only documented the king's fall, but they also dutifully recorded his direct order to them not to record it, preserving his mortifying moment for all of history.
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37points
When it comes to separating fact from fiction, it always helps if you're a little bit skeptical. Broadly speaking, if a claim sounds too good or bad to be true, someone might be bending the truth for the sake of their agenda. That being said, history is full of truly bizarre events.
If you suspect that someone might be spreading false information, it's best to double-check those claims. Read through a few different sources and cross-reference the information they present.
You should also evaluate the (un)reliability of the source sharing the information. Look at the quality of the reporting over time. For example, trustworthy, transparent outlets will credit their sources, correct and also admit to having made mistakes, and also disclose any conflicts of interest. They are also very clear about when something is an opinion piece and what's facts-based reporting.
#4 When Australians Got Defeated By Emus
In 1932, the Australian military found itself in a rather unconventional conflict, officially known as the Great Emu War. After a massive population of some 20,000 emus migrated into Western Australia's farmlands and began devastating the wheat crops, frustrated farmers (many of whom were ex-soldiers) requested military assistance. The government actually agreed, deploying soldiers armed with two Lewis machine guns to wage an all-out war against the surprisingly resilient and difficult-to-hit flightless birds. In the end, the emus proved to be such elusive and tactical targets that the military operation was a complete failure, forcing a humiliating withdrawal and marking an official victory for the birds.
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33points
#5 The Austrian Army Defeated Itself
According to historical legend, the Austrian army suffered one of the most embarrassing self-inflicted defeats in military history at the Battle of Karánsebes in 1788. The chaos reportedly began when a group of Austrian hussars got into a drunken argument over schnapps with their own infantry. A single shot was fired, and in the ensuing confusion, different units of the multi-ethnic Austrian army, shouting in different languages, mistook each other for the enemy Ottoman Turks. What followed was a full-blown friendly-fire battle that raged through the night, resulting in an estimated 10,000 casualties. When the actual Turkish army arrived two days later, they found the Austrians had already defeated themselves and took the town with no resistance.
33points
#6 The Most Corrupt Election In History Had Impossible Results
The 1927 Liberian presidential election holds the Guinness World Record for being the most fraudulent in history, thanks to the mathematically impossible victory of incumbent Charles D.B. King. In a country with only 15,000 registered voters at the time, King somehow managed to secure an astonishing 243,000 votes for himself.
30points
As the BBC stresses, not all sources are created equal. Some are not as reliable as others. “Make sure you’re getting news from journalists and official news sites, rather than just social media. Journalists are held to account for what they report and any story in a news outlet will have gone through checks and an editor.”
Look at what the reporters have previously written, and see if they focus more on facts or opinions.
Meanwhile, after you’ve checked multiple sources about a story, look at how the claims are backed up. What you want is trustworthy evidence.
“It’s always a good sign if you can find where the news has come from and clearly see the facts behind the piece,” the BBC states. “It’s also good to ask yourself if what the source is saying sounds believable. If it appears a bit out of this world or too good to be true, then the chances are that it might well be.”
#7 India's Entrepreneurial Spirit With Cobras
The term "Cobra Effect" comes from a spectacularly failed policy in British-ruled India. Worried about the number of venomous cobras, the government offered a bounty for every unalived snake brought to them. In a brilliant, if predictable, turn of entrepreneurial spirit, citizens began farming cobras to cash in on the reward. When the government finally caught on to the scheme and canceled the program, the cobra farmers simply released their now-worthless snakes into the wild, resulting in a cobra population that was significantly larger than it was before the whole mess started.
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30points
#8 The Battle Of Castle Itter
Just days before the end of World War II in Europe, one of the strangest alliances in history formed to defend an Austrian castle. In what is known as the Battle for Castle Itter, a small group of American G.I.s teamed up with soldiers from the German Wehrmacht to protect a group of high-profile French prisoners being held there. This unlikely coalition of Americans and Germans then fought side-by-side against an attacking force of hardline Waffen-SS troops, creating the only known battle in the war where soldiers from both armies fought together as allies.
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30points
#9 George Patton's Snarky Takeover Of Trier
During the Allied push into Germany in 1945, General George S. Patton's Third Army was advancing so rapidly that it often outpaced the intelligence of his own superiors. After receiving a direct order to bypass the heavily fortified city of Trier because it would supposedly require four full divisions to capture, Patton sent back one of the most famously sarcastic replies in military history: "Have taken Trier with two divisions. Do you want me to give it back?"
29points
Which of these weird moments in history caught you off guard? Which ones made you chuckle with how bizarre they were? What is the oddest, most hilarious, or most intense historical event that you know?
We’d like to hear your perspective. If you have a moment, leave a comment (or two!) in the comments at the very bottom of this list.
#10 Someone Sold The Eiffel Tower For Scrap Metal
In 1925, a con artist named Victor Lustig pulled off one of the most audacious scams of all time by successfully selling the Eiffel Tower. Posing as a government official, he convinced a group of scrap metal dealers that the monument was too expensive to maintain and was going to be secretly demolished and sold for scrap. One dealer fell for the ruse and paid Lustig a massive sum for the "winning bid." Lustig then fled with the money, and the victim was too embarrassed to even report the crime. The scam was so successful, in fact, that Lustig returned to Paris a few months later and tried to sell the tower all over again to a different group of dealers.
28points
#11 H-Day Was The Day Sweden Switched Its Driving Rules
On September 3, 1967, the entire nation of Sweden collectively stopped their cars, switched to the other side of the road, and started driving again. Known as Dagen H, or H-Day, this was the moment the country officially switched from driving on the left to driving on the right. In the moments leading up to the 5:00 AM changeover, all traffic was brought to a complete standstill. Then, in a carefully orchestrated nationwide maneuver, drivers cautiously navigated their vehicles to the opposite side, resulting in some wonderfully confusing but surprisingly accident-free traffic jams.
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27points
#12 A WWII German Submarine Was Doomed By Its Own Toilet
During World War II, the German submarine U-1206 met its end not in a dramatic naval battle, but because of a toilet malfunction. The U-boat's high-pressure plumbing was notoriously complex, and when the captain used the toilet, he performed the flushing sequence incorrectly. This error caused a high-pressure blast of seawater and sewage to flood the toilet compartment, which then spilled onto the massive batteries below. The resulting chemical reaction created a cloud of poisonous chlorine gas, forcing the submarine to immediately surface for air, where it was promptly spotted and attacked by Allied forces.
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26points
#13 Julius Caesar's Got A Love Letter From His Rival's Sister
During a heated debate in the Roman Senate, Julius Caesar's great rival, Cato the Younger, accused him of secretly conspiring with enemies after a messenger delivered Caesar a note. Cato loudly demanded that the letter be read aloud to the entire Senate, suspecting it contained evidence of treason. After initially refusing, a reluctant Caesar finally handed over the note. As Cato read it, his face turned red with humiliation, as he discovered it was not a secret plot, but a passionate and rather explicit love letter to Caesar from his own half-sister.
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25points
#14 The Kettle That Won The War
In 1784, a tense naval standoff between the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic resulted in one of the least violent conflicts in military history, famously known as the Kettle War. After an Imperial ship sailed downriver to challenge a Dutch blockade, the Dutch fired a single cannon shot. This one and only shot of the entire "war" completely missed the enemy vessel and instead struck a soup kettle on the deck, an anticlimactic and slightly embarrassing outcome that was apparently enough to make the Imperial ship surrender.
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24points
#15 Mary Toft And The Remarkable Rabbit Births
In 1726, an English woman named Mary Toft became a national sensation after she successfully convinced a series of prominent doctors that she was giving birth to rabbits. For a brief and bizarre period, the medical community was completely baffled, with some of the country's top physicians actually believing her story. The hoax was only exposed after a skeptical surgeon investigated and found Toft had been secretly inserting the animal parts herself, creating one of the most audacious and weirdly successful medical cons in history.
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24points
#16 The English Confusing A Monkey For A Frenchman
According to a famous local legend, during the Napoleonic Wars, a French ship sank off the coast of Hartlepool, England, with the sole survivor being a monkey dressed in a miniature military uniform. The town's residents, who had reportedly never seen a Frenchman before, became convinced that this small, hairy creature was a French spy. They then proceeded to conduct a full trial on the beach and, finding the monkey guilty, and sent him to the gallows. The tale is so ingrained in the town's identity that people from Hartlepool are still affectionately known as "monkey hangers" to this day.
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23points
#17 Pompeii's Walls Features Some Wild Graffiti
The volcanic ash that preserved the Roman city of Pompeii also immortalized something wonderfully human: graffiti. Scrawled across the ancient walls, archaeologists have discovered a treasure trove of everyday life, from boasts about popular gladiators to political endorsements. But among the most amusing discoveries are the petty, personal insults that prove some things never change. Alongside grand declarations, you can find simple, ancient burns like "Epaphra, you are bald" and "Chie, I hope your hemorrhoids rub together so much that they hurt worse than they ever have before." Shown in the photo are Campaign inscriptions at House of Aulus Trebius Valens.
22points
#18 Turkey's Hat Laws That Backfired
In a sweeping effort to modernize Turkey in 1925, the nation's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, enacted a law that completely banned the fez, a traditional felt hat that was seen as a symbol of the old Ottoman Empire. This sudden "Hat Law" was met with surprisingly fierce resistance. Riots broke out in several cities, and a black market for the now-illegal headwear quickly emerged, turning ordinary citizens into fez smugglers in defiance of the new secular dress code.
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22points
#19 The Worlds Only 300% Mortality Rate
The 19th-century surgeon Robert Liston was legendary for his lightning-fast amputation skills in the era before anesthesia. However, his most infamous operation resulted in the only 300% mortality rate in surgical history. In his haste to remove a patient's leg, Liston's saw moved so quickly that he accidentally sliced off the fingers of his surgical assistant. The shocking speed and gore of the procedure reportedly caused a spectator in the surgical theater to flatline from fright, and to complete the trifecta, both the patient and the assistant later lost their lives from gangrene, creating an unmatched record of surgical disaster.
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21points
#20 Using Reverse Psychology To Promote Potatoes In Paris
In 18th-century France, the potato was widely distrusted and considered unfit for human consumption. To overcome this, the chemist Antoine-Augustin Parmentier came up with a brilliant public relations stunt based on reverse psychology. He planted a field of potatoes on the outskirts of Paris and had it conspicuously guarded by soldiers during the day. As he hoped, this created the impression that the crop was incredibly valuable, and locals began sneaking into the field at night to steal the potatoes for their own gardens, effectively popularizing the vegetable across the country.
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21points