#2
#3
British government takes the corpse of a homeless guy, fakes documents and dresses him up to look like a soldier, puts a fake letter in his pocket saying the British will invade Greece and Sardinia, fires him out of a submarine towards F*****t Spain.
The Spaniards find the body and tell the N**i party about the upcoming invasion, so they then move troops from Sicily to Greece. They’re totally caught off guard and the Allies successfully took Sicily, which they used to start the liberation of Italy.
Totally insane, can’t believe it worked.
To find out how this conversation started in the first place, we reached out to Reddit user Kodumonpotti363, who invited others to share historical events that sound too crazy to be true.
"I've always been fascinated by the weird side of history—those moments that sound too bizarre to be real," they told Bored Panda. "I thought it would be interesting to see what other people knew about these kinds of events, and Reddit never disappoints when it comes to obscure knowledge!"
#4
Robert Smalls was born into slavery on April 5, 1839, in Beaufort, South Carolina, to Lydia Polite, an enslaved woman, and possibly John McKee, her enslaver.The McKee family held Smalls and his mother in bondage. When Smalls was 12 years old, the McKees sent him to Charleston as a rented or “hired out” enslaved laborer. Smalls worked on ships in the Charleston Harbor.
During the Civil War, Smalls’ enslavers forced him to work as a pilot on the CSS Planter, a confederate steamboat that transported arms and ammunition.On May 13, 1862, Smalls and the rest of the Black crew commandeered the boat and sailed to Union lines.On the way, Small and the crew freed Smalls’ wife Hannah, daughter Elizabeth and son Robert Jr. They disguised themselves and, using the knowledge they had gained as maritime workers, sailed the boat past Forts Sumter and Moultrie. Smalls surrendered the Planter to the U.S. Military, thus securing the freedom of everyone on the vessel. Smalls became the first Black man to become a pilot in the United States Navy. As the captain of the USS Planter, Smalls fought in 17 battles during the Civil War.
During Reconstruction, South Carolinians in and around Beaufort elected Smalls to the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1874 to 1879 and 1881 to 1887.8 As “Southern Redemption,” a violent effort to usurp political power from Black Southerners and Republicans, swept South Carolina, Smalls maintained his congressional seat, though he briefly lost his seat in 1878. Smalls retired from congress in 1887, after William Elliott unseated him.
While serving as a Representative of South Carolina, Smalls helped secure funding to improve the Port Royal Harbor and secured appropriations from the government for its use of The Citadel.Smalls also fought to secure full citizenship and equality for Black Americans. He resisted Jim Crow, opposing s*********n of the United States Armed Forces, railroads and restaurants. After retiring from Congress, “Smalls was appointed the Collector of Customs in Beaufort.” He served in this position for two decades, despite dissent from local white people and the Jim Crow social, political, economic and legal regime.
During Reconstruction, Smalls purchased the McKee Home in Beaufort. He and his family lived in the home for almost a century after the purchase.In an act of graciousness, Smalls allowed his former enslaver, Mrs. McKee, to remain in his home after she fell ill. Robert Smalls died on February 23, 1915, and was laid to rest in Beaufort at Tabernacle Baptist Church.He died not only a hero to his Black crewmates on the USS Planter and his family but also to the Union and the people of South Carolina.
#6
After that part of crew sailed 1300 km with small lifeboat in roaring in southern storms to small island where there was whaling station. They could not reach side where there is harbour so they hiked over mountains to over 1000 metres of elevation.
In the end everyone from 28 men survived the trip.
We also asked the author if they had any favorite wild stories from history. "There are so many, but one that always gets me is the story of the Great Emu War in Australia," they shared. "The idea that trained soldiers with machine guns lost a war against a bunch of oversized birds sounds like a ridiculous comedy plot, but it actually happened."
"Another favorite is the time a French soldier, Jean Bernadotte, ended up becoming the King of Sweden, despite initially being an enemy of Sweden," the OP added.
#7
From an account of the raid - "Just before the Campbeltown exploded, Sam Beattie was being interrogated by a German naval officer who was saying that it wouldn't take very long to repair the damage the Campbeltown has caused. Just at that moment, she went up. Beattie smiled at the officer and said, 'We're not quite as foolish as you think!'"
S**t sounds made up for a big budget action movie, such a crazy read.
#8
#9
So we had to open a history book and say: no, no, it happened. There was more than one Bloody Sunday.
As for whether or not truth really is stranger than fiction, Kodumonpotti363 says, "Absolutely! Fiction has to follow rules—it needs to be believable, have logical cause and effect, and keep an audience engaged. Reality doesn’t have those constraints, so it can be completely chaotic and absurd," they explained. "History is full of coincidences, bizarre decisions, and unexpected outcomes that no scriptwriter would dare include."
#10
#11
#12
A man who fought WW2 with a bow, arrows and a broad sword. Also he played the bag pipes.
Finally, we asked the author what they thought of the replies to their post. "[They] were incredible! People shared so many mind-blowing historical facts that I’d never heard of before," they told Bored Panda. "One that stood out was the story of how Napoleon was once attacked by a horde of bunnies because his men accidentally gathered hundreds of domesticated rabbits instead of wild ones for a hunt. That kind of stuff is just pure gold."
"History is endlessly entertaining if you dig deep enough," Kodumonpotti363 added. "It’s a mix of comedy, horror, and absurdity all rolled into one. I love seeing people get excited about it, and I hope your readers enjoy these stories as much as I did!"
#13
#14
#15
We were also lucky enough to get in touch with Sebastian Major, host of the Our Fake History podcast, to hear about some of his favorite wild stories from the past.
"The entire story of Joan of Arc sounds like it was made up by a fiction writer," the history expert shared. "A teenage peasant girl living in rural France in the 1400’s convinces the King to let her lead an army and liberate the country from an invasion force. If you know even the most basic facts about the late-medieval period, you know how unlikely that story is. And yet, so much about her life story is true… or at least, is backed up by credible sources."
#16
From Archduke Ferdinand’s driver taking a wrong turn onto the street where Ferdinand’s assassin was having a consolation sandwich, sulking over having failed the previous assassination attempt earlier in the day. To a diplomat having a heart attack and dying moments before signing a document.
It’s as if the forces of the universe made sure the war would be inevitable.
What I mean is, not the fact the war broke out, but rather how it wasn’t as straightforward as one might think.
—
Or maybe even the christmas truce. We all know it happened, but the fact that enemies who previously shot at eachother met and even played soccer..
#17
Some Chinese dude failed the civil service exams too many times and had a nervous breakdown. He then had a hallucination telling him he was Jesus's brother and started one of the deadliest civil wars in Chinese history.
#18
Even if you factor in the detail that this took place during a record cold-snap that froze the freshwater bay over completely, it's still a pretty outlandish tale.
Case in point: the details of its authenticity are still being debated by historians, though all records indicate that a total surrender on the part of the Dutch navy *did* happen - the issue is whether the cavalry actually charged them head-on, or simply went out as a formality to negotiate their surrender while they were stuck in frozen-over waters.
Either way it's an exceptionally rare occurrance, and one that's been commemorated in paintings and poorly-cited Wikipedia articles.
"There are certainly unbelievable stories of miracles that punctuate her life, but the vast majority of what we hear about Joan of Arc is generally accepted by historians," Sebastian continued. "When I started researching her, I expected to learn that she was more like a mascot for the French army, who was then 'inflated' into a general by the process of historical myth making."
"But that is not at all what the sources tell us! She was a war leader who rode into battle, charged the enemy, and was wounded liberating the city of Orleans," the host revealed. "Nothing about Joan of Arc makes sense, but she was (mostly) the real deal."
#19
#20
