history

What's better than looking and dumb memes and feeling smart at the same time? Absolutely nothing. That's why there are history memes to feel smart about. Sometimes you gotta take a deep breath and drink in that memeshake with an extra helping of facts and geography. That's the good stuff.

Someone on AskReddit got a thread going about various things that grew classier over time. Definitely had no idea that lobsters were commonly fed to prisoners back in the day, and had a reputation for being the cockroaches of the sea. 

It's strange to realize that history might actually be interesting and offer useful information about understanding our world. Many of us only realize this after we've left school. Well, at least there are history memes to feel smart about. Instead of teachers and books, we've got sweet inside jokes about people and empires who lived and died years and years ago.

Does knowing one or two facts about a particular battle actually make anyone that much more aware? Maybe a little. It's hard to tell. What knowing that historical context does do however, is set one up for some sweet memes that use all of history as a great well of inside jokes. For an interesting history thread, here's a tumblr thread about how mundane people are important to history.

Someone on AskReddit asked for people to share the funniest historical facts that they know. The resulting insights paint a picture of just how weird the world is that we live in, and how absurdly worked up people can get themselves, when it comes to warring over seemingly meaningless stuff. 

This fun Tumblr thread points out how those mundane and seemingly boring things actually matter too, to historians. Never underestimate yourself, and all that stuff that society might go on saying is boring, and meaningless. 

This fun Tumblr thread takes a quick look at some iconic moments in the history of the internet that could likely make civilizations that are thousands of years old, still laugh. Some things are just funny no matter what kind of societal conditioning you've had. Check out another interesting moment from Tumblr with this thread about "Thomas the Pain Engine."

Tumblr has the tendency to well, tumble. And exactly that happened here. What started as an observation on violets turned into a historical rhyme on the concept of purple, which then turned into some well timed and tastefully executed filth. For more Tumblr color nerdery, here's an explanation of why magenta isn't a real color. And for random fun, here are Tumblr gems to keep the day moving.

Sometimes someone comes up with a design so simple, elegant and effective that it becomes the de facto item for that use in perpetuity. It must feel good to have created something that does something the best. In the other direction, here are inventions that are now used for something other than their intended purpose.

We're not suggesting that these various gems from the brilliant minds of Tumblr are in fact actual moments from the history of the world. The internet undoubtedly has a knack for getting carried away and weaving fun little tidbits of pure fiction. That being said, the legend that the infamously adorable Corgis were a gift from faeries is just too good. 

Check out some more gold from Tumblr with this Tumblr thread that breaks down the origins of the pads vs. tampons war.

The devil is in the details, and if those details aren't specific civilizations can find themselves writhing around in complete confusion. This Tumblr thread points out how the Roman concrete recipe that makes it immune to water could've gone undiscovered/misinterpreted for so long because we never would've thought the recipe was calling for "seawater." Things spiral out of control quickly from there, and suddenly we're looking at a forecast for a future generation that's out there scrambling fish eggs because they never would've thought to use chicken eggs. Specifics are golden. 

Check out some more gold from Tumblr with this Tumblr user who inspired a meltdown after saying that fish aren't animals.

Back in the old days, some governments threw a few amphetamines into their soldiers' supply kits. This guy might be one of the reasons why they don't do that anymore. Here are some more historical moments that sound too ridiculous to be true as well as a Tumblr thread about history that's actually fun.

Twitter user, @AngryManTV, shared a remarkable thread about his experience unearthing his grandfather's unexpected past. Turns out this guy's grandpa was a true unsung hero, who had a boxing career that was cut short due to pressure from the mob. You don't see stories like that everyday. 

Tumblr looked at this evolutionary dead-end of a forward-eye-facing cold-blooded cave goat and decided: "good." Sometimes tumblr gets ahold of some biology or history knowledge and extrapolates the ever-loving reality out of it like when they went full mythological science on dragon evolution. For another interesting learning experience here's Tumblr's thread on Kudzu, the monster plant waging war with everything.

All throughout history, people have needed a quick place to eat. Here's a way too thorough look at what Ancient Roman fast food looked like. Tumblr has some fun history threads, like how mundane people are important to history or these Tumblr gems of a historical persuasion.

There are a lot of moments from history that not only sound unbelievably coincidental, incredible and stupid, but also so contrived that if it were to happen in fiction you wouldn't be able to suspend your disbelief. There were baboon railway controllers, great molasses floods and foulmouthed parrots. Here are some more history things, like the importance of mundane people in history, the spikey insanity of the lantern shield, and crazy "I'll do it myself" moments in history.