Not every historical event makes the front pages. Many stories are brushed away in order to create room for the more important ones, such as the moon landing and WWII. However, when we learn more about our history, we begin to notice these formerly unimportant tales finding their way to the limelight. And when they do, we discover that the past can be just as bizarre (and frightening) as the present.
History can be stranger than fiction.
1. A Pope Declared War On Cats
During his reign, Pope Gregory IX proclaimed cats to be linked with devil worship and ordered their extermination. As a result, they were wiped out across much of Europe. It’s believed that the scarcity of cats allowed the rat population to grow over time, allowing the bubonic plague to spread a few decades later!
2. Roman Emperor Made His Horse A Senator
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, popularly known as Caligula, Rome’s most dictatorial emperor, adored his horse Incitatus so much that he made him a senator. He even gave him an ivory manger to sleep in and even a mansion with his own attendants!
3. A Horde Of Bunnies Once Attacked Napoleon
Once the emperor had ordered a rabbit hunt for himself and his troops. His chief of staff orchestrated the event and had workers round up 3,000 bunnies for the occasion. The hunt was ready to begin once the rabbits were liberated from their cages. At the very least, that was the plan. But instead, the rabbits charged at Bonaparte and his troops with a savage and unrelenting onslaught.
4. Tomato Ketchup Was Sold As Medicine
When it came to popular medicine in the 1830s, ketchup was all the rage. It was first sold as diarrhea and indigestion treatment in 1834 by an Ohio physician called John Cook. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that it became popular as a condiment.
5. Posing With Their Dead Relatives
7. Stalin Retouched His Photos To Remove People Who Died
Image retouching was commonly used to beautify portraits in the early twentieth century, but in the Soviet Union, highly trained retouchers were also used for a more sinister purpose. As comrades fell out of Stalin’s favor and were demoted or murdered, the politically inconvenient characters were meticulously scraped and painted out of the frame.
8. Strange Way Of Waking Up People
9. Real-life Zombie Outbreak
Although it may sound disgusting, pee includes ammonia, which is one of the best natural cleaning agents available! For this benefit, it was used as a mouthwash by Romans. Urine was also used to develop the color in dyes while binding them to the fabric. The liquid gold became so valuable that Romans who traded in it had to pay a tax!
12. Gladiators Had Some Really Questionable Fanbase
Roman gladiators were very famous in their times. So it is understandable that they were loved by many. They frequently became superstars and even endorsed products, just like athletes do nowadays! Children would even play with clay gladiator “action figures.” But it also had a creepy aspect. Their sweat was thought to be an aphrodisiac! Some women even combined it with their skincare products.
