Useless History

The Captain Morgan rum brand is named after a real person: the legendary Welsh privateer and buccaneer Captain Henry Morgan, who terrorized Spanish ships in the 17th century.

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The Voynich manuscript is a 15th-century codex that has never been deciphered, and

"Frankenstein" was originally published anonymously.

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Did George Washington know about dinosaurs? Most likely, no. Today, the existence of dinosaurs may seem like an immutable fact, but our knowledge of these ancient creatures is a relatively modern development.

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Family dinner has been a mainstay of U.S. households since the mid-19th century, when men increasingly began to work and eat lunch — once considered the main meal of the day — outside the home. By the 1920s, the food rationing of World War I was a thing of the past, and the “Roaring ’20s” brought economic prosperity for many Americans. 

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In weddings around the world, exchanging rings is a crucial part of the ceremony, a moment in which a couple’s promises are sealed with a tangible token. This simple piece of jewelry does a lot of heavy lifting: It acts as a symbol of love, unity, and eternity, while also making our relationship status clear to the world.

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The statue of David is among Michelangelo’s greatest masterpieces, but the sculpture isn’t without detractors. One such critic was none other than Queen Victoria, who reigned over England from 1837 until 1901, centuries after the original David was sculpted in 1504. In 1857, a plaster replica of the David was shipped to Great Britain as a gift to Victoria from Leopold II, the grand duke of Tuscany.

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It’s been dubbed the “noble experiment,” a name that came from then-President Herbert Hoover calling Prohibition “a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose.” In January 1920, the United States banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of “intoxicating liquors,” a move made in the wake of temperance movements that sought moral and social reform throughout the 1800s — in spite of some failed attempts at similar regional programs around the country.

Despite the ban, the de

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Britain is a nation of many strange old traditions, from cheese rolling and wife carrying to mayor weighing and possibly the world’s most brutal ball game. Then there’s the British royal family, an almost endless source of quirky behavior and bizarre rituals.

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The first list of the wonders of the world was compiled by the ancient Greek writer and poet Antipater of Sidon in the second century BCE, and it included seven extraordinary landmarks around the Mediterranean and modern-day Middle East. Since then, these ancient marvels have been a subject of study, fascination, and awe.

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Alongside their eternal nemeses cats, dogs are the most popular pets in the world. They have been humans’ most faithful friends for at least 12,000 years, hunting with us, protecting us, and accompanying us in our everyday lives. In fact, dogs were the first domesticated animals, predating chickens, cows, goats, pigs, sheep, and even agriculture itself.

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