26 Little Things That Changed History Forever - mental_floss List Show (Ep. 234)
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- Опубліковано 2 гру 2014
- A weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John looks at little things that changed history such as a Hitler's rejection into art school, the invention of the stethoscope, and the time that Napoleon had hemorrhoids (and subsequently lost the Battle of Waterloo).
Thanks again to our sponsor, Geico, for making today's episode possible.
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From what I've heard, Hitler really wanted to be an Architect. His drawings of buildings were actually quite good. It was his drawings of people that sucked.
he painted a house with a window halfway blocked by stairs... pretty sure he couldn't do either
I saw a drawing of a house that he did...It was god awful. The windows and doors were like floating over the surface...Made no sense. He wasn't any good.
JHowesitgoing123 and picasso or dali make much more sense?
Picasso's early works included some very realistic paintings. One that comes to mind looked practically like a photograph of a statue of a woman and child. (He did not try to capture the warmth usually desired in portraits of mothers and children, but instead choose to give them a texture like granite.)
JHowesitgoing123 1 gotta start somewhere. 2 most of his paintings are beautiful and capture landscape and architecture amazingly.
Anyone else think that mentioning the Bay of Pigs Invasion should've qualified for putting a quarter in the Staff Pork Chop Party Fund? :p
But it's an entire bay of pigs. That's a lot of quarters!
"Atomic bomb, brought to you by Geico!"
Ok, I have one correction to make regarding the Titanic binocular incident. Many historians believe that binoculars wouldn't have prevented the sinking of the Titanic. In fact, most ship captains at the time preferred that lookouts not use binoculars as it focused their vision and prevented them from seeing the wide open sea in front of them. It is now believed that the Titanic sunk due to a natural phenomenon that occurs when freezing cold water meets relatively normal water thus creating a mirage of sorts. The human eye is tricked and cannot see what is truly there until it is too late. Oddly enough however, had the Titanic not veered to the side in an attempt to miss the ice berg but hit it dead on, the ship would not have sunk. Furthermore, a more drastic comedy of errors occurred as a nearby ship did not come to Titanic's aid because they only had one Morse Code operator and he was asleep at the time the distress signal was sent.
Yeah, I personally believe the Titanic was a victim of optical illusion.
I doubt that iceberg was ever visible, until it was too late.
Believe the morse operator was awake, he sent distress signals (both CQD and SOS)
The Titanic operator was awake but the nearby ship's operator was not
And even if the Titanic operator hadn't been awake I'm pretty sure they would have woken him up. ;p
Jack Phillips told the Californian's wireless operator to piss off so he could keep working. But we're not going to make a video about how Jack Phillips killed 1500 people because he didn't and neither did the lack of binoculars. The Californian also probably saw the signal rockets but were either confused by their incorrect timing or chose to ignore it. Again this whole video is a huge stretch and no more than food for thought, nothing that actually changed history in a single action alone, it was a slew of bad choices and errors that lead to any disaster.
I love these- John and the team of people who produce these videos have a beautiful knack for conveying information in a seemingly offhand manner that has you turning it over long after it was viewed and absorbed. I find myself acknowledging the remarks Mr. Green utters in a cavalier way when he says them, but then find them inching laterally across my mind as I apply them or fully "grok" the nuance.
That indefinable quality is what made every teacher and instructor I ever learned from special. That stuff, if isolated, should be bottled and it would be the most precious element on earth.
Man, this makes me want more Crash Course History. Make more world history, John, please!
Is it just me or does John look like he's dying a little every time he says 'Geico'?
It's not only just you
TMBG reached #3 in the US Modern Rock Tracks charts and #6 in the UK singles charts in 1989 with "Birdhouse in Your Soul" so "Istanbul" isn't their only top 40 hit! (Also "Boss of Me" reached #21 in the UK - 'cause we flipping love Malcolm in the Middle!).
Space nerd here with a nitpick: 03 was the Mars Climate Orbiter (satellite), not a rover :-)
The part about the safety glass reminded me of a negligence case I read for my torts class, Trimarco v. Klein. The landlord was supposed to replace glass in shower doors with safety glass, but he didn't, and a tenant fell when exiting the shower and got multiple lacerations. Thank goodness for safety glass!
Silly me. I thought all these things happened because a butterfly flapped its wings somewhere in Argentina.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: The Cedar fire was caused by a man FROM West Covina who got lost hunting, not from a man IN West Covina. West Covina is north-east of LA, about an hour and a half away from San Diego. Also, there are no woods anywhere in West Covina to get lost in.
That fire missed my house by 30 feet, thanks to a perfect stranger who volunteered 4 hours of his life to helping me fight it using only garden hoses. He told me where he lived; an area obliterated in the conflagration. I never saw him again, and nobody from that area knew who he was. (A neighbor suggested he might have been an angel---who am I to question, given the service he provided?)
As a native of West Covina, I thank you for the clarification.
I was hoping to see the best accident to happen to modern medicine: the discovery of penicillin. If you do this topic again (YES PLEASE), I hope that you'd include it.
I wonder how long it would of taken us to figure out the mould kills bacteria if he hadn't left his sandwich out.
remember kids, not tidying up can save lives!
wacka penicillin had been discovered before that, Joseph Lister being the most famed example. Most people who discovered it didn't understand, or (like Lister) didn't mention it and stopped using it
WW2 also helped because the US spent millions on research
sibtain ali US just used captured German scientists who did horrible experiments on Jews.
***** the discovery of penicillin had little to with German captured scientists
Damn, I keep forgetting to be awesome.
Lol I was kind of hoping one time I'd see a comment like this
That's not quite right. They didn't take a wrong turn, that is a myth. Gavrilo was part of a larger plot, that had failed earlier in the day when the bomb they tossed injured the passengers of the car behind the Archduke. The Archduke was on his way to the hospital to visit these people, on an unplanned route, and the car stalled when it backed up to make a tight turn. By incredible happenstance, the car ended up several yards away from Gavrilo, who was, it can be imagined, consoling himself at a local café after his plot failed. He dispatched the Archduke and Duchess with one shot each from his handgun, and this incredible coincidence sparked the bloodiest war up to that point in history.
Did you watch it this On Extra Credits
nader50752 John Keegan. The First World War. I dunno what that is.
It sounds to me like "made a wrong turn" is just a simplified version of the actual events since he doesn't have that much time to go into details.
GBD1000 Yes, but then why tell the story? The real version is far more interesting.
Christopher Penta Time.
I like the story of the English Soldier Henry Tandey a bit more. In October 1914 a weary German soldier wandered into Tandey's sight and Tandey chose not to such. The German Soldier was Hitler and he later said, "That man came so near to killing me that I thought I should never see Germany again; Providence saved me from such devilishly accurate fire as those English boys were aiming at us."
Crazy how little things like that can make such a huge impact on history.
Frank Wills, the guard who discovered the duct tape, was African American. It wouldn't have hurt to use an African American stock guard for the Watergate fact.
Chill, it was just a generic picture
Seriously, what scientist doesn't use metric units anymore? Aren't English units basically for carpenters, handymen, and guys that work on hotrods?
My Father is an English carpenter who switches between Imperial and Metric willy-nilly, but still get the measurements correct
In Machining, The English units of thousandths of an inch are more precise than the metric equivalent, thereby insuring it's continued use in modern manufacture...That and the French suck, and no self respecting person would want to use their system :P
Thousandths of an inch is just ridiculous, its so much easier to just use decimals over fractions, especially in manufacturing where you don't need infinite significant figure accuracy
clockguy2
The French that I am would argue that you can always add a decimal to make something more precise. But who would want something universal that's not coming from the USA, right ?
clockguy2 the entire world uses metric, fuckwit. it's america that's retarded
"Bay of Pigs", PIGS! That's one quarter for the staff pork chop party fund.
geico supporting this show is the only time i have been swayed by advertisement. more companies should sponsor educational content
I love your trinket wall. But I also shudder at a thought of cleaning it. In my flat it would be terribly dusty in two weeks.
Just think of all the "Hilters" history has NOT seen because they were accepted into art school.
a very intresting book on that subject: la part de l'autre by Eric Emmanuel Schmitt
www.librarything.com/work/997261
:0)
Or because someone published “Looking for Alaska” or“The Fault in Our Stars” instead of, you know, throwing it in the garbage where it belongs.
On the other hand, John Wilkes Booth was well received, except for his final performance.
The NASA Mars spacecraft mentioned was Mars Climate Orbiter which was in fact the victim of Imperial to Metric problems. The firing of the engine to place it into orbit was calculated as foot-pounds per second instead of Newtons per second. The result was the spacecraft plunging into the atmosphere and burning up. Another spacecraft, the Mars Polar Lander had microswitches that were to detect an upward movement of the landing legs signalling touching the surface and commanding the descent engines to turn off. Unfortunately when the legs were deployed, there was a small amount of backlash to the action which triggered the switches and the engines turned off early, causing the lander to crash.
Also, the issue wasn't that they forgot to convert from imperial to metric, but that they didn't realize the conversion had already been done, so they inadvertently converted the measurements twice
East India company wasn't started by Robert Clive. He was just their governor general in the late 18th century while the company was founded in 1600 CE
The Cedar Fire started near Ramona, California, in San Diego County, by a lost Hunter who was from West Covina, in Los Angeles County. The fire existed entirety within San Diego County.
yep, it was totally a misunderstanding that america dropped the bomb. while japan was having peace negotiations with the us. incidently just after the russians mentioned their own bomb for the first time. on a city without military value. not over a forest or a military facility wich also was discussed... oh and they dropped the second one 3 days after accidently too i guess...
I guess we misinterpreted the peace gesture after they continued shooting at us.
Christopher Penta pop quiz, name 1 country that's deliberately detonated a nuclear bomb on a population of men, women and children?
I'd like to think we learn from past mistakes, but I'm almost certain at some point there will be another populated area of civilians obliterated instantly by a nuclear weapon.
Karottenkoenig, while you're entitled to your own opinions, you're not entitled to your own facts. Nothing you said in your comment was even close to factual. For further details:
www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&load=1808&mpid=56
Do you have a point? We also firebombed half of Europe. We didn't make the rules. War is hell.
Christopher Penta
you arent seriously saying that this justifies throwing an atomic bomb on a city, causing 22.000 instant deaths and about 40.000 in the next 4 months alone in hiroshima, nagasaki not included. japan wanted to surrrender and the second bomb was dropped anyway for a total of about 120.000 deaths over time? dont look for excuses for a war crime like this.
Hindsight is 20/20
Foresight is 50/50.
@@cathipalmer8217 ehh there's all kinds of greys, not every choice is right or wrong. So many variables, something that should be wrong can become kind of right and something that should be right can be very wrong, and all in-between areas. Hence why hindsight nearly always appears to be 20/20 because there's so many dang unseen or unpredictable variables
They Might Be Giants had two top 40 hits, "Boss of Me" and "Birdhouse in Your Soul". ""Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" was not a top 40 hit.
You're kind of an ass. Just saying.
I am very much in love with this channel!!!! It's every thing I need and more;>
Great to see more MentalFloss, including the new shows.
About half of these events, however, would have turned out the same imo.
The “ English Unit “ is a new one for me.
John is my favorite out of all of these people
Constantine reported seeing not just a cross, but the Chi Rho -- looks like a "P" with an "x" over it; it's the first two letters of Jesus' name in Greek. He also reportedly heard a voice say the words "in hoc signo vinces", which he interpreted to mean he should adopt the symbol as his military standard in order to defeat his enemies. He put that symbol on the shields of all his soldiers prior to the battle of Saxa Rubra, which he won.
That incidence was just one of many in his life that led to him supporting and promoting Christianity. But the point is, whatever he said he saw in the sky, it wasn't a regular old meteor. I've watched many meteor showers; I have yet to see one trace a Chi Rho, or even a simple cross. That doesn't mean Constantine wasn't a liar or a crazy person, but the "it was just a meteor" explanation is a wash.
Also Constantine didnt really make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. He just stopped its persecution. Fun Fact. Debatable too if he ever fully became Christian and renounced any previous religious affiliation. Hard to say he was solely responsible for its rise because he supported other religions too.
jamironited4 I've heard that he (Constantine) did push to make Christianity the official religion though, and him becoming Christian is what made it the official religion of 'Rome' (not the only religion) he forced the basic government at the time to become christian, but not the entire population.... I'm pulling this out of memory though, i didn't bother to go research before i replied. I could very well be wrong but i don't think i am.
jamironited4 Wait a minute, christianity is a religion? I thought it was just a hoax that everyone believed and will regret believing it
Nimiety327
Close. He didn't force the government to be Christian in the way that we would think of that today -- he didn't go to every council chamber and every landholder and force their conversion.
In fact he met with the other political and military leaders relatively soon after his ascension to the throne, to address problems in the empire. That's where the Edict of Milan came from, which *removed* state sanction from a specific religion (it was Roman pantheism at the time), and forbade persecution based on religious practice (for the most part).
What he did do, though, was "strongly encourage" Christianity for anyone serving at the emperor's behest, which in an empire includes a lot of government officials: anyone on imperial councils, anyone in his court or his household, etc.
His mother was also Christian, long before he was. Constantine essentially converted on his death bed. So there wasn't an empire-wide push to convert anyone from the top down, but there was a groundswell of support for Christianity, because popular public figures were embracing it.
Wazein Zailan Wait, you have thoughts? I was under the impression you were an empty shell, a vague portrayal of a human being. Dabbling in human-like interactions over the safe anonymity of the internet, broadcasting the empty rhetoric you repeat you give the illusion of wit, echoing of your empty skull.
The best episode so far!
Hey John, I'm sorry, but I always find the expression you make when you say Geico hilarious. It's like a burp, a fart, and a touch of vertigo all within a fraction of a second. And you do it EVERY TIME!!! :)
Ok, but who is here in 2020 and rewatches these videos like once a year because they love facts but have a terrible memory
Great video as always. :)
No mention of the guy who allowed the fall of the Berlin Wall to start? That's a really good one.
They recently found the Rover!!! Woooooo!
The graphic at 1:50 representing the B-26 is a WW2 era Martin B-26 Maurader. The aircraft used during the Bay of Pigs was the Douglas B-26 Invader, formerly known as the A-26, but renamed B-26 from 1948 through 1965. It was later re-designated A-26 and continued to soldier on in such places as Southeast Asia, the Congo, Portugal, and Nigeria.
These are some huge stretches at best. Like the binoculars, the Titanic disaster had so many contributing factors. They would have dropped the atom bomb no matter what, the Japanese never would have willingly surrendered.
Wish you add subtitles for every single video you have! I'm not a native speaker and it is very hard for me to understand everything. You have great videos and I don't even miss a single word.
The They Might Be Giants also scored a top 40 hit in Europe with Birdhouse in your Soul
Speaking of Adolf Hitler, he had a close call in World War I too. He was a soldier during WWI, and at one point he was assigned to deliver a message to an officer near the front. He delivered the message, was dismissed, and not 30 seconds after he'd left the building, it was struck by an artillery shell and destroyed.
New Zealand farmer, Richard Pierce, was actually the first man in powered flight in 1903 - nine months before the Wright Bros. He was just a modest farmer, and enjoyed tinkering with his contraptions. Plus, he was way the heck over in New Zealand over 100 years ago, so no one was really paying that much attention.
I wonder if he cried writing "The Fault in Our Stars"
Wasn't 'Birdhouse In Your Soul' a Might Be Giants hit in the US? It charted here in the UK.
According to a little google, it hit no 3 on the modern rock charts, but probably did not hit the top 40 in the larger charts.
My Big Question for the week: Why didn't John put some quarters in the Pork Chop Staff Party Fund for mentioning The Bay of Pigs?
That last one ..understatement :P
Hah funny (and sad) to see the Cedar Fire make an appearance on here, I still remember that fire and being evacuated from it
This is the first mental floss video where I didn't learn anything
The facts about the Civil War could have been more accurate. Ripley, the ordinance chief, did not oppose modern rifles, rather he opposed faster firing rifles(breechloaders) that would have given US troops greater firepower on the field. He insisted that soldiers would be careless of their ammunition and fail to aim shots, wasting great amounts of money. The Confederates did receive modern rifles from overseas, however these were not the fast firing breechloaders that the US could make. The CSA imported the most modern muzzle loading rifles(slow firing), the P53 Enfield from the UK starting in 1861. However, the US also imported these rifles starting in 1861, and imported 100,000 more of them than the south.
Thank for the facts!
Heres one
The first postage stamp was the UKs Penny Black in 1840. It actually made mail more affordable to send
The Manhattan Project almost didn’t get started in time to win the war. The stack of paperwork prepared to set up its bureaucracy was delivered to the President’s office on Saturday morning (or maybe Friday night). For some reason lost to history, FDR, who rarely went to work on weekends before the war, came in on THAT Saturday morning, saw the papers, signed them, and returned them to the Secretary of War. That Saturday was December 6, 1941. Had he waited until Monday, all that “routine paperwork” might have been ignored for months.
He mentioned how Uranus was nearly named Herschel after William Herschel, but forgot to mention that for a brief moment in time Uranus was known as George.
#8 The hunter was from West Covina; he did not get "lost in West Covina" and start the fire. The fire was started in the Cleveland National Forest.
Jason Patterson i would say so... West Covina isn’t known much for it’s vast forest.
I'm not sure who to trust, because when I learned about the invasion of Constantinople, I was taught that they fought for over a month and eventually had to transport a boat across the land into the harbour because the gate was so strong.
After quickly looking it up, both of you were right. But, from what it looks like, in the chaos of the Ottoman forces attacking the city itself, the Byzantines may have left the walls to attack, then retreated back inside the walls and forgot to close the gate, so the Ottoman army was able to get in that way
Also, the Wright brothers were not the first people to fly. Years before a German inventor, Gustave Whitehead was flying simplistic planes a few feet in the air (I don't remember how how but it was a rather significant height and not a mere few inches like the Wright brothers) for minutes at a time and even completed a successful turn. A far more impressive feat when you consider the Wright brothers were only in the air for a few seconds before calling the flight successful.
good info thanks
#24 the engine broke down but he decided to still put on a show.
Don't know if it was mentioned in the comments, but the Cedar Fire wasn't started in West Covina. It was started near Ramona.
There wasn't one reporter or american translator who thought, "maybe he meant no comment, lets not drop two atomic weapons"
Part of them probably wanted to drop the bomb, so they wouldn't report it anyway; and the other part may have just gone with the crowd reaction. I mean it isn't that hard to think that through, but if you are pressured in a war time, you are probably going to be less rational.
Doesn't matter, Japan didn't surrender until a week after both bombs were dropped. They were perfectly willing to keep fighting, in fact they were test flying their brand new jet aircraft 2 days after the first bomb was dropped. Not to mention that the firebombings were WAY worse than the nukes.
Japan surrendered, specifically to the americans, not because of the nukes, but because they couldn't stand the idea of being invaded by the soviets. And who can blame them? The soviets were fucking awful. If not for that decision, Japan might have looked a lot like China or North Korea today.
***** Japan had their own nuclear program, so they were aware of nuclear weapons. When hearing the news, some of them were skeptical that the US had managed to build one so quickly, but the reports from Hiroshima specified that it was indeed hit by a nuclear bomb.
Jerelin Reyes People in the 40s were racist as fuck? No shit.
Jerelin Reyes Just come out and say what it is you're trying to say instead of beating around the bush. Do you not feel it was justified to nuke Japan? Is that what you're saying?
I feel it should be noted that They Might Be Giants only covered the song Istanbul, the original song was by The Four Lads.
I can smell the pain when you say the word "Gieco"
But John... a visible meteor is not a little thing!
Istanbul not Constantinople wasn't even originally sung by They Might Be Giants. That amazing credit goes to The Four Lads, a Canadian group from the 50's.
I love the Napoleon/Corsica fact. People treated him really badly because they viewed him and his family as being suspicious because of the change in power in Corsica. So being hassled and bullied for stuff you have no control over and really shouldn’t matter has really just been trucking in all walks of life for just such a long time.
Also the possible comet wouldn’t be the first time astrological signs helped Christianity out along the way. I love that, it’s like Nativity Star 2.0!! 😅
It’s amazing how many times just simple human error on something simple (time zones, figuring out various kinds of measurement, translation issues, or mere forgetfulness in closing gates or reading notes etc) has caused people to mess up big events and/or cause them. Wow.
Also I think of the Stalin thing any time I have the urge to bark at people for waking me up. 😂 Patience now may bring help later! 👍🏻 This is why being nice and approachable is important. You don’t wanna end up dying because you’re guys are so scared of you. That’s just such a bummer of a way to go.
I hate how modesty issues caused so many women to have more pain and die more than they had to over the centuries, but I do like that the doctor felt he was being indelicate and that he wanted to be more circumspect about things. Back then it would have been even more scandalous and awkward than it would be now, and I’m sure it put him and his patients and then countless people more at ease. Now if they just weren’t freezing. We need a warming tray section to put it on, or a sort of cover around it that’ll keep it warm like a hand warmer but for a stethoscope! There’s money to be made here, lol. 😅
Gosh I love these videos. I love coming back to them on bad days like today and just binging and trying not to think about the pain and discomfort and help my brain drink in some knowledge.
History is history. Nothing on this list changed history. They simply ARE history.
Now, you go back in time and convince Truman not to drop the bombs, THAT is changing history.
Giuseppe (JOO-seppy) pronounced gwoo-seppy, gave me a good chuckle.
my favorite is how the french revolution basically started because some guy forgot to open the door for the 3rd estate for the morning so they got fed up and found a tennis court
I think they were revolting anyway. They just refused to be stopped by a single locked door.
They locked it on purpose because they did not give a crap about what the lower class had to say
The planet Uranus was also considered to be named after the King at the time, so instead of Uranus it was almost named planet George.
Even old New York, was once New Amsterdam...
Why they changed it, I can't say...
... people just liked it better that way!
My dad's favorite band is They Might Be Giants, and when they brought up Constantinople being renamed Istanbul, I was hoping they would make that joke so bad!
There's always a few I know to be wrong but the world does not end.
What a weird statement, "brought to you by Geico"... I pay UPC for my internet, then surf to UA-cam - a Google website, to watch a video co-produced and presented by John Green on the Mental Floss channel. So how did this company I've never heard of before, bring it to me? Would I still have gotten it if I hadn't actively clicked the link myself?
"brought to you by Geico" means Geico helped pay for it to be made. Although I agree, it is a weird word choice. It is pretty common in America to say something was "brought to you by ___" instead of "Paid for in part by ___" or "sponsored by ___"
Adding to the bit on Uranus, I've heard tell of this extra story relating to the naming of the planet. So the story goes, before Uranus was officially named, a popular title contender that was even endorsed by the planet's discoverer William Herschel was George. The name George for the planet was inspired by English King George III shortly before he went insane, shifting interest for a possible name back in the traditional realm of Greco-Roman deities.
Correction - the guy who started the Cedar Fire was FROM West Covina. The fire was started close to Ramona, CA, just east of San Diego, about 130 miles south of West Covina.
I knew a few things, like Hitler and the Academy of Fine Arts (new Harry Potter book series?) but I didn't know that René Laennec invented the stethoscope, he's from Brittany and I'm from Brittany too, I should have known this before. Yay Brittany !
#5 is kind of annoying I mean there was enough money for the turkish baths but when it came to getting another pair of binoculars they where like NOPE not enough money -__-
Bay of PIGS? Time to put another quarter in the pork chop party fund!
Some of these made some pretty strong assumptions which failed to take into account other factors which played a larger role. I will not bother to list the issues, but they're pretty obvious. Namely the first second and seventeenth items stood out as being way to simplified if not plainly false (in the sense that they likely wouldn't have changed the course of events).
EDIT: After re-watching it, my issue with the seventeenth item doesn't seem to stand out as the main point but it is a point John bothered to make. The statement being that a U.S. president came into office on the account of one man. Again, awfully simplified.
To be fair, he doesn't really have that much time to go into every detail.
Good stuff. I did however notice you forgot to put a quarter in the piggy bank after talking about the bay of pigs (unless that's not a thing anymore)
You can't change history. Unless you've invented a time machine.
Bay of Pigs mentioned! Two for the Pork Chop Party Fund! Come on John!
Please make another one, guys😁😁😁
Actually, Herschel named the planet he observed George's Star. It wasn't widely accepted and others proposed names such as Herschel, Neptune and Uranus, which made it in the end.
Have you ever read "The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History" by Erik Durschmied? It contains several gripping accounts (and very insightful ones) that show how simple acts (like one of the Confederate Generals leaving behind his copy of Robert E. Lee's battle plan, leaving it to be discovered by a low-ranking Union officer and, after showing it to Lincoln's generals, made the Battle of Sharpsburg almost a draw, preventing England and France from recognising the Confederate States of America and giving Lincoln confidence to issue his Emancipation Proclamation) have drastically changed history. It is one of my absolute favourite books. He also has a sequel called "When Weather Changed History" which is just as fascinating, though his first book was better. I highly recommend it and would probably add at least two or three things to this list! :) DFTBA! - Emily
Sometimes you do get it wrong Mental Floss. Please check your facts, yes not you're facts, rummies. That one you did get right!
10) The door in Constantinople wasn't open by mistake but it was opened by traitors that exist in the whole history of human kind!!!
Wow! That fact about the chess game is pretty cool... U know...i wonder if u guys can produce a video full of interesting chess facts... Like one that i know, the second world chess champion, emanuel lasker is one of the genius who ever lived and he was Einstein's best friend (though he did not really agree about the theory of relativity...)
hell yeah TMBG shout out!
3:09 TMBG didn't write that song, it's a cover of The Four Lads
Emily Davison only had a return ticket because it was the only kind you could buy on Derby Day.
(I'm sorry if some one has already commented this) but
It is commonly believed Emily Davison's death wasn't a suicide because she bought a return train ticket home, but this isn't a good piece of evidence because she was only able to buy a return ticket home due to the Derby occurring that day.
However, new analysis of the footage showing her jumping in front of the race has made it seem like she didn't intend to commit suicide but from stance in front of the King's horse that sh intended to put perhaps a Suffragette ribbon around the horse, but instead was mown over by it.
Holy shit, just imagine how many catastrophys we've missed by just a flap of a butterfly...
Out of interest, I just read the wikipedia article on Stalins death. He did not die the morning, the guards entered the room late. He had a stroke that morning and died 4 days later.
Which lead to one of the best Cartoon music videos. Tiny Tunes Istanbul.