12739. History Facts

In the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru over who was allowed to collect bird faeces and whether they should have to pay a tax on them.

12740. History Facts

Before modern plumbing, a gong scourer was a boy who was sent into cess pits to scoop and scrape all the muck into buckets and remove it. The job was so horrible it was done at night so that people wouldn't have to see it happening.

12741. History Facts

When King Philip of Spain died in 1560, his devastated wife would not allow him to be buried, but had his coffin accompany her everywhere.

12742. History Facts

Csar Peter III of Russia was crowned 34 years after he died. His coffin was opened so that the crown could be put on his head.

12743. History Facts

The body of William the Conqueror was too big for his coffin, so two soldiers jumped up and down on him to try to squish him in. This broke his back and made his stomach explode.

12744. History Facts

Before the days of lipstick, women used to colour their lips red with cochineal, a paste made from crushed beetles.

12745. History Facts

The law system drawn up by the Roman emperor Draco made every crime a capital offence – one for which the criminal could be executed.

12746. History Facts

In the Middle Ages, the boys who looked after dogs used for hunting had to sleep in the kennels with them.

12747. History Facts

Before the invention of real footballs, kids used to stuff a pig's bladder with peas to kick around.

12748. History Facts

Ancient Romans used to make themselves sick during a banquet so that they could eat more after they were full. A special slave had the job of clearing up the mess.

12749. History Facts

In England, suicide used to be illegal.The punishment for trying to kill yourself was death.

12750. History Facts

In medieval France, a cockerel that was found sitting on an egg (which only hens normally do) was found guilty of being a devil and was burned at the stake.

12751. History Facts

In 1808, Tommy Otter was hanged for killing his girlfriend. His body was left chained in a tree and a year later a pair of blue tits made a nest in his skull and reared eight chicks.

12752. History Facts

To honour the goddess Teteoinnan at the time of harvest, the Aztecs skinned a woman as a sacrifice. Her skin was then worn by a priest at a harvest festival.

12753. History Facts

In the 1800s, Mongolian prisoners were fastened into a wooden box little larger than a coffin where they were left to die. Some were given food for years, but never allowed out.

12754. History Facts

Houses in many parts of the world have been made from a mixture called wattle and daub – horse manure and straw.

12755. History Facts

Archaeologists in Peru have found skeletons of victims tied up and left to be eaten by vultures, perhaps as a sacrifice.

12756. History Facts

Biological warfare has been used since 600 BCE when the Greek city Cirrha was besieged by Solon. He poisoned the water supply with hellebore roots and stormed the city while the citizens had diarrhoea.

12757. History Facts

During the 900 days of the siege of Leningrad in the Second World War, 1,500 people were accused of cannibalism.

12758. History Facts

Vikings used rancid butter to style and dress their hair.

Fact
William Shakespeare used a vocabulary of 29,066 different words. By way of comparison, the average person uses about 8,000 different words.      .. More >>