Bizarre Historical Facts You Didn’t Know

The current US flag was designed by high schooler Robert Heft as part of a school project for which he recieved a B-. When his design was chosen to represent the nation his teacher changed the grade to an A.

It has been calculated that in the last 3,000 years there have only been 240 years of peace in the world

In spite of the larger-than-life legends, the Pony Express only lasted 19 months (April 1860 to October 1861)

At its peak the Roman Empire stretched for 2.51 million square miles. It was only the 19th largest empire in history.

More people died in each of the two largest than in WWI

At its height in 480BC the first Persian Empire covered 44% of the world's population.

Of the ten deadliest wars every fought, seven were fought in China

This is the largest percentage of any empire in history. By comparison the British only had 20%

Mexican General Santa Anna had a huge state funeral in honor of his amputated leg

The US Constitution contains many spelling and grammatical errors

During medieval times animals were put on trial and sometimes sentenced to death

During the ice age, people in the British Isles used humans skulls as cups

During the An Lushan rebellion in China in the mid 700s nearly 40 million people died. This was 1/6 of the world's population.

King Goujian of Yue placed a row of convicted criminals at the front of his army. Before the battle they would all cut off their own heads to show the other army how crazy King Goujian's army was

In ancient Egypt the servants were covered in honey so as to attract flies away from pharaoh

During the An Lushan rebellion in China in the mid 700s nearly 40 million people died. This was 1/6 of the world's population.

Peter the Great had his wife's lover beheaded and then forced his wife to keep the head preserved in her room.

The Mongols would light the fat of their enemies on fire and proceed to shoot it at their other enemies.

In ancient Egypt, when a ruler would die all of his servants and animals were buried alive with him

The last time a cavalry charge was used on the battlefield was during WWII when a Mongolian cavalry division charged a German infantry division. 2,000 Mongolian units were killed and not a single German died.