I stated that my having ADHD is likely the reason behind my questionably odd fascination with random facts of any sort in yesterday’s post, and I stand by that assertion. Upon further thought about what inspired me to share some random facts from history, specifically, I do think some of the credit is owed to Olga of Kiev, whom I wrote a series of posts about recently.
I aspire to be as much as a badass as Olga was. Alas, perhaps in another life.
My 12-year-old self is eating humble pie at my appreciation for history in my adult years, and these random facts are no exception to this interest. Again, this information comes from parade.com.
“7. Famous conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte was once attacked by a horde of bunnies! He had requested that a rabbit hunt be arranged for himself and his men. When the rabbits were released from their cages, the bunnies charged toward Bonaparte and his men in an unstoppable onslaught.
“8. Cleopatra wasn’t actually Egyptian! As far as historians can tell, Egypt’s famous femme fatal was actually Greek! She was a descendant of Alexander the Great’s Macedonian general Ptolemy.
“9. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine. In 1834, it was sold as a cure for an upset stomach by an Ohio physician named John Cook. It wasn’t popularized as a condiment until the late 19th century!
“10. Did you know Abraham Lincoln is in the wrestling hall of fame? The 6’4″ president had only one loss among his around 300 contests. He earned a reputation for this in New Salem, Illinois, as an elite fighter.
“16. In the Ancient Olympics, athletes performed naked! This was to achieve closeness to the gods and also help detox their skin through sweating. In fact, the word ‘gymnastics’ comes from the Ancient Greek words ‘gumnasía’ (‘athletic training, exercise’) and ‘gumnós’ (‘naked’),” the web page states.
Come back tomorrow for more, if you please.
Photo by Julia Kadel on Unsplash
