The story is rich in plots that will give odds to any science fiction novel. And in many cases these events seem to be more than just incredible. Many of them are weird enough or downright awful.
Fact number 1. Great suffering fell on the lot of the man who tried to save Abraham Lincoln
Many people know the illustration from 1860, called "The Murder of Abraham Lincoln." But who is this couple who are the company of the presidential couple in the theater box? The man visible in the illustration is Sir Henry Rathbone. President Lincoln and his wife specially invited Rathbone, along with his fiancée, Clara Harris, to accompany them to the theater.
Lincoln was fatally wounded in the head with a pistol. The shot was fired by a southerner supporter, actor John Booth. When he fired, Rathbone tried to fight him. At the same time, the actor jumped awkwardly into the audience and rushed to the stage, acting as if it were part of a play in progress. During the fight, Rathbone was stabbed by an assassin. Twelve days later, Booth was found on a farm in Virginia and shot.
The President passed away the next day. Everyone tried to console poor Mrs. Lincoln. Clara's dress was stained with blood. In reality, it was the blood of an injured Rathbone, but it was unlikely that Mrs Lincoln, in a state of shock, could be convinced that it was not her husband's blood. Clara did not even wash this dress afterwards - she kept it in her house in the closet.
Clara and Henry were married two years after the death of President. They had three children. Rathbone was never able to recover after Lincoln's death. He constantly blamed himself for not being able to save the president. Henry became quite paranoid. He was constantly haunted by delusional visions. He began to drink, but this only aggravated the situation. On December 23, 1883, Henry entered his wife's bedroom and tried to kill the children. When he failed, he shot Clara. After that, Rathbone tried to commit suicide. When the servants came, he muttered incoherently about the voices coming from the paintings. After that, Rathbone was sent to a psychiatric hospital.
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Fact number 2. The parents of Pharaoh Tutankhamun were brother and sister
The scientists examined the mummy of the pharaoh using a tomograph, and also conducted a number of DNA tests. This made it possible to show what Tutankhamun looked like during his lifetime. The appearance of the pharaoh, who died at the age of 19, was not particularly attractive. His left leg was twisted, and because of his clubfoot, he only walked with a cane. Pharaoh also had wide hips and narrow shoulders.
Historians are almost completely sure that his father was Akhenaten (also one of the Egyptian pharaohs). Although the identity of the mother is not reliably known, recent DNA studies from their tombs indicate that she was most likely one of his sisters. Incest was not uncommon in Egypt. However, this seriously affected the health of Tutankhamun - presumably, his problems with the musculoskeletal system could be caused by a genetic bone disease.
Fact number 3. In 1494, Europe practically survived the invasion of zombies
The Renaissance had its own little dark side. Sailors returning from the New World brought syphilis here. An epidemic broke out in Europe, affecting the entire French army. There were no antibiotics then. The skin of the patients sometimes peeled off directly from the face, revealing terrible features. In some cases, people practically lost their noses, lips or other body parts. This epidemic of syphilis has become a real semblance of a zombie apocalypse.
Fact number 4. Residents of the state of New England in the XIX century unearthed the grave of a woman, as they considered her a vampire
In the late 1800s, a terrible tuberculosis epidemic began in the Rhode Island and Vermont regions. The residents did not know how to stop it, but they did not know what exactly the disease was. As the victims became seemingly pale and emaciated, people assumed that the fault was the vampires biting the victims. After that, the "vampire hunt" began.
They decided that it was all the fault of the Exeter family, who also fell ill. Gradually, all family members died, but even this did not stop the "hunters" who decided to do away with even the remains of the dead. Mrs Exeter's 19-year-old daughter died before the rest of the family, so her corpse was in relatively good condition - there was still blood in her heart. Then the "hunters" dug up and burned her body, and then scattered the ashes over the water. As expected, this did not stop the epidemic.
Fact # 5. Thomas Edison created a terrible doll
One of the inventor's ideas was to make the phonograph smaller and include it in toys. The phonograph was placed in a tin case in the doll's body. The talking toys sold for $ 10. But then the sound recording was in its infancy. The hissing and humming recordings did not cause delight in the children, but rather hysteria and fear. In addition, the fragile mechanism often broke down, because children often handle toys carelessly. That's why Edison's idea failed.
Fact # 6. False jaws in the past were made from the teeth of dead soldiers
Why insert artificial teeth when you can make a denture out of real ones? In 1815, about 50 thousand soldiers died at the Battle of Waterloo. Before they were buried, their teeth were pulled out. Dentures, which later became known as "Waterloo teeth", were considered especially valuable and were snapped up among the cream of society. This term was used throughout the 19th century to refer to any natural teeth.
Fact number 7. Scientists at Princeton University turned a cat into a phone. Live cat
In 1929, two researchers - E. G. Vever and C. W. Bray decided to make a telephone out of a living cat - for the sake of scientific inventions. They needed to learn about how sounds are perceived by the auditory nerve. This required access to the real nerve. Scientists have chosen a cat for this purpose. They first opened his skull, and then they attached one end of a telephone wire to a nerve and the other to a telephone receiver to form a transmitter. The theory that when a sound gets louder, its frequency increases, has been confirmed. For further work, the scientists carried out even more experiments on the cat. Many have accused scientists of the cruelty of the animal experiment. But in the end, thanks to this research, there was a breakthrough in the manufacture of hearing aids for humans.
Fact number 8. In 1919, there was a sugar flood in Boston
On January 15, 1919, a huge tank exploded in Boston, in which molasses - black molasses - was stored. It is used in the post-Soviet space as one of the constituent parts of agricultural feed, and in the States and Canada it is a popular syrup in cooking. Part of the city was then flooded with sweet liquid.
Fact No. 9. Calculations, which take a person a lifetime, were completed by the PC in 40 seconds
In the 19th century, the mathematician W. Shanks spent 15 whole years of his life to calculate 707 decimal places in Pi. However, the scientist made a mistake, and only 527 were correct. In 1958, the computer correctly calculated all 707 characters, having spent only 40 seconds.
Fact number 10. King of Portugal Pedro the Just removed the corpse of his beloved from the grave and made it an object of worship
Pedro the Just was passionately in love with one of the ladies of his official wife, Constance. Pedro's father, Athos IV, was against this connection, since the object of Pedro's adoration, Ines Castro, was a representative of one of the noble families, and such a connection could entail unpredictable consequences for the throne.
But the heir to the throne did not listen to his father, and continued to live with both Constance and his favorite. Caring for the good of the nation, Afonso looked for any options for the destruction of the young woman. In 1354, rumors spread that Pedro had secretly married Ines. This caused a great commotion, and at the privy council it was decided to kill the lady of the court. In January 1355, Pedro was sent on a mission to the far end of the country. At this very time, the nobles went to the palace and killed Ines.
Pedro's passionate love gave birth to a legend: according to her, the king, during his coronation, gave the order to remove the corpse of Ines from the grave and put it next to him. The deceased was dressed in royal robes, and a crown was placed on her head. The entire royal court gave the corpse royal honors.
Author: Valentina Buravleva Black Rikky
