The story is much more complicated than we think. Eras sometimes overlap, providing researchers with new topics to explore. We present 6 interesting historical facts that we hardly ever thought about.
Karl Marx supported Abraham Lincoln
German philosopher and economist Karl Marx is known as the founder of the communist ideology. What could he have in common with Abraham Lincoln - the undisputed hero for almost everyone … including the author of Capital? Despite the huge gap in perception of these two historical figures, Marx was a big fan of Lincoln.
The philosopher wrote to Lincoln on behalf of the International Workers' Association of the United Kingdom to congratulate him on his re-election and to cheer him on his "kick slavery." It is surprising that Lincoln responded. The President instructed the US Ambassador to London to correspond with Marx. He sent a response letter in which he expressed gratitude for the support. Lincoln may have learned the famous philosopher's name from his work for The New York Daily Tribune, a Republican newspaper.
In fact, Marx was so connected to the United States that he seriously considered moving there. He even applied for a visa to immigrate to Texas along with a wave of Germans heading there after the failure of the 1848 revolutions.
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Ancient China knew about Ancient Rome
We tend to think of Ancient China as isolated from Ancient Rome. Genetic data show that people from Europe interacted with people in China as early as the 3rd century BC. For example, scientists have found European mitochondrial DNA in western Chinese people.
In 2010, archaeologists in Italy found a 2nd century AD tomb containing a man with his mother from East Asia.
But perhaps the most interesting piece of evidence is Weilue, a document written by the Chinese about the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD, which even provided directions on how to get there.
There were still slaves in the civil rights era
Anyone who thinks that racism is "over" in America is wrong. This happened 150 years ago. The fact is that the people who took part in the Civil War did not all fall dead at the same time, as soon as it ended.
Historically, the last surviving Civil War veteran was a Minnesota drummer who died in 1956. And the last war veteran was the Confederate - Pleasant Crump, reminiscent of a character from a western. He died in 1951 at the age of 104. This means that Crump went from listening to muskets on the battlefields of the Civil War to radio broadcasts about atomic bombs at the end of World War II. In other words, we have a man who literally fought to keep the institution of slavery alive long enough, while voting in an election with Dwight D. Eisenhower, the president who enforced the Supreme Court's decision to desegregate schools.
But even more surprising is Peter Mills, a man born into slavery who died at the age of 110 in 1972. Scientists don't know if he was the last living slave in America because there is insufficient evidence. But it's still wild to think that an American slave outlived Martin Luther King Jr. and was alive at the same time as Barack Obama. It's a shame he didn't stay for another few decades to see Obama sworn in - the "real" day of the end of racism.
Greco-Buddhist kingdoms
The conquests of the historical figure - Alexander the Great extended far beyond the borders of ancient Greece to the Indian subcontinent. The result was a mixture of hybrid kingdoms and cultural exchange.
The most interesting was the Greco-Bactrian kingdom - a state that is a mixture of Greek with Indian and Buddhist culture. From the 4th century BC. until the 5th century AD Greco-Buddhism flourished in the modern regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwestern India. It all started with the fact that Alexander began to build cities while traveling the world. The colonists mixed Greek myth with Buddhist iconography. Many concentrated on Dionysus, since he was to come from the east. So in one myth Zeus orders to bring wine to India so that the locals worship him.
Colonial Americans helped in the English Civil War
Colonial Americans did not see themselves as such. And all because they were British citizens. In 1640, a bloody civil war broke out in England. The colonists reacted differently when the country went to war against itself.
The outbreak of civil war between the king and parliament opened the way for the British state to strengthen its position over the American colonies. Conflict broke out when Charles I convened parliament in 1640 to crush an uprising in Scotland. The Irish revolted the following year, and by 1642, tensions between Charles and Parliament led to the English Civil War. Parliament won, Charles I was executed, and England became a republic. These changes led to the fact that England redefined relations with her American colonies. This meant that in the 1640s, when the English Revolution took place, all of its colonies were drawn into it. American colonists took up arms against King Charles I, and thereby helped in the civil war.
The Russian Empire once owned part of California
We believe that America was already a great power by the 19th century. But the facts suggest otherwise. In truth, many European powers fought over pieces of North America back in the 1800s, and even Russia was trying to "grab" something.
Alaska was part of Russia until America bought it. But in reality it was like taking a piece of Canada by throwing away the "Made in America" sticker. Even more interesting, Russia bought part of California. The country owned and controlled part of the Pacific Northwest from a place called Fort Ross.
Russian California has never been a settler colony. It was an economic undertaking, and the Russians used it for trade with the Spaniards (their southern neighbors), otter hunting, agriculture, and shipbuilding. Russian history ended in this place. In 1841, when Russia decided the colonial efforts were not worth it, it sold the Fort to an American.