Random history facts

History is full of moments that sound invented. Here are fifteen of our favourites — each one true, each one a doorway into a bigger story.

15 random history facts

Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire — teaching there began around 1096; Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325.
In 1932 the Australian army fought the "Great Emu War" against tens of thousands of emus — and largely lost.
The Romans had fast food: thermopolia, street counters selling hot food, have been excavated at Pompeii.
Ancient Egyptian workers at Deir el-Medina staged one of the earliest recorded strikes, around 1157 BC.
The shortest war on record, the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896, lasted roughly 38 to 45 minutes.
Vikings reached North America around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before Columbus.
The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed over 13,000 houses, yet only a handful of deaths were recorded.
Napoleon was of roughly average height for his time; the "short" myth came partly from British cartoons.
Medieval Europeans did not believe the Earth was flat — scholars had known it was round since antiquity.
The Library of Alexandria declined over centuries rather than vanishing in a single fire.
Roman concrete in some harbour structures has grown stronger over time thanks to reactions with seawater.
The Hundred Years' War actually lasted 116 years (1337–1453).
The Terracotta Army has more than 8,000 soldiers, and no two faces were made exactly alike.
Ancient Greek Olympians competed naked, and married women were generally barred from watching.

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