Following hot on the heels of the very popular 20 Historical Oddities You Probably Don’t Know, and Another 20 Historical Oddities You Don’t Know, we now present you with a third list of historical oddities. Thankfully for us, history is so full of them that we can continue this series for many years in the future!
1. In 1752, there were only 354 days in Great Britain and its colonies. This was because Britain adopted the Gregorian Calendar in place of the Julian calendar. The lost days were September 3 - September 13 inclusive.
2. The Hundred Years’ War (a war to determine who the rightful King of France would be) was actually 116 years long. It was during this war that Saint Joan rose up in France to lead her army to victory.
3. From the year 1309 to 1377, the Roman Catholic Papacy was not based in Rome - it was based in Avignon, France. This was primarily over a dispute with the Holy Roman Empire. In 1378, Pope Gregory XI (pictured above) returned the seat of the Pope to Rome.
4. Arabic numerals (the ones used in English) were not invented by the Arabs at all - they were actually invented by Indian mathematicians. They were modified and transferred to North African Arab mathematicians and transmitted to Europe in the Middle Ages.
5. After the U.S Civil War, about 33% - 50% of all U.S. paper currency in circulation was counterfeit.
6. In 1938, Time Magazine declared Adolf Hitler “Man of the Year”. In the same year he took full and absolute command over the German military, stated that he intended to crush Czechoslovakia, took greater control over Austria by threatening to invade, and expelled 12,000 Jews from Germany.
7. In 1685, playing cards were used as currency in New France (the French territories of North America) because of a coin shortage.
8. In 1892, Italy raised the minimum age for marriage for girls - to 12.
9. The first contraceptives were used in Ancient Egypt. Egyptian women would use vaginal suppositories made of acidic substances and lubricated with honey or oil. (An early form of English contraception is pictured above.)
10. The shortest war on record was fought between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 45 minutes.
11. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
12. “In God We Trust” was not officially the motto of the United States of America until 1956. The Congressional Record of that year reads: “At the present time the United States has no national motto. The committee deems it most appropriate that ‘In God we trust’ be so designated as U.S. national motto.”
13. John Aubrey, the diarist, tells a story about the Earl of Oxford. When the Earl made a low obeisance to the Queen, he happened to let go a fart, at which he was so ashamed that he left the country for 7 years. At his return the Queen welcomed him and said, “My lord, I had forgot the fart”! [Source]
14. Despite the terrible nature of and damage caused by the 1666 Great Fire of London, only 8 people were killed. This is despite the fire destroying at least 13,500 houses.
15. In 74 AD, Emperor Vespasian (pictured above) had run out of money due to a civil war. In order to raise funds, he created the world’s first public pay toilets. When his son Titus criticized him for it, Vespasian pointed out that money (even earnt through urine) did not smell. This gave rise to the common saying “Pecunia non olet” - “money does not smell”.
16. The Bank of America was originally called the Bank of Italy. It was created in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini to cater to immigrants from Italy. After merging in the 1920s with the “Bank of America, Los Angeles”, it officially became “Bank of America”.
17. In the First Liberian War in the 1990s, General Joshua Milton Blahyi (also known as General Butt Naked) would lead his troops naked except for shoes and a gun - he did this at the suggestion of the devil, who Blahyi claims telephoned him at age 11. He believed it would protect him from the bullets (and apparently it did - as he is still alive, though he is now a religious preacher). General Butt Naked is pictured above.
18. At the start of World War I, the US Airforce (then a component of the US army) had only 18 pilots and 5 - 12 airplanes.
19. Contrary to popular belief and legend, Daniel Boone not only did not wear a coonskin cap, he detested them. Instead, Boone wore a felt cap.
20. In 1838, General Antonio López de Santa Anna (President of Mexico) had his leg amputated after his ankle was destroyed by canon-fire. He ordered a full military burial for it.
Contributor: JFrater
译文:
二十件趣味横生的历史奇闻
继二十件鲜为人知的历史趣闻，与二十件不为人知的历史奇特事实成功推出大受欢迎后，我们现在为你精彩呈现第三份历史奇闻目录。非常荣幸，历史上的奇闻轶事数不胜数，这使得今后我们可以为您不断推陈出新，继续这个系列！
1 . 1752年，大不列颠与它的殖民地在这一年里只有354天。这是因为大不列颠采用格雷戈里历代替了原先的儒略历。被遗记的日子从9月3号直至九月13号。
2 . 百年战争（这是一场确定法兰西合法统治者的战争）实际上持续了116年之久。正是在这一战争中，圣女贞德在法国揭竿起义，领导她的军队取得了最后胜利。
3 . 从1309至1377年，罗马天主教皇并不在罗马，而是在法国阿维尼翁。这主要是由于当时的天主教与罗马帝国发生了争执，1378年，天主教皇格雷戈里十一世再次返回罗马掌权。
4 . 阿拉伯数字（用于英语中的一种数字）并不是起源于阿拉伯国家，实际上最早是由印度数学家发明的，经修改后传至北非的阿拉伯数学家，然后在中世纪传至欧洲。
5 . 美国内战后，市场上流通的纸币有33 ％ - 50 ％是假币。
6. 1938年，《时代》杂志将阿道夫·希特勒评为“年度人物”，在同一年，他掌管国家大权并向德国军队下达了绝对命令，信誓旦旦决意攻破捷克斯洛伐克，通过胁迫和侵略控制了整个奥地利，并将德国境内的1.2万犹太人驱逐出境。
7. 1685年，扑克牌在新法兰西（法属北美领地）曾被用为流通货币，这是因为当时硬币短缺
8. 1892年，意大利将女性的最低结婚年龄改为12岁。
9. 最早的避孕用具始用于古代埃及，埃及女性使用某些涂有蜂蜜和润滑油的酸性物质作为阴道栓。 （上图是英国早期出品的避孕用具）。
10. 史上记载的历时最短的战争是1896年发生在桑给巴尔和英国之间的战争，仅45分钟桑给巴尔就投降了。
11. 二次世界大战期间，盟军在柏林投放了第一颗炸弹，仅造成柏林动物园内一头大象的死亡。
12. 1956年前，“我们信奉上帝”并不是美国的国家正式格言，因在那一年的国会记录上写着：“目前美国并没有自己的国家格言，而‘我们信奉上帝’这句话，国会认为最适合作为国家格言。”
13. 约翰·奥布里是一位日记作者，他给我们讲述了一个关于牛津伯爵的故事，当这位伯爵向女王行跪拜礼时，不慎放了一个屁，对此，他非常的羞愧致使其离开英国达7年之久。他归国时，女王给予了他隆重招待，并说了一句话：“我的伯爵，我已经忘记了你放的那个屁了！” [出处于]
14. 尽管1666年的伦敦大火造成的损失惨重，毁坏了至少13，500座房屋，却只有8人在这场火灾中死亡。
15. 公元74年，维斯帕西安大帝由于内战耗光了国库储备，为了筹集资金，他建立了世界上第一个公用付费厕所。当他的儿子泰特斯对此项举措提出批判性意见时，维斯帕西安指着那些钱说，（虽然它是从厕所里挣来的），但是它们并不臭。后来，“钱没有臭味”广为人民流传。
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奇闻16 - 20
16. 美国银行最初叫做意大利银行，是1904年由阿马迪奥－贾尼尼为服务意大利移民而创建的。20世纪20年代，它与“洛杉矶美国银行”合并后，正式定名为“美国银行”。
17. 在20世纪90年代的利比里亚第一次战争中，军阀约书亚·米尔顿·布雷希（又名裸体将军）竟然领导他的军队只穿着鞋子与手拿枪杆进行裸体战斗。他说这样做是得到了撒旦的指示，布雷希声称在他11岁时，撒旦就告诉他。他相信这样做会使自己免于中弹。（确实如此，他在战争中存活了下来，虽然他现在是一名宗教说教者）。 上图是裸体将军的画像。
18. 在第一次世界大战之初，美国空军（当时美军的一个军种）仅有18名飞行员，5-12架飞机。
19. 与流行观念和传奇故事相反，探险家丹尼尔·布恩并没有戴浣熊皮帽，相反，他还很厌恶戴这种帽子。而他戴着的也是一顶毡帽。
20. 1838年，安东尼奥·罗培兹·圣塔·安那将军（后为墨西哥总统）在战争中脚踝被炮火击伤，之后他进行了腿部截切手术，并下令为其截掉的大腿举行了一次隆重的军事葬礼
撰稿人: JFrater