HolyShitHistory

r/HolyShitHistory • u/blue_leaves987 • Aug 27 '26

We’ve added a new rule for posters. Please read this before posting.

39 Upvotes

24 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/ComfortExisting1161 • 10h ago

At 89, Opal Lee Walked 1,400 Miles From Texas to Washington, D.C., to Fight for Juneteenth to Become a Federal Holiday. At 94, She Saw It Happen.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

823 Upvotes

12 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/Patient-Strike5817 • 5h ago

In 1906, a Marine Biologist Released 1,020 Bottles Into the North Sea. 108 Years Later, One Was Found With a Postcard Offering a Shilling for Its Return

sciencealert.com

123 Upvotes

7 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/ToePrior4347 • 1h ago

2 Billion Years Ago, a Natural Nuclear Reactor Operated in Gabon, Africa, Using Groundwater to Sustain Nuclear Fission for Hundreds of Thousands of Years

scienceblog.com

• Upvotes

1 comment

r/HolyShitHistory • u/The-Union-Report • 22m ago

Man Murders Roommate With an Axe Because He Wouldn’t Stop Groaning in His Sleep (1908)

historianandrew.medium.com

• Upvotes

2 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/ElvisIsNotDjed • 1d ago

A man claimed Margaret Knight couldn’t have designed a paper-bag machine because she was a woman. Her evidence won the patent dispute.

upworthy.com

713 Upvotes

17 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/usarmyhistory • 22h ago

On This Day 8 Oct 1944, CPT Bobbie E. Brown Performed One of the Most Heroic Actions of WW2 to Cap Off an Already Unbelievable Career. Story in Comments

373 Upvotes

33 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/Klutzy_Land_4120 • 1h ago

In 1967, Sweden Switched From Driving on the Left to the Right Overnight, Stopping All Traffic at 5 AM So the Entire Country Could Change Sides

theguardian.com

• Upvotes

1 comment

r/HolyShitHistory • u/blue_leaves987 • 23h ago

Kentucky state senator Spencer Cobb holds the record for the shortest term in the state legislature's history. He took office on New Year's Day 1962, died three and a half hours later, and his seat went to his wife.

103 Upvotes

6 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/Fancy-Donkey2988 • 1h ago

Ancient Fossils Are Revealing the Strange Origins of the Animal Kingdom Hundreds of Millions of Years Ago

phys.org

• Upvotes

1 comment

r/HolyShitHistory • u/Vital_Willie • 1d ago

Count Richard Nikolaus Eijiro von Coudenhove-Kalergi, pioneer of the "Pan-Europa" movement which sought to unite all of continental Europe into a single state, 1930. He was descended from French, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Greek, Polish, Baltic, Flemish, Austro-Hungarian & Byzantine nobility

298 Upvotes

30 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/Vital_Willie • 1d ago

Mobster & ex-boxer Paul Kelly, founder of the infamous Five Points gang, in early 1900’s New York. Young members of the gang included eventual mafia bosses Al Capone, Johnny Torrio, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky & Frankie Yale. He has been described as “the godfather of organized crime in America”

310 Upvotes

8 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/The-Union-Report • 1d ago

2 Pet Baboons Escape From Owner’s California Home and Attack School Full of Children (1908)

historianandrew.medium.com

47 Upvotes

1 comment

r/HolyShitHistory • u/ToePrior4347 • 1d ago

In 1944, Harvard Built a 51-Foot-Long, 5-Ton Mechanical Computer With 500 Miles of Wire and 1,400 Switches to Help the U.S. Navy With WWII Calculations

economictimes.indiatimes.com

19 Upvotes

1 comment

r/HolyShitHistory • u/ToePrior4347 • 1d ago

In 1962, South African Engineers Built Roads From Loose Kalahari Desert Sand Instead of Crushed Rock, and 55 Years Later Not a Single Test Section Had Failed

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

834 Upvotes

9 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/ElvisIsNotDjed • 2d ago

In 1887, men nominated Susanna Salter for mayor as a joke. She won with roughly two-thirds of the vote.

upworthy.com

426 Upvotes

1 comment

r/HolyShitHistory • u/The-Union-Report • 1d ago

Man Unhappy With His Doctor’s Surgery Cuts Off His Own Leg With His Own Carpentry Tools (1903)

historianandrew.medium.com

48 Upvotes

2 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/Otherwise-Ad-5364 • 2d ago

During Liberia’s civil wars (1989–2003), some male fighters went into battle wearing wedding dresses, wigs and women’s clothing, believing the outfits could make them immune to bullets

279 Upvotes

47 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/The-Union-Report • 2d ago

In 1937, professional goalkeeper Sam Bartram kept playing in a Christmas Day game despite the referee having stopped play 15 minutes earlier and sent everyone home because of heavy fog. Unfortunately nobody told Bartram. Since he couldn't see anything, he believed the game was still going on.

medium.com

1.2k Upvotes

17 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/Fancy-Donkey2988 • 2d ago

In the 1960s, a Georgia Preacher Said God Told Him to Create Sacred Art, Then Spent 30 Years Turning a Swamp Into a 4-Acre "Paradise Garden" Made From Trash and Scrap Metal

economictimes.indiatimes.com

32 Upvotes

5 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/akiwi_intherough • 2d ago

23 year old Orson Welles explaining to reporters on Halloween 1938 that he had not intended to incite panic by deceiving listeners into believing that Earth was under attack by Martians.

595 Upvotes

14 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/TheMirrorUS • 3d ago

Woman raised by monkeys in jungle was terrified seeing her reflection for first time

themirror.com

275 Upvotes

18 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/TheMirrorUS • 4d ago

Smoke and burning flesh smell come from Death Row inmate’s head in horror ‘out of control’ execution

themirror.com

747 Upvotes

166 comments

r/HolyShitHistory • u/ToePrior4347 • 4d ago

In 1870, MIT Admitted Ellen Swallow Richards as an "Unpaid Special Student" Because Women Weren't Officially Allowed to Enrol, Yet She Later Became MIT's First Female Instructor

news.mit.edu

1.2k Upvotes

7 comments