42 Millennia Spanning Facts About World History
“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know,” said Harry Truman, 33rd president of the United States.
With that in mind, here is a list of 42 facts about the history of the world and its remarkable people, from ancient times to the 21st Century.
World History Facts
42. Think Again
Scholars have long believed that the origin of the human species began in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa about 200,000 years ago. However, recent radiometric dating tests have determined that a homo sapiens skull found in the Jebel Irhoud cave in Morocco is at least 100,000 years older than that. Further archaeological exploration of the Moroccan cave uncovered bones from at least five other individuals, along with tools they had used, turning previous ideas about human history on their head.
41. Just Say No
The first known conscientious objector in history was the Roman soldier Maximilianus, a Christian, who in 295 declared that his religious faith prohibited him from engaging in warfare.
He was executed and later canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church. In 1995 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights released a resolution, upholding the rights of conscientious objectors to refrain from military service.
May 15 is celebrated internationally as Conscientious Objectors Day.
40. Off with Their Heads
The guillotine, which came into popular use during the French Revolution in the 18th century, remained a legal method of execution in the country until capital punishment was outlawed in 1981.
The last person to be executed by guillotine in France was a Tunisian farm worker, convicted of torture and murder, who was beheaded in 1977. Since then there have been no other legal executions in France or in the European Union as a whole.