Flipboard History

HISTORY

History loves its heroes a little too much. We paint murals and build statues about people who probably didn't deserve the praise. Dig past the legends and you'll find frauds, tyrants, and phonies.

THINGS

Facing impossible odds, the mighty 300 of Sparta made a stand at the Battle of Thermopylae that determined the course of history—despite how it ended.

THINGS

In 2024, archaeologists discovered a 150-year-old message in a bottle—and at first, they were unable to translate its strange runes.

PEOPLE

Berengaria of Navarre's marriage to Richard the Lionheart was an adventure.

PEOPLE

The 1960 election between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon was marked by accusations of voter fraud.

PEOPLE

Folk legend Woody Guthrie saw more than one family member fall victim to tragic housefires—but nothing could have prepared him for the horror of the day he himself would be engulfed in flame.

PEOPLE

The Soviets nicknamed Simo Häyhä “The White Death” for his devastating sniper record—but recent evidence suggests he was even deadlier than they thought.

PEOPLE

When John Jacob Astor VI asked for his share of the family fortune, his brother refused—but no one could have foreseen that this would trigger the downfall of the entire Astor family.

PEOPLE

Lyudmila Pavlichenko was such a deadly sniper, the Axis tried to get her to switch sides—with one incredibly bizarre bribe.

PEOPLE

Charles Darwin's ideas on evolution were influenced by the devastating loss of his daughter.

PEOPLE

More people need to know about Hiroo Onoda, the soldier who didn’t believe WWII was over—and refused to surrender for nearly 30 years.

PEOPLE

Antoine Lavoisier was one of the most brilliant men of his time, but he fell victim to revolutionary fanaticism.



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