historymemes

Context: In the early 18 hundreds the Napoleonic was on going. Denmark was at the time a naval force to be reckoned with. Although not exactly a threat to the British fleet, the British were worried that Denmark would be occupied by the French, which could potentially boost the size of the French fleet. This would in turn give the French a fleet that would allow them to take the British fleet head on. As a preemptive measure the British asked Denmark to hand over the majority of they vessels. However Denmark wanted to remain neutral in the war, and giving a large chunk of ships to one side would definitely have made the French upset. Thus they denied the British request. Following this the British decided to destroy the potential threat. This ended with the 1807 bombardment of Copenhagen. The Danish fought back, but in the end handed over a bunch of ships, after they had also lost a handful.

Oak trees are the common tree for construction of large ships, in the age of sails. Oak trees are however only harvested after around 120 years of growing and maintenance. And the Danes had no were near the amount of forest or trees at hand to rebuild the navy. That's why they planted the trees that a now known as "flåde eg" or "the fleets oak"

Context: In 1938 Nazi Germany, Pervitin was developed a methamphetamine drug for civilian usage. Nazi military doctor Otto Friedrich Ranke tested the drug on 90 university students to study its effects, which led him to conclude that Pervitin could help Nazi Germany win the war.

Methamphetamine use is believed to have played a role in the speed of Nazi Germany's initial blitzkrieg operations. At the request of Vice-Admiral Hellmuth Heye for a stronger pill that would "keep soldiers ready for battle when they are asked to continue fighting beyond a period considered normal," a pharmacologist produced a pill dubbed D-IX. The new drug contained cocaine, whose effects substantially overlap with those of amphetamine but feature greater euphoria, and a morphine-based painkiller in addition to Pervitin.

Context: Prior to construction, the tower was protested by "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" saying

"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection ... of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower ... To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years ... we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal"

It was intended to be a temporary structure taken down after the Exposition Universelle, but after being allowed to stay it eventually became a key point of pride in France.

Context: A classic tactic, the Parthian Shot involves feigning a retreat and firing at those foolish enough to break ranks and follow your forces. Famously used by the Parthians and Mongols. This became a staple for many steppe nomads.

Context: The Library of Alexandria was famously burnt down by Julius Caesar's troops as they set fire to some ships docked in the port. More likely is that it only burnt down one of the libraries warehouses, the Library itself was not destroyed and remained active for centuries, slowly losing it's fame and significance as it declined.

During the Arab conquest, it is said that they fully burnt the books in the library, but such sources for this claim first appear 500 years after the conquest and are most likely political slander rather than reality.

Context: While the 90% figure is made-up, the premise is true in that most of human history has gone unrecorded. History is considered to have begun with the start of proto-writing (earliest being the Jiahu symbols in China circa 6600 BCE) to writing (3200 BCE), and thus the advent of recorded history.

Context: During the Siege of Caffa, Jani Beg of the Golden Horde allegedly catapulted the corpses of troops who had died from the siege over the walls of the Genoese held city of Caffa.

This claim comes from Gabriele de’ Mussi, a writer who was not actually at the siege.