Random Actual History Facts So Dumb They Sound Like Fiction - But Aren’t (15 items)

• (#13) Pirate Captain Benjamin Hornigold Once Raided A Ship Just To Steal The Crew's Hats

  From Redditor u/JohnSmith2217:

  Benjamin Hornigold was a pirate in the late 1600s and early 1700s who once robbed a merchant vessel purely for the crew's hats - because he and his crew got so drunk the night before that they all threw their own hats overboard for no good reason.

  Context: This tale is related in Peter Earle's 2003 book The Pirate Wars. As the Vintage News explains, "After they took the merchants’ hats, Hornigold and his crew allowed them to continue with their journey. Some historians believe that this curious endeavor was nothing more than Hornigold’s and Thatch’s wish to display their power."
• (#12) During WWII, The Allies Concocted A Plan To 'Feminize' Hitler Via Hormone-Laced Food

  From Redditor u/Alistair_TheAlvarian:

  There was a real plan to spike Hitler's food with estrogen to try to turn him into a woman and make him give up on war.

  Context: The idea here was that a more "feminine" Hitler would be less aggressive. According to Professor Brian Ford of Cardiff University, Allied agents positioned around the fuhrer made the plan "entirely possible" to pull off. And, as Time notes, "unlike poisons, estrogen would not have been detected by Hitler’s cadre of food tasters."
• (#9) Andrew Johnson's Vice Presidential Inauguration Was A Drunken Disaster

  From Redditor u/TheNewGirl76:

  Then American Vice President Andrew Johnson was so drunk at his vice presidential inauguration that he could not swear the new congress in and rambled incoherently during his acceptance speech.

  Context: This comes from the official Senate website of the US government: "Johnson rose unsteadily to harangue the distinguished crowd about his humble origins and his triumph over the rebel aristocracy. In the shocked and silent audience, President Abraham Lincoln showed an expression of 'unutterable sorrow,' while Senator Charles Sumner covered his face with his hands. Former vice president Hamlin tugged vainly at Johnson's coattails, trying to cut short his remarks. After Johnson finally quieted, took the oath of office, and kissed the Bible, he tried to swear in the new senators, but he became so confused that he had to turn the job over to a Senate clerk."
• (#11) Bobby Leach Went Over Niagra Falls In A Barrel - And Perished From Slipping On A Banana Peel

  From Redditor u/lucif_woods:

  The second person to go down Niagara Falls in a barrel and live later perished by slipping on an orange peel.

  Context: According to the BBC, reports differ on whether Bobby Leach slipped on an orange peel or a banana peel. It was not the initial slip that did Leach in, but the gangrene that infected his leg afterward.
• (#15) The Fall Of The Berlin Wall Was Due To A Bureaucrat Misreading His Notes

  From Redditor u/Farkenoathm8-E:

  How the Berlin Wall fell. In order to calm mounting protests, German Democratic Republic (GDR) officials decided on loosening travel restrictions between East and West, but not opening the border completely.

  Notes of the new rules had been handed to a spokesman who hadn't had time to read them before the press conference. "Private travel outside the country can now be applied for without prerequisites," he said. Surprised journalists clamoured for more details. Shuffling through his notes, he said that as far as he was aware, it was effective immediately. In fact, it had been planned to start the next day, with details on applying for a visa. But the news was all over television - and East Germans flocked to the border in huge numbers.

  As the border became inundated with East Berliners wishing to reunite with family and/or escape the GDR, border guards became overwhelmed and with no orders to either shoot upon the crowd or open the gate, only a handful of guards facing hundreds and thousands of citizens, rather than fire and create a stampede and potentially kill hundreds, the head of the guards decided to give the order "Open the barrier!" What came next was a spontaneous chain reaction with Berliners on both sides arriving at Checkpoint Charlie to celebrate this momentous event and to demolish the wall.

  So, basically, an ill-prepared functionary made a flippant remark and a border guard captain, unable to get orders on how to proceed, led to one of the most defining moments of the late 20th Century in Europe.

  Context: This is basically correct, though according to the BBC, it was Günter Schabowski (the politician who did not have time to read his notes) who could not get clear orders on what to do. He was the one who gave the order to open the barrier.
• (#1) In 1184 AD, Some 60 Nobles Of The Holy Roman Empire Plummeted Into A Latrine - And Perished

  From Redditor u/FenrirIII:

  In 1184, a number of nobles from across the Holy Roman Empire were meeting in a room at the Church of St. Peter, when their combined weight caused the floor to collapse into the latrine beneath the cellar and led to dozens of nobles drowning in liquid excrement.

  It is referred to as the "Erfurt latrine disaster."

  Context: Between 60 and 100 people are believed to have perished in this incident, which took place in St. Peter's Church on July 1184. Unfortunately, during this era (and for many centuries to come), the only septic system that existed was building a giant pit under a structure - or allowing it to drain off into a moat.

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