10 Historical Events That Seem Invented, But Are Real

They say that reality surpasses fiction and many events prove this. Human history is punctuated by a series of unexpected events, the causes of which are often unknown. When these things happen, testimonies cross cultural borders and even time, and can become films, books or paintings. In some cases, of course, we’re not sure which came first, reality or fiction.

To show how history can surprise, in the awesome.club we’ve compiled a series of events that might sound far-fetched today, but actually happened. Check out!

Although it seems surprising, the rain of animals is more frequent than we imagine. Hypotheses suggest that meteorological phenomena produce these painful situations for animals, reminding us of the movie Life of Pi.

There are records of toad showers in 1873 and 1882 in Kansas and Iowa attributed to updrafts that, due to atmospheric pressure, lifted the frogs and then brought them down. There is a painting from 1680 showing a rain of mice; in 1947 and 2010, fish fell from the sky; and, in 2005, frogs again. Insects, iguanas and birds also rained down.

The potato is a delicious tuber originating in South America and arriving in Europe thanks to the conquest. But it was not easy to enter European gastronomy, as it is an underground food.

In the 18th century, trying to fight hunger, the King of Prussia decreed that potatoes should be cultivated, but his subjects refused to do so for fear of the unknown. The king’s plan was to plant potatoes in the royal gardens with the protection of soldiers, but it was all a trick to make people believe that it was a valuable food. It worked, as they began to steal it and cultivate it.

Today, it is possible to see potatoes in the tomb of King Frederick the Great, left by visitors.

Traveling the world is the dream of many, but for some it has become almost an obsession to break the record of Phileas Foog, protagonist of the novel Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne. It really seems impossible, especially when we think about doing it without the help of fast planes cutting through the sky at full speed.

Elizabeth Jane Cochran, better known as Nellie Bly, was a 25-year-old young journalist who, on November 14, 1889, began a lonely journey around the world. She left New Jersey aboard an ocean liner, sponsored by the New York World newspaper, but not before facing several denials for being a woman traveling alone.

Their journey lasted 72 days, 16 hours and 11 minutes. She put all of her luggage in a 17 cm high and 40 cm wide suitcase, in which she took travel hats, underwear, toiletries, a mug, pens and writing pads. On January 25, 1890, she concluded her work in New Jersey and was welcomed by at least 15,000 people. The adventurer broke the previous record for circumnavigating the world and became a national figure.

This story, as unusual as it sounds, is true. President Andrew Jackson gave his wife an African gray parrot named Poll. After the death of the first lady, the parrot spent a lot of time with the widower and learned an unsavory lexicon.

When it was Jackson’s turn in 1845, the parrot attended his funeral. The reverend presiding over the ceremony said: “It was a mean parrot that got emotional and started cursing, letting out perfect bursts of profanity. In the end, the bird refused to shut up and had to be removed.”

Like a cross between Mulan and Xena, Khutulun was a Mongolian warrior princess. She was born in 1260 a. C., before her father became the most powerful ruler in Asia. Great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan, she carried on the legacy with great honor. She was raised with her siblings in disciplines such as archery, horsemanship, and hand-to-hand combat.

She became an unrivaled warrior in Mongolia and found no worthy rival in wrestling. In fact, she launched a contest that consisted of marrying only those who managed to beat her in a fight, followed by a horse race. And if they lost, candidates had to leave between 10 and 100 horses. She was never defeated.

According to Marco Polo, when he met her, the princess had 10,000 horses. This shows the number of suitors, because, in addition to being rich and the daughter of a very powerful man, she was a beautiful young woman full of aspirants to her heart. She apparently ended up marrying without a fight, to protect her father from certain rumors that tarnished her honor.

On November 30, 1954, at 2:46 pm, there was a cosmic event in Sylacauga, Alabama. For the first time, an object from outer space has hit a human being, causing injuries. Neighbors said they saw a ray of light coming from the sky.

The 3.8 kg meteorite, the size of a baseball, entered through the roof of Ann Hodges’ house, hitting her side. In 2017, a fragment of the cosmic rock sold for $7,500. It reminds us a bit of the 1998 movie Armageddon, in which Bruce Willis saves the world.

Sometimes it is difficult to understand the bureaucracy of countries and precisely this made Mehran Karimi Nasseri live for 18 years in an airport in France. Mehran was barred from entering his home country after spending time studying in London. In the end, he was granted European citizenship.

It all started in 1988, when Mehran decided to live in London, passing through France first, but when he arrived at the airport, he realized that he had lost the documents that accredited him as a citizen and, without them, he could not enter or leave any country. But he could stay at the airport, as it is considered an international space.

Mehran ended up doing odd jobs for a living, showering in public restrooms, eating in restaurants, as well as reading lots of books and watching people pass by.

The film O terminal, released in 2004, was inspired by his story. However, in fiction, the protagonist spent only nine months in prison. Mehran received US$300,000 (about R$1.5 million) for his rights in 2005, when he was still living at the airport. He apparently used the money to get out of there in 2006.

John Ssebunya was born in Uganda in the 1980s and at age 3 he arrived alone in the jungle, apparently running away from his family. There, he was welcomed by a colony of green monkeys, who offered him food and taught him how to climb trees.

In 1991 it was found by humans. Hair covered his entire face and body, his knees were white and his nails were curled, and his behavior resembled that of a monkey. When they went to rescue him, the monkeys tried to stop it and even John resisted.

Some time later, a group of anthropologists reunited him with a colony of green monkeys to see his reaction and discovered that he was able to communicate with them; the monkeys, in turn, treated him as if he were one of the pack. John is probably the closest human being to Tarzan in real life.

He was adopted by teachers Paul and Molly Wasswa, who chose July 3 as their birthday. John had very good physical skills, which helped him compete twice in the Special Olympics. In addition, he possessed a beautiful voice, participating in a tour with the Choir of Pearl Boys of Africa.

In 1518, hundreds of people gathered to dance nonstop in Strasbourg, France. Far from resembling Woodstock, it all started with a woman who left her home and started dancing nonstop in the open air. After a week, several people had already joined the irresistible impulse of crazy dancing. This behavior was attributed to the warm blood that supposedly rose to the brain.

The local authorities believed in dancing as a form of healing, so they set up special places for it and hired flutists and drummers. People danced for three months and this is undoubtedly one of humanity’s great mysteries, initially attributed to mushroom poisoning, although this hypothesis was later discarded.

In 1914, Charlie Chaplin started appearing in his movies and it didn’t take long for him to become known worldwide. So much so that competitions were organized to imitate his famous English character. Chaplin himself participated in one of these contests, finishing in twenty or twenty-seventh place. There is still no consensus on this.

The story begins with the publication of an account by the actress Mary Pickford about the contest in a newspaper in 1920. Charlie Chaplin was at a fair in the United States, where a contest was being organized for imitators of his character, and he decided to participate without the mustache and his signature boots, adopting an assumed name.

At the time, other newspapers dedicated a funny space to the event. It’s incredible that Chaplin lost a contest for imitating himself. We know that he is unique and unbeatable, despite the beautiful performance of Robert Downey Jr. in 1992, when he brought the iconic character to life.

Do you know any stories worthy of becoming a movie plot? Which of these events impressed you the most?