40+ Odd & Funny Things That Happened Throughout History

History is weird and wonderful, according to the Twitter account @weird_hist, and they’re happy to share it with us. They’ve spent time collecting the bizarre moments, the interactions that make you scratch your head, and the inventions that have you questioning what people were thinking. So if you’ve ever wondered about the strange things human history contains, check out these weird facts.

Smog is one of those words that sounds all cute and innocent, but the reality of it is far more sinister. It’s when the natural phenomena of fog or hazy weather are exacerbated by pollutants, like manmade air pollution. In 1952, conditions made the smog so bad that it even penetrated buildings, causing people to fall ill. The one good thing was that the blind were able to help those who are too accustomed to sight get around during those few low-visibility days.

Cats don’t care about much of anything, and that includes human history. There’s an area in the city center of Rome called Largo di torre Argentina, and it’s where the infamous Julius Caesar was assassinated. Now, it’s home to a bunch of stray cats. The cats took up residence in the area, and locals who cared about their well-being started an underground (literally) cat shelter that took on the task of caring for the cats. If only the cats knew how cool their adopted home really is!

Languages are delicate things, and without anyone around to speak them, they can easily die out, becoming a part of the past. But bits of one language managed to survive a little bit longer, and it was all thanks to a parrot. Alexander von Humboldt, a German geographer and naturalist, supposedly stumbled upon a parrot who spoke words unlike those of the birds around him, and locals said he was captured from an enemy tribe who had died out. So, Humboldt recorded the things the bird said to preserve them.

Before the printing press made it easier to mass-produce books, books were extremely valuable. They took a ton of time and patience to make, and there were often few copies. That meant that they needed to be well protected. Imagine having this as your backpack at school! One quick turn and what would normally be an innocent backpack bump turns into knocking someone out. At least you wouldn’t have to worry about getting rained on on your walk home!