It’s important to know about the times of the past, however, not all parts of history make it into textbooks. Ever wonder how dentures were first made? Or what ketchup was actually used for in the 1830s? Learning about the stranger side of history definitely makes it a bit more interesting. These are some facts that many people don’t know about and what we definitely didn’t learn in school. It also makes us wonder how many things about the world’s history we actually know. Here are some of the lesser-known facts about history that are almost too weird to be true.
Before alarm clocks were invented people called “knocker-ups” would shoot peas at people’s windows in order to wake them up.
In today’s world there is a deep appreciation for the alarm clock, yet at the same time, we dread it. Before modern alarm clocks were invented people called “knocker-ups” were hired to wake up people up who worked on the docks, industrial locations, or mining. “Knocker-ups” would use blow pipes or long rods to shoot dried peas on people’s windows in order to wake them up early in the morning.
Women wore flour sacks as clothing during the Great Depression, so distributors would make the sacks with colors and designs to make it more fashionable.
The Great Depression was a very difficult time in America during the 1930s. Nearly 15 million people were unemployed and tried to survive the best that they could, and that included being creative with the clothes on their backs. People used to make clothes from flour sacks and the companies distributors noticed. In order to look more fashionable, the distributors started making sacks with attractive images and colors.
Chinese women used to painfully bind their feet to make them appear smaller and more feminine.
For many centuries millions of Chinese women and girls practiced foot binding as a way to change the size and shape of their feet. It was an incredibly painful process that involved breaking their toes and arches and binding them with cloth to the sole of their feet. It was a way of achieving smaller feet to appear more feminine and attractive for men. There has been many controversies over this practice and has since been banned in China since 1912.
Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but turned it down.
After the death of Israel’s first president, Albert Einstein was offered the presidency by Prime Minister David Ben Gurion. Upon receiving the invitation, he wrote in a letter that he is “deeply moved by the offer from our State of Israel to serve as President, and at once saddened and ashamed that I cannot accept it.” He denied the position because he “lacked the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people.”