The Siege of Leningrad during WWII lasted almost 900 days. It became one of the longest and deadliest sieges in history, with over a million civilian deaths.
The ancient Roman city of Pompeii was perfectly preserved by a volcanic eruption. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, ash buried the city, preserving buildings, graffiti, and even food.
The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed most of London but killed very few people. It burned over 13,000 houses, yet fewer than 10 deaths were officially recorded.
Fidel Castro survived an astonishing number of assassination attempts.
Intelligence reports suggest there were over 600 plots against him, many involving bizarre ideas like exploding cigars and poisoned diving suits.
A common pirate punishment was keelhauling. Victims were tied to a rope and dragged under the ship, then up the other side. They emerged half drowned, with their skin shredded by the barnacles that grew on the ship’s hull.
Spartans held whipping competitions. Whoever could stand the most whipping without making a fuss would win. You could even win if you died, but it wasn’t as much fun.
The Chinese invented playing cards in the 9th century. The first card games were played by the women of the emperor’s court as a way of passing the time.
Moses, an early Hebrew ruler, believed in matching punishments to crimes. His laws of 1300 BC were summarized as “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
When Indian soldiers mutinied in 1857 at the start of the first Indian war of Independence, the British responded savagely. A favourite punishment was to strap a rebel across the mouth of a cannon and fire it.
Abdul Kassam Ismael, ruler of Persia in the 10th century, carried his library with him wherever he went. He travelled with 400 camels carrying his 117,000 books.
The Jazz Singer, the first talkie (film with talking in it) was released in 1927. The first words uttered were: “Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!”
Henry VIII carried his own portable toilet with him wherever he went. The “royal stool” was a large box with a feather-padded seat on the lid and a potty inside.