Throughout history, mysterious events have left deep traces in the memory of humanity and have given birth to many stories full of questions that remain unanswered to this day. These strange and astonishing events, which took place in different periods of world history, have shaped people’s lives and ways of thinking while arousing curiosity. From the mysterious disappearance of the Roanoke Colony to the horrifying aftermath of the Jonestown massacre; from the Black Plague that began with Pope Gregory IX’s hatred of cats to Nellie Bly’s daring world tour, each event helps us understand another side of history. In this article, we bring to light the unknown aspects of history and discuss in detail the little-known events of human history that have had a great impact. Here are interesting historical events that are not taught in school…
The lost colony of Roanoke
We begin our article on interesting historical events that are not taught in school. The Roanoke colony was one of the English attempts to establish a permanent settlement in the New World. Founded in 1585 in what is now North Carolina, the colony was brought to life by Sir Walter Raleigh with the permission of Queen Elizabeth I. Raleigh’s mission was to establish a base in America that would bring riches under English control and prevent the Spanish from taking over the land. In 1587, after initial exploration, Raleigh sent 115 colonists to establish a new settlement in the Chesapeake Bay. The colonists were led by John White, and peace was made between the settlers and the Croatoan people of the region. In fact, White’s daughter gave birth to a daughter here, whom they named Virginia Dare. Virginia made history as the first European child born in North America.
However, after a while, the colony ran short of supplies and John White was forced to return to England and ask for support. Unfortunately, after White arrived in England, war broke out with the Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth seized all the ships and White was not allowed to return for three years. After three years, White returned to the colony and found Roanoke empty. Not a trace of the colony remained and there was no sign of any struggle or raid. Encountering only the word “CROATOAN” carved on a post, White thought the colonists might have gone to join the Croatoan Indians. The mystery surrounding the Roanoke colony remains unsolved to this day, one of history’s greatest enigmas.
Jonestown massacre
Jonestown is one of the darkest pages of our modern history. A man named Jim Jones founded a cult called Peoples Temple in Indianapolis, USA, in 1955, and moved the community to San Francisco in the 1970s. Faced with many accusations, Jones took the community to Guyana, where he built his own utopia: Jonestown.
Jonestown existed as a commune under Jones’ strict rules and control. Under Jones’ influence, the people’s daily lives were characterized by long hours of hard labor, and their access to information from the outside world was limited. Members were forced to address Jones as “Father”. Jones often instilled in his community the fear that they would be attacked, and organized meetings called “White Nights” where they were given the choice to flee, fight or commit mass suicide.
In 1978, California Congressman Leo Ryan decided to visit Jonestown. However, Jones’ men attacked Ryan and his team at the airport, killing four people. After this attack, Jones forced everyone in the community, including children, to commit suicide by drinking cyanide. Thus, more than 900 people lost their lives in the Jonestown massacre. Jones took his own life after these mass deaths, marking one of the most horrific events of the 20th century. Until September 11, 2001, the Jonestown massacre was the worst loss of American lives.
How Pope Gregory IX’s hatred of cats triggered the black plague
In the early 12th century, dark clouds hung over Europe: Black plague was spreading rapidly across Europe. First appearing in Asia, the plague reached Europe via the Silk Road, where it killed millions of people. This disease, which had particularly devastating effects on the European continent, was in the form of “bubonic plague” carried by fleas. These fleas often lived on and carried rats, and the most effective way to control rats was cats. The cats that roamed the streets of Europe were renowned for their natural pest control. Cats reduced the rat population, greatly slowing the spread of the disease.
However, Pope Gregory IX disliked cats and associated them with the devil in a manuscript, Vox in Rama. Believing that black cats were a form of Satan, he declared that all cats should be destroyed. As a result, cats were killed in many places. With the cats gone, the mice were freed and had no trouble spreading the disease across Europe.
Nellie Bly’s adventure around the world
When French writer Jules Verne’s famous novel Around the World in 80 Days was published, many people began to wonder if this journey was actually possible. In 1889, American journalist Nellie Bly pursued this dream and decided to travel around the world. Moreover, she aimed to make this trip in less than 80 days.
On the morning of November 14, 1889, he set off from New York with only a suitcase the size of hand luggage. During his journey, he visited London, Paris, Suez, Japan and many other places. In Paris, he met Jules Verne who showed him his faith in this challenging journey.
Meanwhile, another magazine, Cosmopolitan, sent another female reporter in the opposite direction to Bly’s route. Bly became aware of the presence of this rival on Christmas Eve in Japan. In the end, however, the other reporter got stuck on the road and Bly completed her tour, reaching America before him. After 72 days and 6 hours of travel, Bly returned home and went down in history as the first woman to travel around the world alone.
Sultana disaster
We continue our article on interesting historical events that are not taught in school. On April 27, 1865, one of the biggest maritime disasters in history occurred on the Mississippi River. About 2,500 people were on board the 376-passenger Sultana. This ship was taking recently released Union soldiers to the North. However, due to passenger overload and safety lapses, the Sultana suffered a serious disaster.
A few kilometers north of Memphis, around two o’clock in the morning, one of the ship’s boilers exploded. This explosion caused two other boilers to explode side by side, engulfing the entire ship in flames. There was little chance of salvation for the desperate passengers, but some managed to survive by jumping into the river. Interestingly, at the time of the disaster, America was still reeling from Lincoln’s assassination and the event received little media coverage.
Tiger exercise
“Exercise Tiger”, which took place before the Normandy landings, was a preparation to liberate Normandy from the Germans. In this exercise, which took place on the British coast, real ammunition was used to familiarize the soldiers with the war environment.
Communication breakdowns during the exercise resulted in a friendly fire incident that accidentally killed nearly 450 American soldiers. The next day, German submarines attacked American ships, sinking four of them and killing 749 soldiers. The incident was kept secret for a long time and was only revealed years later.
Tunguska explosion
We continue our article on interesting historical events. The Tunguska Event is one of the most interesting and mysterious events in history. Scientists still haven’t found the exact cause of this gigantic explosion.
On June 30, 1908, people in the Evenki region of Russia reported seeing a column of blue light moving across the sky. Some said the light was as bright as the sun. About ten minutes later, a heavy explosion was heard moving from east to north.
The shockwave from the powerful explosion spread through the town, throwing people out of their seats and shattering windows. The sound of the explosion was recorded by seismic stations in Eurasia and even in the UK, but residents of Evenki and surrounding towns said they did not see any explosions during this event. For days after the explosion, the skies of Asia and Europe were unusually bright. Scientists attributed the brightness to the reflection of ice particles formed at high altitude. Pressure changes were observed in the atmosphere from the US to the UK.
There were no eyewitnesses, but the effects of the explosion were mesmerizing. In Eastern Siberia, some 80 million trees were flattened. It is thought that the energy of the explosion would have had to have been around 10-15 megatons to create such devastation – the equivalent of the nuclear tests carried out by the United States on Bikini Atoll. Scientists have spent years trying to find the cause of this explosion, as such an event would have been powerful enough to completely destroy a metropolis. Although research has stalled over the years, the most common theory today is that the massive explosion was caused by a meteor exploding in the atmosphere.
1920 Wall Street attack
Almost 100 years ago, New York City suffered one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in its history. To this day, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, and it remains an unsolved mystery.
On September 16, 1920, the financial center of Wall Street was as crowded as ever. At 23 Wall Street, known as “the corner”, was the headquarters of JP Morgan and Co. At exactly 12:01 p.m., 100 kilos of dynamite exploded in front of the building.
The blast shattered windows as high as the 34th floor of the JP Morgan building, throwing pedestrians walking on the street into the air. Two blocks away, a streetcar derailed. Wall Street became a war zone, filled with smoke, burned bodies and shrapnel. At first it was believed that JP Morgan was the target of the attack. After World War I, there was criticism that Morgan had profited from the war. However, most of the bomb’s victims were ordinary civilians and JP Morgan executives were unharmed because they were on the upper floors of the building at the time of the explosion.
Suspicion centered on anarchist groups, and in particular the followers of the Italian anarchist leader Luigi Galleani were blamed. However, no one claimed responsibility for the attack, and the event went down in history as an unsolved mystery. The famously resilient reopening of Wall Street the next day was a testament to the city’s resilience in the face of this tragic event.
Zimmerman telegram
We have come to the end of our article on interesting historical events that are not taught in school. The US involvement in World War I was accelerated by a surprising event called the Zimmerman Telegram. In the middle of the war, Germany sent a telegram to Mexico offering an alliance against the United States.
In January 1917, British intelligence intercepted this telegram from Germany to the Mexican Ambassador. In it, Germany promised Mexico the return of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico in exchange for helping them defeat the United States.
This telegram was quickly transmitted to the United States by the British and made public by President Wilson. This German offer deeply shook the American public. While anti-British sentiments were strong at the time, this event brought the American public’s anger towards Germany to a peak. As a result, it was not long before the US decided to enter the war. This was one of the first instances in history where intelligence information changed world events.
The post From Mysterious Disappearances to Colossal Explosions: 9 Mysterious Events Never Taught in History Classes appeared first on NSF News and Magazine.