Curious Events in History

by Michael Powell

Did you know there once was a craze for consuming a powdered mummy as a cure for any ailment? That Peter the Great put a tax on beards? History needn’t be as boring as school textbooks have led you to believe! These 40 strange but true stories prove that scattered between the famous milestones are tiny gems of incredible information just waiting to be discovered. Find out all about the 38-minute war and the time when Niagara Falls stopped falling. Learn which U.S. president was shot—and died not from the bullet wound, but from his doctors’ bungled efforts to save him. Forgotten, weird, and bizarre facts; unusual firsts and lasts, and a few unpalatable truths assure this illustrated collection will tickle the fancy of readers young and old.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Humor, Trivia

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Shane Ver Meer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little book with a nice mix of historical oddities to learn about

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful little book of historical curiosities. I think the one that stood out the most was about the criminal trials held for animals, including the undue hardship placed on mice by requiring them to travel into the town to defend themselves, the apparent profiling of pigs, and the practice of dressing the animals up for their court appearances.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and enjoyable while still learning something.

[Mariam (Rin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good to read if you want something light, interesting, and full of quick stories! I loved this book so much as a child and still revisit it as an adult

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a intriguing little book. It goes through things most people probably will never hear about history. For starters I’m a Tampa Bay native so to read about how the grapefruit almost never made it here was very neat. Among other things there’s death by appreciation, trials of various animals, a tax on beards, Niagara falls not falling, how the spark to WWI (murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand) almost didn’t happen, how the discoverer of laughing gas died, a five cent bill and the one I find the most unfortunate and curious the life and burial of William the Conqueror. There’s lots more I didn’t mention that are most curious so go read it…. A very good history book, nice short read 5 out of 5 stars!

[Holden Attradies · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good read as a quick little impulse by. Beyond that, not really worth going out of your way for.

Some of the events were much more curious than others. Some, I wasn't to sure why they were included. My biggest complaint was that the author, especially in the events from more than a few hundred years ago, seemed to pass on every bit of information on the subject, including pieces that were at times self contradictory and items that the author would even point out probably weren't true. It felt he was unskeptically passing it all along to make the "curious"" events feel even more curious.

[Oswald · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's a cute book, it actually has a couple of "curious events" that i did not know about, like Lincoln doing coke, etc.

[Sharonbrown3158 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never get tired of the story of William the Conqueror's ill-fated funeral! I truly am
sick and twisted.

[Daniel Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has amazing little-known details from the past.
It's very entertaining, and easy reading.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little book that doesn't shed any great misapprehensions. Just gives a few facts about some, well curious events in history. Can't say much about - there's not much there.

[Johnny D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a coffee table book which is filled with, as the title suggests, curious events in history.

This is not a scholarly work, just a quick read with some interesting stories.

It is what it is.

[Matt Dillard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains snippets of history; it's not the sort of book I normally enjoy reading, especially in a focused manner, so I've read it over the past 9 months sporadically at work.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Some stories were interesting and likable.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read and good for those of us with a short attention span.

[Bri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and interesting read. I just wish the author had included some citations or, at the very least, some sort of "further reading" page.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. A few of them I already knew but still over all I enjoyed it.

[Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always love learning new things from history. Some of it I knew, but most of it in this book I found surprising. Great read for history buffs.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book about historical facts, I learned some new interesting tidbits.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing. short. Feels like cheating to count it as a book.

[Sebastián Largo Gil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting and funny book to read for those people who like history. It's quite short but juicy. Totally worth it.

[Matt Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snapshots of interesting events in history from powdered mummies to Mount Rushmore.