Historical Facts That Prove The Past Was Anything But Ordinary

Historian Peter Novick compared historical objectivity to nailing jelly to a wall—impossible, since it isn’t one clean idea but a tangle of assumptions and agendas. That feels especially true now, as what’s taught in classrooms is hotly debated. Yet the internet has also made information more fluid than ever. It can be endlessly reshared, remixed, and reframed by anyone with access. Occasionally, out of that outpouring, a fact actually sticks—not because an institution declared it worthy, but because it’s too good to forget. These are exactly the kinds of facts this list is about.