History Facts for Kids
Incredible facts from the past
Alexander the Great loved his horse Bucephalus so much that when it died, he founded an entire city in its honour, called Bucephala.
People during the Ice Age carved flutes from bird bones and mammoth ivory over 40,000 years ago, making them the oldest known musical instruments.
In 1494, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the entire undiscovered world between the two nations with a line drawn through the Atlantic Ocean.
Children in ancient Rome played with dolls made of clay, wood, or ivory that had movable arms and legs, much like modern action figures.
Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt, one of history's most powerful female rulers, wore a false ceremonial beard and was depicted as a man in many official carvings.
During World War II, a regiment of Soviet women pilots flew dangerous night bombing missions in rickety wooden planes. The Germans called them the 'Night Witches'.
In Anglo-Saxon England, the word 'breakfast' literally meant 'breaking the fast' — ending the overnight period without eating.
The Aztecs used cacao beans as currency. A turkey cost about 100 beans, and counterfeiting was a problem — people would hollow out beans and refill them with mud.
The Library of Ashurbanipal in ancient Nineveh, built around 668 BC, contained over 30,000 clay tablets and is considered the world's first systematically organised library.
The Hundred Years' War between England and France actually lasted 116 years, from 1337 to 1453.