History is full of events that sound like they were made up in a pub after a few too many drinks—but somehow, they’re real.
Whether it’s bizarre political stunts, ridiculous inventions, or moments that defy common sense, these stories are reminders that truth can absolutely be stranger than fiction. You’ll read them, shake your head, and double-check to see if they’re real—and they are. Here are some of the weirdest historical events that genuinely happened, even though they sound like someone’s odd idea of a joke.
1. The Great Emu War of Australia (1932)
Yes, Australia once went to “war” against emus, and lost. After World War I, emus started invading farmland in Western Australia, ruining crops and frustrating veterans trying to make a living. The government responded by sending soldiers with machine guns to “deal with” the birds.
Despite thousands of rounds of ammunition, the emus outran, dodged, and generally outsmarted the soldiers. The operation was eventually called off, and the emus carried on mostly undisturbed. It’s still one of the most ridiculous military “defeats” in history.
2. A man survived two atomic bombs (1945)
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima for a work trip when the first atomic bomb dropped. He survived with serious burns, went home to Nagasaki, and was there when the second bomb hit three days later. Incredibly, he survived that too. He lived into his 90s and spent much of his life speaking about nuclear disarmament. His experience sounds unbelievable, but his survival is one of the most astonishing—and harrowing—true stories from World War II.
3. A pope once put another pope on trial… after he was dead (897)
Pope Stephen VI had such a grudge against his predecessor, Pope Formosus, that he literally dug up his corpse, dressed it in papal robes, and held a trial in what became known as the Cadaver Synod. The dead pope was “found guilty,” his papal acts were annulled, and his body was thrown in the Tiber River. It sounds like the plot of a historical horror film, but it really happened in the Vatican’s bizarre past.
4. Napoleon was once attacked by a horde of bunnies
After a successful military campaign, Napoleon decided to celebrate with a rabbit hunt. His men rounded up hundreds of tame rabbits and released them for the event—but instead of running away, the rabbits swarmed Napoleon and his officers. The animals had been farm-raised and thought the humans were bringing food. The result? A chaotic scene of screaming soldiers and hopping bunnies that overwhelmed the emperor. He reportedly fled the field laughing in disbelief.
5. The US government accidentally dropped nuclear bombs… on itself
In 1961, a US Air Force bomber broke apart over North Carolina, dropping two nuclear bombs. One of them came shockingly close to detonating—five of the six safety switches failed. Only one final switch stopped a catastrophe. Had it gone off, it would have been more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, wiping out large parts of the state. The incident was kept quiet for decades, but it’s now declassified, and terrifyingly true.
6. A British man invented a “fake country” and got invited to international events
In the 1970s, artist James Bragg created the fictional nation of Poyais, complete with fake documents, a fake bank, and a royal family. He managed to fool officials and even got invited to diplomatic events as a representative of this entirely made-up place. He eventually confessed—but not before he had printed Poyais currency and handed out maps. It was both performance art and an epic prank that highlighted how little fact-checking some institutions actually did at the time.
7. President Andrew Jackson fought a man in a duel, and won
Jackson had a notoriously explosive temper and reportedly fought in as many as 100 duels. One of the most famous was against Charles Dickinson, who insulted Jackson’s wife. Dickinson shot Jackson in the chest, but Jackson remained standing, calmly aimed, and shot Dickinson dead.
Jackson carried the bullet in his chest for the rest of his life. It’s a wild origin story for a US president, but one that genuinely shaped his image as a tough, untouchable leader.
8. A Swedish king once declared war on himself
King Charles XI of Sweden technically declared war on his own country in 1675. Why? As part of a bureaucratic technicality involving disputed territory, he had to “formally” declare war on the Duchy of Bremen-Verden, which was technically under his own rule. The legal oddity became a historical joke, but it shows how complicated and surreal royal politics could get. In the end, he won the war—against himself.
9. A molasses flood destroyed a Boston neighbourhood (1919)
In what sounds like a slapstick disaster movie, a giant tank of molasses burst in Boston’s North End, releasing a 25-foot wave of syrup that moved through the streets at 35 miles per hour. It destroyed buildings, trapped horses, and sadly killed 21 people. The event became known as the “Great Molasses Flood.” It was no joke at the time, but the sheer absurdity of it has made it one of the most bizarre natural disasters in US history.
10. The shortest war in history lasted 38 minutes.
The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 holds the record for the shortest war ever. After the death of a pro-British sultan, his replacement wasn’t approved by the British Empire. The Royal Navy gave him an ultimatum—he refused. War was declared. British ships bombarded the palace, and within 38 minutes, the sultan surrendered. Over 500 people were killed or wounded—on one side. The British suffered one injury. The whole thing wrapped up before most people even had lunch.
11. A town elected a cat as mayor (and kept re-electing him).
In the town of Talkeetna, Alaska, a ginger cat named Stubbs became mayor in 1997. It started as a joke, but residents enjoyed the idea so much that they kept re-electing him. Stubbs “served” for 20 years, greeting tourists and drinking catnip-laced water from a wine glass. While he didn’t have official power, Stubbs became a local celebrity and was widely considered better than most human candidates. It’s a strangely wholesome story of small-town politics and feline charm.
12. The CIA tried to use cats to spy on the Soviets
In the 1960s, the CIA launched “Acoustic Kitty,” an actual project where they surgically implanted microphones and antennas into cats to eavesdrop on Soviet agents. The idea was that cats could go unnoticed in public spaces. The plan flopped spectacularly. The first test cat wandered into traffic and was killed. The program was quickly abandoned, and taxpayers unknowingly footed the bill for one of the weirdest spy operations in history.
13. A man once stole a plane… to go to his mum’s house.
In 1969, an Australian man named John Francis Reginald Derry stole a commercial plane from the airport, flew it around for a while (despite having no licence), and tried to land it near his mum’s house. He ended up crashing in a paddock instead. Miraculously, he survived and was arrested with no fatalities. His explanation? He just wanted to visit his mother. It became one of the strangest unauthorised flights ever recorded, and remains legendary in Aussie aviation circles.
