Top 6 little-known historical events that make even historians surprised

History is a field with a huge amount of knowledge. No one dares to claim that they fully understand history, especially the small details. But sometimes, there are historical details, small and little known, but they stimulate people's desire to explore history.

Historical events that make anyone who hears them stunned

1. The Roman Emperor Commodus once gathered all the disabled people in the Colosseum and forced them to fight to the death.

Commodus - the emperor of ancient Rome was an eccentric and crazy person, like many other emperors of those times. He loved to give himself titles. For example, when he was about to die, he made people call him Hercules, son of Jupiter. He also ordered the months to be renamed so that they could correspond to his titles and names: Commodus, Augustus, Amazonius, Invictus, etc. In 190 AD, he renamed Rome Commodus. No one was allowed to object and had to fulfill all the emperor's absurd orders.

Commodus also enjoyed performing as a gladiator in public. He was good at fencing and enjoyed killing animals in the arena. He organized 735 battles in which the people were forced to participate and no one dared to stand up to him. To eliminate the "imperfect" citizens, he ordered all the cripples, dwarfs, and mentally challenged people to be rounded up and forced to fight to the death in the Colosseum.

2. The shortest war in history was the war between Britain and Zanzibar.

The 38-minute confrontation between Britain and the East African island nation of Zanzibar in 1896 is considered the shortest war in world history.

The war originated from an internal power struggle after the sudden death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini of Zanzibar on August 25. Khalid bin Bargash, the Sultan's cousin, quickly took control of the palace with the support of Germany. Khalid's accession to the throne shook the political power and interests of the British Kingdom, which is why the British army sent an ultimatum and sent troops to besiege the palace.

Khalid had assembled nearly 3,000 defenders while the British brought in five warships. Khalid is said to have escaped through a back door of the palace, leaving his servants and armed supporters to continue fighting. The Sultan's flag was pulled down and the world's quickest war officially ended after just 38 minutes.

3. There were only 3 German Empires in history

The first German Empire was the Holy Roman Empire, but not of ancient Rome. In 962, King Otto I the Great proclaimed his empire the Holy Roman Empire, a successor to the ancient Roman Empire and the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne. In 1806, the Empire was overthrown in the Napoleonic Wars and the last emperor, Francis II, was forced to abdicate.

The German Empire is considered the Second Empire created by Otto von Bismarck in 1871. However, after the November Revolution, this Empire was disintegrated. Then, Adolf Hitler founded Nazi Germany on March 24, 1933.

4. The Spanish Inquisition issued a death sentence for all residents of the Netherlands.

On February 16, 1568, the Spanish Inquisition issued a death sentence to all residents of the Netherlands by decree of Philip II. These courts were established in 1522 by King Charles V. The majority of the population of the Netherlands at that time was Protestant while the orthodox Spanish always wanted to destroy other religions and beliefs.

In response to all the protests of the Dutch people, King Philip II imposed taxes and suppressed Protestantism. Philip II's autocratic policies led to a revolt that began among the nobility in 1567. The Spanish king sent the notorious general Fernando Álvarez de Toledo to suppress the revolt and executed 1,800 nobles. All these events became the reason for Spain to issue an edict to execute all heretics in the Netherlands.

5. Persian Prime Minister Sahib Ibn Abbad always carried a library of books with him.

Sahib Ibn Abbad was born in Persia in 938. When his father died, Ibn Abbad was only 7-8 years old and was raised by his father's friends.

Ibn Abbad contributed greatly to the development of Persian culture. He promoted poetry and was knowledgeable about many subjects. When the Samanid Emperor invited Ibn Abbad to become his vizier, he replied that he could not accept because of his library. The Samanid then sent 400 camels to carry all of Ibn Abbad's books - 60 of which were dictionaries.

6. The Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered all books in the country to be burned.

In 213 BC, the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered all books in the country to be burned. More than 460 Confucian scholars were executed in 212 BC, and a large number of books were burned due to the law prohibiting the personal use of books. In particular, Qin Shi Huang wanted to completely eliminate the Five Classics of Confucius.

Fortunately, the ban did not include the Qin Dynasty archives, so books on pharmacology, divination, agriculture, and medicine survived in Chinese history. And, of course, the famous Five Classics still exist today, despite many restorations.