How Silly Is Humanity?

History is full of deep lessons, wars, bloody revolutions, and events that certainly aren't laughing matters, but it's not all grim. It's also full of hilarious knee-slappers and absurd moments that we can't help but smile at. Here are 20 of the silliest things humans have documented in historical records. 

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1. The Great Emu War

Easily the silliest event in Australian history, the Great Emu War was a military operation in 1932 where soldiers with machine guns were ordered to gun down emus, which were destroying crops. The operation was a dismal failure, with the guns jamming and emus proving to be surprisingly fast and agile, evading gunfire.

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2. The Indian Cobra Incident

In 19th-century India, the British government put a bounty on cobras to curb the population. The problem was, the bounty payments were more than the cost of breeding cobras, so people started raising and killing snakes for bounty money. When the British caught on, the now worthless snakes were set free, leading to an even bigger cobra problem.

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3. Operation Paul Bunyan

In 1976, a group of US Army officials entered the Korean Demilitarized Zone to trim a tree that was blocking their view, only to be intercepted by North Koreans who used violence to stop them. The US then planned an operation to cut down the tree, backed by a ludicrous amount of military force to dissuade North Korea from intervening. The tree was removed successfully with no shots fired, and the whole thing was broadcast live to Washington.

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4. Napoleon’s Rabbit Attack

In 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte was attacked by a mob of domesticated rabbits. After signing a peace treaty, Napoleon’s chief of staff organized a grand rabbit hunt to celebrate, but upon release, the bunnies unexpectedly charged Napoleon and his men. Napoleon reportedly had to take refuge in his carriage. 

Jacques-Louis David on Wikimedia

5. The Whisky War

The Whisky War was Canada's and Denmark's hilariously amicable conflict over the tiny, uninhabited Hans Island, which both countries laid claim to without actually fighting over it. When Denmark staked their claim with a bottle of schnapps and a flag, Canada retaliated with whisky and their own flag. This went on for nearly half a century until the two countries agreed to split it down the middle in 2022.

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6. The War of the Runaway Dog

The War of the Runaway Dog was an incident that occurred in 1925 between Greece and Bulgaria, in which a war was almost started by a dog. A Greek soldier allegedly ran across the border into Bulgaria after his dog and Bulgarian forces shot him. Greece then retaliated by invading Bulgaria, seizing border towns until the League of Nations put a stop to it.

National Library of Scotland on Wikimedia

7. The Popularization of Potatoes in France

When potatoes were first introduced to France, no one liked them, and farmers refused to grow them. Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, a chemist and botanist, devised a plan to make them popular by planting them on his farm. He placed guards around, knowing that French farmers would think he was growing something very valuable, and sure enough, his land was plundered, and the potato finally caught on in France.

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8. The Exploding Whale Incident

In 1970, authorities in Oregon needed to dispose of a whale carcass and thought it would be a brilliant idea to do it using dynamite. Instead of disintegrating, chunks of whale blubber were shot through the air onto spectators and onto people's cars, creating a much larger problem than they started with.

Gabriel Barathieu on Wikimedia

9. The Straw Hat Riot

The US has seen its fair share of ridiculous riots, but none are so silly as the Straw Hat Riot of 1922. At the time, it was a widely accepted fashion rule that straw hats were not to be worn past Labor Day. A group of teens in NYC took it upon themselves to enforce the rule by knocking straw hats off men's heads, and it escalated into a full-blown riot, complete with street brawls and police intervention.

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10. Human vs. Kangaroo Boxing Matches

In the 1920s, boxing with kangaroos was a real sporting event across Europe and the US. Of course, animal rights activists eventually put a stop to it. 

Adolph Friedländer on Wikimedia

11. Operation Nifty Package

Operation Nifty Package was a 1989 US military operation designed to capture the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. To coax Noriega out of the house he was taking refuge in, US armed forces blasted deafening hard rock music, including songs by Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, and The Clash. Noreiga eventually gave himself up. 

United States Air Force on Wikimedia

12. The Battle of the Kegs

The Battle of the Kegs was an unsuccessful American attack against the British in 1778, in which they sent gunpowder-filled kegs down the Delaware River in an attempt to blow up British ships. Ice on the river interfered with the kegs floating to their targets, and the British merely shot at them or watched them explode on their own. Poet Francis Hopkinson wrote a satirical poem about the event, amplifying its humor.

Unknown on Wikimedia

13. When Belgium Broke The Record For "Days Without A Government"

In 2010, Belgium broke the world record for the country with the longest time without a government during peacetime, hitting 541 days. Belgians celebrated the strange moment by cracking beers and partying in the streets.

EmDee on Wikimedia

14. When Xerxes Punished The Sea

When Persian King Xerxes tried to construct a bridge across the Dardanelles to Greece, a storm thwarted his efforts. In an act of frustration, he punished the sea, ordering his soldiers to whip it with chains and stab it with heated iron rods. That'll show it!

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15. The Kettle War

The Kettle War was a military confrontation between the Habsburg Empire and the Dutch in 1784. The two sides engaged in a short naval battle in which the only casualty was a kettle full of soup that got hit by a cannonball.

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16. The Woman Who Could Give Birth To Rabbits

Mary Toft was a woman from Surrey, England, who, in 1726, successfully convinced doctors that she could give birth to rabbits. After fully convincing two surgeons, she was sent to London to be more closely studied, where she finally admitted to the hoax and was imprisoned for fraud.

John Laguerre on Wikimedia

17. France's Last Invasion of Britain

France's last invasion of Britain occurred in the Welsh village of Fishguard in 1797. The French invasion force, which was mostly ex-convicts, was sent to ignite a Welsh uprising against the British, but they were much more interested in the rich food and wine of the locals. After raiding farms and getting drunk on stolen wine, they were unable to fight, and the whole operation quickly collapsed.

Stephen McKay on Wikimedia

18. The Giant Tortoise Was Too Tasty To Name

The giant tortoise didn't receive a scientific name or classification for over 300 years because, apparently, they're so tasty that they never made it to Europe without being eaten on the voyage. There are countless accounts by 16th-century sailors praising the taste of the meat, even comparing the texture of the fat to that of butter. 

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19. The CIA Spy Cat Incident

During the Cold War, the CIA had the brilliant idea of sending a cat fitted with a recording device to spy on Soviet agents in a park in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, the cat was promptly hit by a car while crossing the street.

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20. The Capture of Guam

The capture of Guam during the Spanish-American War in 1898 was easily the most comical and polite military takeover in American history. A US ship fired a few warning shots towards a Spanish fort in Guam, and in response, thinking the Americans were saluting them, two people rowed out from the fort to apologize for not firing back because they had run out of gunpowder. The Spanish in Guam had no idea there was a war between the Spanish and the Americans, and being completely unprepared, they surrendered without firing a shot.

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