Our first list on Historical Oddities was very popular, so we are now presenting you with a second list! Here are 20 strange facts of history that you are probably not aware of.

Oddities 1 - 5

1. Charles Darwin married his first cousin.

2. John F. Kennedy, Anthony Burgess, Aldous Huxley, and C.S. Lewis all died on the same day.

3. Officially, the longest war in history was between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly, which lasted from 1651 to 1986. There were no casualties.

4. Gay marriage was legally recognized in Rome, and Nero himself married at least two gay couples.

5. Adolf Hitler’s nephew, William Hitler, immigrated to the United States in 1939 and fought against his uncle.

Oddities 6 - 10

6. Thomas Paine was elected to the first post-revolution French parliament, despite not speaking a word of the language.

7. William Howard Taft is the only US President to come third in his campaign for re-election, losing to eventual winner Woodrow Wilson and fellow Republican Theodore Roosevelt.

8. Technically, Henry VIII had only two wives. Four of his marriages were annulled.

9. King Richard II invented the handkerchief.

10. The Parliament of Iceland is the oldest still acting parliament in the world. It was established in 930.

Oddities 11 - 15

11. The people who founded the Futurism art movement also founded the first Italian Fascist party in 1918.

12. Albert Einstein was offered the role of Israel’s second President in 1952, but declined.

13. New Zealand was the first country to enfranchise women. It gave them the vote in 1895.

14. The 27th amendment to the US constitution took 202 years to ratify, having been proposed in 1789 and finally ratified in 1992.

15. Until April 2008, the island of Sark remained the last feudal state in Europe.

Oddities 16 - 20

16. Tomatoes were considered poisonous for many years in Europe and they were grown for ornamental reasons only. In fact, the leaves and stems of tomatoes are poisonous (but they can be used in moderation for food flavoring).

17. Soon after building started in 1173, the foundation of the Pisa tower settled unevenly. Construction was stopped, and was continued only a 100 years later. Therefore, the leaning tower was never straight.

18. Ancient Egyptians used slabs of stones as pillows.

19. People have been wearing glasses for about 700 years.

20. King Charles the Second often rubbed dust from the mummies of pharaohs so he could “absorb their ancient greatness.
我们首次列举的历史上的奇人异事非常受欢迎，因此我们准备列出第二份名单！这是历史上20件你可能从没意识到的奇异的事实。

奇人异事1-5

1.查尔斯·达尔文 娶了他的第一个表妹。

2.约翰·F.·肯尼迪（美国总统）， 安东尼·伯吉斯（英国著名作家），阿尔都斯·赫斯利（美国著名编剧），C.S. 刘易斯（英国评论家）都死于同一天。

3.据官方称，历史上最长的战争是荷兰与赛丽群岛之间的战争，其从1651年持续至1986年。这场战争没有带来人员伤亡。

4.男同性恋婚姻早在罗马时代就被承认为合法，尼禄自己就至少娶了两个男性为伴侣。

5.阿道夫·希特勒的侄子，威廉·希特勒于1939年移居美国，并反对他的叔叔。

奇人异事 6-10

6.托马斯·潘恩被选为大革命后首届法国国会的议员，尽管他没有说过一句竞选词。

7.威廉·霍华德·塔夫脱是唯一一位重新参加了三次总统竞选的美国总统，他输给了最终的胜利者伍德罗-威尔逊以及后来的共和党人西奥多-罗斯福。

8.从技术上来说，亨利八世只有两个妻子，他有四次婚姻被抹杀掉了。

9.手帕是英国王理查德二世发明的。

10.冰岛国会是世界上最老的仍在运转的国会，它建立于公元930年。

11.未来派艺术运动的创立者同时也在1918年创立了第一个意大利法西斯政党（菲利普·托马佐·马里内蒂，墨索里尼的重要帮凶）。

12.1952年，阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦被邀请担当第二任以色列总统，但被他拒绝了。

13.新西兰是第一个给予妇女选举权的国家，时间是在1895年。

14.美国宪法的第27次修订花了202年才被批准，它被提交于1789年，于1992年方才获批。

15.直到2008年四月，萨克群岛仍然是欧洲的最后一个封建国家。

奇人异事 16-20

16.在欧洲，人们在很多年时间里都认为西红柿是有毒的，并一直将其作为观赏植物种植。事实上，西红柿的茎和叶的确是有毒的（但它们可以被适度的用作食物调味品）。

17.1173年，比萨斜塔刚开始建造，就发现地基不平，建造停止了，并在一百年后得以继续。因此，斜塔从来就没有直过。

18.古埃及人用石板作为枕头。

19.人们佩戴眼睛已经700年了。

20.英王查尔斯二世经常擦拭法老王木乃伊的灰尘，这样他就可以“吸收”他们古代的伟大精神。