We are living in one of the darkest times of life. It has seemed for quite sometime that humanity has lost it's way. Every time we turn on the news or check our newsfeed it's bad people and apocalyptic events. That is why it is now more important than ever to remember that good people exist, and humanity is pure at heart. History is flooded with greatness, we just have to dig a little deeper to find it these days.
Redditor u/An_Annoying_Otaku wanted to hear about happier times from humanity's past by asking..... Historians of Reddit, what is the most wholesome moment from history?Flowers for the Man
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At Shanidar Cave, an archaeological site in northern Iraq, a Neanderthal male was buried encircled by flowers.
Over 50,000 years ago we were sentimental.
We also found the skull of one of the relatives to human (can't remember which) that had no teeth. The person the skull belonged to was roughly in its 40's and theres evidence (don't know what) it had no teeth for most of its life. That means that someone had help it eat for decades, probably out of nothing but kindness and love. Turns out kindness is an ancient thing.
Friends
Nobuo Fujita was a Japanese pilot in World War Two. He was the only Axis solider to drop a bomb on the continental United States. He visited the town of Brookings Oregon after the war with the intention of committing Seppuku to atone for his violence. Instead the town befriended him and he even sponsored three students from the town to study abroad in Japan. He donated his families sword to the town and even help to raise funds to build a library in the town. He was made an honorary member of Brookings before his death.
To the Water....
During the 9/11 attacks the tunnels and bridges were shut down leaving boats to be the only way on or off the island for the first time in over 100 years. Many of the ferry boats were trying to evacuate lower Manhattan and at one point the coast guard realized that the evacuation needed to get better organized and so they put out the call for any boats that want to help with the evacuation to report to governors island, the response was hundreds of boats, ranging from tug boats, party boats, yachts, speed boats, etc., lining the horizon and showing up to help.
It became the largest Sea Evacuation in history, the only one to come close was the evacuation of Dunkirk during WW2. At Dunkirk 339,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated over the course of a week and on 9/11 over 500,000 civilians were evacuated by boat in just under 9 hours. https://youtu.be/18lsxFcDrjo
just a little...
I don't know if 'wholesome' is really the right word, but when I think of the number of normal people across Europe (including Germans) who risked everything to help Jews/POWs/etc., flee the Nazis, it restores my faith in humanity a bit. They saw the face of evil and acted with courage and empathy.
YES QUEENS!
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Mine is the Siege of Weinsberg where the attacking king made a deal for the surrender of the castle stating that the women may leave free and can take with them anything they can carry on their backs.
The women then walked out of the castle with their husbands on their back.
The 3
The 3 men that dived into the highly radioactive pool beneath reactor no. 4 of Chernobyl power plant all survived.
They were tasked to open a valve in the dark basement so that the radioactive waste water can be drained before the melting reactor core can chew through the concrete above the basement.
If these men failed their mission, the molten core would come into contact with the water and instantly cause a steam explosion, contaminating all of Europe.
In short, the 3 men charged in knowing that they most likely wouldn't survive in order to save the rest of Europe.
Together!
The Battle of Castle Itter, when a bunch of German soldiers fought alongside US Soldiers to defend a bunch of French prisoners from the SS. If that wasn't enough, this was like two days before the surrender of Germany, so the war in Europe was about to end.
Pardon the Intrusion....
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When Switzerland accidentally invaded Liechtenstein in 2007 and apologized profusely to the Liechtenstein government. They apparently didn't know about it until that moment.
Damnit, thanks for making me cry, Canada!
When US airspace was grounded on 9/11, 2001, planes coming from across the Atlantic that couldn't turn around were re-routed to airports all across Canada. Air Traffic controllers went into hulk mode in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland to suddenly take in 38 wide body planes at its airport carrying 6-7 thousand passengers from over 100 countries, and the people of that town and surrounding fishing villages were like "no big deal we got you" (as Canada does) and set to task.
The town's bus drivers were currently on strike but they put down their signs and started carting passengers to community centers, schools, and churches where residents were working non-stop setting up shelters and making meals, many also hosting strangers in their homes. The bakeries fired up the ovens, the hospital beefed up it's staff, hell people even took care of 17 dogs and cats and 2 GREAT APES that were on the planes.
Town pharmacists got to work helping people get essential medication.
The people of the town even took it upon themselves to treat the guests as tourists and took many of them sightseeing and fishing, etc, because CANADIANS. Many of them became great friends and still keep in touch.
Damnit, thanks for making me cry, Canada!
A Truce.
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During the US Revolutionary war a British general lost his dog during a battle. It was captured by US forces who tried to give it to general George Washington, who had it groomed and returned to the British under a flag a truce.
During the first Christmas in WW1 many areas of the trenches declared a truce, against the wishes of generals on both sides. It wasn't uniform across the board, but in a lot of places enemies celebrated Christmas together, exchanged gifts, and completely ignored orders to resume fighting until after the holidays.
After 9/11....
The African tribe that donated 14 cows to the US as relief aid after 9/11
The tribe viewed cows as a precious commodity so to willingly donate them was a huge gesture of good will. Honestly, everything the global community did for the US after 9/11 shows that we can all put aside our differences and come together for the common good.
Its said that there is so much hate and violence and it takes a massive tragedy to make people stop and think about their fellow man, insert Hurricane Harvey relief effort here.
We Stand By You
In the days leading up to 9/11, the USS Winston Churchill and the German destroyer Lutjens were moored near to each other in Plymouth, UK. The two crews had got to know each other - visits, sports days, no doubt drinking up the road too...
In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Churchill was ordered to sea. The safest place for a warship is at sea, with room to maneuver and use its weapons.
After several days at sea, the Churchill received a request from the Lutjens, departing Plymouth. They wanted to pass by close on the port side to say good-bye.
As the German destroyer came close, it became apparent the German crew were manning the rails in dress blues. A traditional naval honor.
They'd prepared a sign. We Stand By You.
The crew of a German destroyer, named for the Admiral who went down with the Bismarck, rendering honors and support to the crew of an American destroyer named for Winston Churchill, in the English Channel.
Bubbles....
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When the allies came to liberate Italy, the citizens busted out champagne since many of their relatives lived in allied countries.
Normandy
During the Invasion of Normandy 2 medics from the 101st Airborne set up a field hospital in a town where heavy fighting was going on, and with very limited supplies. They treated every American and Germany Soldier when one of them went out to get more wounded with a wheelbarrow. They found both sides stopped shooting and the medics forced every to leave their guns outside and one of them forced a German Officer ether a major or Colonel to leave his gun and his men's guns outside.
"Hallelujah"
Standing during the singing of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus (from "Messiah," composed in 1741):
An often repeated legend about Messiah tells the story of King George II who was so moved by the "Hallelujah" chorus during the London premiere of Messiah that he rose to his feet and then everyone in attendance followed suit as not to be sitting when the king stood.
That's how the regularly debated tradition of standing during the "Hallelujah" chorus came to be (also giving birth to countless passive-aggressive battles of concert decorum between the sitters and standers!).
However, according to various experts, there is no truth to this story. In fact there is no evidence King George II was even in attendance, and it is unlikely the newspaper writers that were in the audience would have overlooked mentioning a royal presence. The first reference to this story was a letter written 37 years after the fact.
Just where that leaves us in the annual stand-versus-sit showdown though is still very much up for debate.
Go to Bologna....
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The war of the bucket. Milan and Bologna went to war, Milan's butt was handed to them, and in the treaty, Bologna took their sacred bucket and put it on display for all to see. Go to Bologna and it's still there.
Forever....
I know everybody has already mentioned this (and will mention this), but the Christmas Day ceasefire during WWI. Not only did they stop fighting altogether, but they got out into No Man's Land, played footy all day, and then had supper together, shared stories, broke bread, so on and so forth.
This moment in history is so bittersweet, however, because then on Boxing Day, they got back into their trenches and went back to killing these temporary friends they made because men of higher authority a world away told them to. Extremely wholesome, but extremely sad as well as WWI was a definitive turning point in modern history which began the doctrine of "forever war."
Also, Castle Itter. Tl;dr, in the closing days of the war in Europe, a Yugoslavian prisoner broke out of a German prison camp, sought out the Allies, and along with a defected German bird, the American army, anti-Nazi German indentured soldiers, and a whole bunch of other POWs, they stormed Castle Itter, killed a grip of Nazis, and fought as a single unit under one idealogy - to stop the Third Reich.
Not traditionally wholesome, but beautiful nonetheless that when there were no more punishments for breaking rank, men of countless creeds fought together to take down the German machine. A lot of Americans died, as well as the Yugoslavian, and the German bird. I think it is tragically beautiful that all of these different kinds of men from different cultures and identities fought together - and died together - all in the name of liberation in Europe. Makes you think of the LoTR meme.
The Canine Love Story
Obligatory not a Historian....
For me it would be the earliest example of the canine-human relationship. A dog was found buried next to two humans around 15000 years ago and there's the cave with footprints of a child and a dog walking side by side and clearly entering and exiting the cave together.
The domestication of dogs goes way back further than we could imagine, they have always been by our side!
+ 1
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That time Liechtenstein sent out an army of 80 people and suffered negative casualties because they came back with a friend for a total of 81 people.
No, they did not come back with a friend, rather an Austrian Liason officer who accompanied them back to Liechtenstein, as they had been sent out to watch the Italian border with the Austrian Empire, as Italy was allied to Prussia who Austria was losing a war with, and Liechtenstein as an Austrian ally sent these men to make sure there was no surprise Italian assault.
The Austrian officer went back to the empire once the 80 men of Liechtenstein were back in their borders.
Known as the Merry Monarch....
I like the one from Charles II of England. Known as the Merry Monarch, he loved women and had many mistresses. His favorite was a woman called Nell Gwyn; an actress and seller of confectionary oranges, at a local theatre. He even had a tunnel built from under the theatre to an inn across the road for half time entertainment.
On his death bed he asked his brother to take care of all his mistresses and said of Nell "Let not poor Nelly starve."
She was given a huge pension. He just really cared about the wellbeing of all his mistresses and illegitimate offspring, and especially of Nell who wasn't even of noble birth, which was kind of unusual for the day, and for a king. I just like it because he truly took care of the women in his life, even when it would have been more usual and perfectly acceptable for him not to give a crap about them at all.
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Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.
More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.
Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.
Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.
Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:
"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"
Don't Give Me So Much Credit...
'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."
"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."
"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."
"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"
"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher
Eternal Optimism...
"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."
"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465
Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...
"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”
"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”
"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia
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Double Whammy!
"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."
"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93
Can't Hide Your DNA...
'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."
"She cracked the code."
"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93
Self-Sufficient!
"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."
"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."
"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'
"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody
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A Miracle!
"My brother-in-law’s comment."
"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."
"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."
"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."
"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."
"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."
"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"
"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn
Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...
"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."
"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."
"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."
"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."
"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379
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A Bit Too On The Nose?
"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."
"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."
"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."
"'What would you expect to find there?'"
"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB
Not Yet, Anyway...
"I was working with my friend and his dad."
"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."
"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."
"His dad asked, 'what for?'"
"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."
"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890
Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...
"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."
"She told this story to him:"
"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."
"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."
"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."
"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."
"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."
"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."
"She asked him what was wrong."
“'What’s wrong???'"
"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714
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Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...
"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."
"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52
Read The Room People!
"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."
"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."
"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"
"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl
There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".
As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.
Teachers are meant to impart knowledge to the next generation, but they have to get the kids to pay attention first.
Not an easy task.
So many, too many schools are plagued by kids who have no self-control.
Teachers end up playing referee, counselor, and parent in addition to their teaching role.
All of those additional hats don't come with any additional pay.
It's no wonder we're in a teacher shortage.
Redditor _Planet_Mars_ wanted the teachers out there to share some rough student stories, so they asked:
"Teachers, what is the worst thing you've seen a student do?"
I once saw a kid drive their car into the school office.
They were drunk.
Thankfully no one was injured.
POP!
"The was a loud pop and a flash in the back corner of the classroom. I asked the student sitting there what happened. She said it was firecrackers. I sent her to the office. While she was still in the office, I realized the electrical outlets in the room didn’t work. At that point, another student fessed up that the student sent to the office had put a pair of scissors in the outlet. I’m not sure why that student thought it was better to lie and claim she was doing fireworks inside the school?"
mynamelessname
Pain
"When I was teaching preschool, I had a little girl, between 3-4, walk up to another girl who was sitting on the rug reading a book, grab her by the hair and slam her head into the wall. They hadn’t been interacting in any way prior. When I asked her why she did it, she said she 'wanted her to know it hurts.'"
No-Doubt-8748
That Kid
"A different type of bad than most of these."
"I was a teacher at a poor inner-city school. I had a lot of wonderful students but some difficult ones. One was the worst — bright but was always sleeping through class and acting up and never doing homework. I lived about 30 minutes away. One night, I stopped by the local Wawa after a night out with friends. Was at least 11:30 pm and I was already dreading the early morning drive to school. And who should be checking me out but my own 'problem' student."
"He was working late to make money for his family and then getting home at 1:00 am or later before heading into school on 4-5 hours of sleep. He was a smart kid. Really smart. I hope things worked out for him but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if he’d been allowed to have a childhood and focus on his education."
Low_Cartographer2944
Blame the Heat
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"It gets very hot here in the warmer months and so the school put out those big containers for water for everyone. Well, one student was caught peeing into a bag and dumping it into the containers."
huzzahserrah
Some kids really need some deeper therapy.
Peeing in bags? Seriously?!
From Beneath
"My wife is an elementary teacher and has a kid this year that likes to slip under their desk and lick toes (we live in a warm state) and they all think he will grow up to be a creeper."
CherryManhattan
BOOM
"This was the worst thing I know of that happened at my high school."
"Someone brought a blasting cap to school (OK, that's a bit dumb), and flushed it down the toilet (that's REALLY dumb). Then told a teacher about it, because maybe it wasn't such a good idea (their best idea that day, really)."
"Wound up with that restroom being taken out of service while the fire department x-rayed the plumbing to find and remove the (admittedly tiny) explosive. Took several weeks before it was back in service."
gogstars
Sad
"My favorite teacher in high school was a very kind a lenient man. Do your work, be respectful, and follow the major school rules and you and him would be cool. The one thing that would seem minor, but that he was very strict about was taking any medication in any way shape, or form in his classroom."
"One day, I needed to take some Advil for cramps and asked to take it. He said I needed to go to the nurse for permission. I ended up asking him why he was so strict about it. it turns out, he had a student pass out in class one day at his former school. He tried to wake her up and called the nurse, but she wouldn't wake up. They called 911 and by the time they got there, she had died of an OD on narcotics she took in the bathroom that she had hidden in a Tylenol bottle. I don't know how he went back to teaching after that."
musical-nerd24601
Painful
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"Saw a 4-year-old purposely push a piece of furniture over onto another 4-year-old at preschool. It actually really hurt the other kid, and her parents took the school to court."
MPD1987
Kids are brutal.
No wonder people home school.
