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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Reddit user Kuli24 asked:
"What's a movie fact you know that pretty much no one else knows?"
The Departed/Arthur the Aardvark
"When filming the rooftop scene in The Departed, a giant inflatable Arthur the Aardvark—from the TV show Arthur—on top of a nearby children's museum would have dominated the background of many of the shots."
"The museum graciously agreed to temporarily deflate and remove Arthur."
~ el_goyo_rojo
GiphyMission Impossible
"The theme song from Mission Impossible spells out MI in Morse code on repeat."
~ BelgianBeerGuy
GiphyStar Wars
"Robert Englund, famous for playing Freddie Kreuger, auditioned to be Luke Skywalker, but didn't get the role."
"He told his roommate, Mark Hamill, to go try out instead."
~ Zefram0911
GiphyNightmare On Elm Street/Lord of the Rings
"And by extension, the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise is considered the reason we have Lord Of the Rings today.
"Because New Line was on the verge of bankruptcy until Elm Street saved the company."
"And New Line was the only company with the guts to green-light and fund Peter Jackson’s pre-production and production for LOTR."
~ hevnztrash
GiphyThe Princess Bride
"Cary Elwes broke his toe on André the Giant's 3-wheeler during filming The Princess Bride."
"He was worried Rob Reiner might fire him so he kept it a secret.
"He worked the scenes before the Fire Swamp to make his character kind of nonchalant but really he couldn't put much weight on his foot."
~ Inevitable-Roof4992
GiphyAliens
"In Aliens, after the first encounter with the aliens as the Marines are retreating, there is a scene where they get in the troop carrier and as they are getting ready to leave, an alien tries to get in."
"Hicks picks up his shotgun off the deck, jams it in the alien's mouth, yells 'Eat this' and blows it away."
"That whole scene was shot backwards because the actor, Michael Biehn, couldn't perform the move."
"So it was shot backwards, played in reverse and then sound dubbed over it."
~ LordBaranof
GiphyCoco
"In Pixar's Coco, the boy who was going to play Miguel hit puberty, changing his voice."
"The people in charge replaced him with someone younger."
"The original boy got a cameo where he is the guy working the stage asking him if he's ready to go on."
~ numbersev
GiphyAirplane!
"Leslie Nielsen was a critically acclaimed dramatic actor and leading man before he did Airplane!."
"On the set, people were intimidated by him because of his status."
"But they had no idea that he was the set prankster."
"He's actually buried with a fart machine that he used to carry around to mess with people."
~ G-Unit11111
"His prior career was the primary reason for casting him in Airplane!."
"A respected serious actor giving those jokes as serious lines was what made it so funny."
~ SaltWaterInMyBlood
GiphyFinding Dory
"In Finding Dory, the original voice of Nemo had grown up, so his voice had obviously changed."
"But he still got a cameo as one of the truck drivers."
GiphyDead Zone/Christmas Story
"The movies Dead Zone and Christmas Story were being filmed only a couple miles away from each other at the same time."
"Both productions were waiting for snow so they could film. It was an usually snowless winter."
"Finally late in the season there was a significant snowfall. The scene where Sheriff Bannerman arrives at Johnny’s house is being filmed at the exact moment of the tongue to the flag pole scene."
~ Annual_Rooster5678
GiphyShrek
"In the first Shrek movie, Lord Farquaad is removing all the fairy tale creatures from the swamp."
"He wants Shrek's home too."
"In the old DVD extras they explain it’s because he wants to build a theme park there."
"It’s not explained at all in the movie."
~ bickel89
"Farquaad was modeled after then Disney CEO Michael Eisner."
"Shrek was produced by DreamWorks which was co-founded by Jeffrey Katzenburg who ran Disney before Eisner."
"Farquaad is also a play on the word F*ckwad."
~ TheGoadingGoat
GiphySir Anthony Hopkins
"Sir Anthony Hopkins is an incredible mimic."
"Throughout his career, he’s looped (post-production sound re-recording) many well known co stars who were unavailable for re-recording sessions."
"He’s never taken credit for this."
~ smdanes
GiphyToy Story/Monsters Inc.
"The original choice for Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story was Billy Crystal. He turned it down and went on to say it was one of the biggest mistakes of his career."
"When the opportunity to voice Mike in Monsters Inc came up he jumped at it, as he didn’t want to make the same mistake twice."
~ DorkusMalorkus89
GiphyContagion/Seven
"In Contagion the autopsy performed on Gwyneth Paltrow used a prop head that was originally made for the finale of Seven."
"The latter decided against showing what was in the box and thus, years later it was repurposed."
"In other words, we finally got to see what was in the box."
~ thepoeticpatient
GiphyEdward Scissorhands
"In Edward Scissorhands, the version shown to critics and reviewers contained a scene that got cut from the final theatrical version. The scene was during the opening when the grandmother starts telling her story to the little girl."
"Essentially, it made it clear that everything we are seeing in Edward’s story is not as it actually occurred, but rather we’re peering inside the little girl’s imagination, seeing how she’s interpreting what her grandmother is telling her."
"This brings whole new meaning to things like the way the houses are painted, how all the dads leave for work at exactly the same time, and the quirkiness of how everyone behaves.
"Once you know that this scene exists, you see the movie in a very different way. Much of what we think of a 'Tim Burton weirdness' is actually childlike imagination once you know."
"So, go watch it again. It’s not a whole new movie, but it feels and comes across in a whole new way."
~ Darnitol1
GiphySo, what cinema secrets do you know?
There's nothing like leaving a movie theater having just seen an excellent movie.
Particularly one that took you by surprise.
Perhaps it was deeper and more meaningful than it purported itself to be, or on the flip side, had much more warmth and humor that you would have expected.
Or, the film took an unexpected twist that you never saw coming.
Resulting in your needing to bite your tongue until the rest of your friends and family see the film, and not spoil the surprise for them.
Redditor HornyCorny was curious to hear which plot twists left viewers utterly speechless, leading them to ask:
"What’s a movie twist that caught you completely off guard?"
He Didn't See It Coming Either!
"Brad Pitt in 'Burn After Reading'."
"So surprising and downright freaking hilarious."- thefirehairman
If The Shoe Fits...
"'The Shawshank Redemption'."
"Come on."
"It's not always a man notices another man's shoes."- FUBARspecimenT-89
Lucky For Some, Not For All...
"'Lucky Number Slevin'."
"Huge twist and very satisfying."- kvlr954
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Rosie O'Donnell Would Agree...
"Fight Club."- BuchseeI
"once watched it with a friend who had never even heard of it, and she called the twist like, a half hour in."
"She said it as a joke and didn't realize she was right until the actual reveal, but still I was shook."- yugosaki
I See You Keyser Söze
"The ending of 'The Usual Suspects'."- Schwarzes__Loch
Definitive Shyamalan
''The Sixth Sense'."
'I love movies with plot twists, but I never imagined this one. It caught me completely off guard."- lucasduka
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The Title Is Also Misleading...
"The second half of 'Parasite'."- iwontrememberthat4
Appropriately, They Really Toyed With Your Cognition
"'The Game'."- DudeHeadAwesome
"Good one!'
"I spent the entire movie going 'is it a game? Is it real?'"- fastpixels
There Were Definitely Ghosts...
"'The Others'."
"Unsuspected end."- NeckComprehensive743
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One Unforgettable Opening Scene
"'Scream'."
"The Drew Barrymore role."- LivingTheLife53
The Real Reason Everyone Is Terrified Of Bees...
"When I was a kid, I wanted to feel good and happy."
"So at the video store, I decided to rent a movie with two happy laughing kids on the DVD cover, thinking it would be a feel-good playful story."
"That movie was 'My Girl'."
"Eff that movie."
"Seriously."
'The DVD cover lies."
"IT LIES."- buckyhermit
You THOUGHT you knew who the villains were...
"'From Dusk to Dawn' — midway point."
"Didn’t know at all what I was walking into when saw it in the theatre decades ago — just, you know, Salma Hayek. Good enough."
"Quentin Tarantino slurping tequila from her foot after it ran down the entire length of her leg — that was already a 'Holy WTF' moment."
"But then, well.. . you know."
"And if you don’t know — quick, go watch it. "
"No trailer, no synopsis, no summary."
"Find it and load it 'blind' and fasten your seatbelt."
"You’re in for a wild ride."- canada11235813
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It's Title Is More Than Accurate!
"'Crazy Stupid Love'."
"The scene when the whole movie goes apesh*t in the yard is one of my all time favorite movie scenes."- Fimbulvintern
Trifecta Of Twists
"'The Others'."
"The end of 'The Mist'."
"'The Prestige' (though, I ALMOST had it figured out, but not quite)."- Krinks1
There's nothing better than when a movie surprises you.
Even if it does make talking about said movie with people who haven't seen it a bit more challenging.
Case in point, people who saw The Sixth Sense and The Usual Suspects after their endings were spoiled for them, don't seem to like those movies as much as those who went in blind.