It may sound strange, but the Great Wall of China predates Christianity. Credit: Shutterstock
The Great Wall of China is Older Than Christianity
The Wall that stands today is known as the Ming Great Wall, which began its construction during the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from 1368-1644. So the wall that every tourist goes to is only a few hundred years old, which doesn’t seem strange at all. However, the original structure is called the Chu Great Wall, which was built between 680 BC and 656 BC. Construction has lasted 2,300 years across 9 different Chinese dynasties. It’s mind-blowing to think of a construction project going on for that long. To put it into perspective, that’s before Christianity even existed.
France, the William the Conqueror statue in Falaise, Normandie. Credit: Shutterstock
William the Conqueror’s Corpse Exploded at His Funeral
Last but not least is the strange and disgusting story of what happened during William the Conqueror’s funeral. Before he died, William gained a lot of weight, and became rather large. In 1807, his horse reared, and the saddle punctured his intestines. Doctors tried to perform surgery, but this injury eventually led to his death. A lot of time had passed since he passed away and the funeral, so gasses were expanding his already enlarged body even further. The gravediggers made a hole, but it was too small for him to fit. So when they tried to push his body down in the hole, it exploded everywhere, guts raining down on his funeral guests.