19 Historians Share Important Events That Most People Don’t Know About

17.

The world’s oldest university system was founded not in Greece or Rome as western dominated history would have you believe. The first known universities were founded in Nalanda (Northern India), Taxila and Vikramshila ca. 500 BC. They continued until about 1200 AD when it was destroyed by Muslim invaders. At its peak it had nearly 10,000 students from across the world including China, Central Asia, Turkey, Egypt etc. The education system followed a method that would be very familiar to us today – students studying in various subjects for roughly 3 years and then immersing themselves in a subject that piques their interest, and pursuing that for several years until they were awarded the equivalent of a doctorate today.

18.

One that a lot of people dont realize had such an enormous impact on us was the Algerian Revolution (1954-62). During this time, what we know as modern terrorist tactics or guerrilla warfare (i.e. blowing up cafes and planting IEDs to disrupt daily civilian life) was introduced as a main stream way of fighting a larger force, being the French. I dont recall as much as I used to pertaining the details, I’m sure someone else will chime in though, but learning about the introduction of these tactics really opened my eyes to the ‘rationale’ of these bombings in the Middle east and elsewhere and gives you more context to why people opt to do that.

19.

On January 17, 1961, Belgium backed a coup against Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (previously the Belgian Congo). This was because the Belgian government was trying to keep hold on the mining rights for the copper in the DRC. After 5 years of instability, the CIA backed a coup by Joseph Mobutu, who became a dictator, ruling the country until the Congo Wars.

Written by Irvi Torremoro

Irvi Torremoro is an Austinite by way of Las Vegas. She's worked in various outlets in food & beverage and is now focused on writing, eating all the things, talking about Beyonce, and petting all the puppies. She runs flavorandbounty.com, a lifestyle blog about people in the service industry.