As writers, we are inherently curious beings. And given that our portfolio includes various family history and genealogy projects, it’s only natural that we’d find history to be especially fascinating and compelling.

In one of our recent ventures down the rabbit hole of interesting historical facts, we came across this article from Ranker.com, with historical stories that are so outlandish they almost seem fake.

For example, did you know that Albert Einstein’s brain was stolen after his death?  Apparently, the pathologist who examined the genius after his death took it upon himself to go against Einstein’s wishes and remove his brain for his own personal studies.

How about the fact that at one point during the Cold War, the CIA considered using an exploding cigar to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro?

Believe it or not, that was not the only “creative” idea the U.S. government had for taking out the infamous communist leader.

They also considered poisoning his milkshake, throwing grenades at him during a baseball game, and enlisting one of his former lovers to help take him out.

Ranker’s article also shares the truth behind some of history’s most well-known (but not actually true) tales. For instance, we all have likely heard about George Washington’s wooden teeth. While it’s true he did have horrible teeth, and lost almost all of them, it turns out that not one of his fake teeth were actually made of wood.

In reality, his first set of teeth was made out of ivory, while later sets were made from lead, gold, and brass screws. And, unbelievably, he even had dentures made of real teeth, which he obtained from his slaves.

For more astonishing historical facts, check out Ranker’s Weird Historical Stories That Sound Made Up. And be sure to let us know which are your favorites!