What are some weird historical facts that nobody knows?

If nobody knows about it, it wouldn’t be a historical fact now would it? But I could share one story that probably isn’t very well-known outside of China — the story of a man named Jing Ke who decided to assassinate Chinese Emperor Zheng.

Jing tried to stab the Emperor, who saw him coming and was able to avoid being hit. He then pursued the Emperor by foot — he ran around a pillar. It was one of those slapstick moments where one cartoon character chases another around a pillar endlessly. No one in attendance had weapons due to a “no weapons allowed near the ruler” rule. Zheng himself did have a weapon, but it was a very long ceremonial sword and he struggled to get it out of his robes.

A royal physician named Xia Wuju finally had the wit to throw his medicine bag at Jing Ke, allowing Zheng to finally draw his sword. He engaged Jing Ke by sword, mortally wounding him and ending the world’s clumsiest assassination attempt.