We Did That?: Human Bloopers, Secret Histories, Medical Mysteries, Strange Superstitions, and Other Curiosities from Our Past

Everyone loves fun trivia! Buckle up for a very odd ride through history. If you enjoyed books like Strange History or The Book of Unusual Knowledge, Quackery or The Sawbones Book, then We Did That? should be next on your list.

How did we come up with that? Everyone knows about mousetraps, but did you know they were originally inspired by burglar alarms? What was so important to Samuel Hopkins that he became the first person to have a US patent? Many curious creations have been born over the centuries. In this section, author and historian Sophie Stirling dives into the curious minds of inventors and their unique (and sometimes wild) ideas throughout history.

Strange beauty and fashion fads The phrase “pain is beauty” has a very real history across the globe. Discover painful fashion trends, wooden bathing suits, breast enhancers in the shape of toilet plungers, and death-inducing cosmetics. People are willing to do anything to stay beautiful. But why would ingredients include arsenic, beetles, or “hog’s pisse”?

Odd superstitions and folklore: Do you know about the centuries-old Banana Curse? The origin of the Tooth Fairy? Our weird obsession with shoes? Some strange beliefs might seem be the stuff of old wives’ tales, but many have become ingrained in our minds. You might be more superstitious than you think!

We Did That? is an entertaining collection of odd history! In this book, you will learn about:

• Odd jobs throughout the centuries that will leave you appreciating your day job
• Curious inventions that never made it big, or that were the first versions of mainstream products today
• Interesting and sometimes gross medical cures and deathly beauty trends
• Embarrassing human bloopers and weirdness that will leave you wondering…we did that?

This book is a great bathroom reader gift for people who have everything. Enjoy this fun trivia book full of stuff you missed in history class.