Six True Historical Events Textbooks Rarely Cover

Typical history classes teach a limited amount of material from a broad perspective and straightforwardly look at the consequences of events, rather than the unusual and unique circumstances that led to those consequences. Here are six documented cases that illustrate how it might have turned out differently.

A Wrong Turn Helped Trigger World War I

The assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which triggered World War I, almost didn't happen at all. One bomb thrown at his car missed, and the main assassin Gavrilo Princip thought the plan had failed and went to a local deli for food. Ferdinand's driver, however, took a wrong turn, and while trying to reverse and steer back, the car stalled right in front of the same deli where Princip was standing. With nothing but a short distance separating them, Princip's target was within his reach, and he fired. This eventually led to a war that claimed the lives of at least 17 million people over the following four years.

A Security Guard's Routine Check Exposed Watergate

In 1972, while on his regular nightly security shift at the Watergate complex, Frank Wills noticed that a door latch had been taped over to keep it from locking. He took off the tape, and on a later round, he saw the tape stuck back on, so he called the police. That call triggered the investigation that would result in the arrest of five men hired to install listening devices for Nixon's re-election campaign, leading eventually to Nixon's resignation. Shortly after, Wills was let go from his security position and, throughout the remainder of his life, worked a series of low-wage jobs with little recognition for his role, dying in 2000.

A Fake Newspaper Series About Life On The Moon Doubled Circulation

In August 1835, a series of articles appeared in the New York Sun claiming that a well-known astronomer had discovered forests, giant beavers, and bat-winged humanoid moon dwellers, written in real sounding scientific language that made it convincing. A journalist had concocted the entire story, and the astronomer whose name was used was actually in South Africa at the time and unaware his name was being attached to it. The series more than doubled the newspaper's circulation, and once the hoax was uncovered, there were no real consequences for the paper.

A Woman Served As A Marine For Years Without Being Discovered

Hannah Snell, disguised as James Gray, enlisted in the British Marines in the 1740s after her husband abandoned her while she was pregnant. She participated in combat overseas, took part in major sieges, and treated her own wounds when necessary to conceal her identity. In 1750, she revealed the truth and was not punished; she was instead given a pension from the government. She later opened a pub in London and spent the rest of her life recounting her military service.

A Secret Cold War Espionage Operation Went Undetected For Decades

Crypto AG was a Swiss company that sold encryption devices to over 120 governments around the world, marketed as reliable and neutral due to Swiss engineering. The company was secretly owned by the CIA and West German intelligence, meaning Western intelligence agencies could read encrypted communications from client governments almost as soon as they were sent. This operation, dubbed Rubicon, remained undisclosed until investigative journalists made it public in 2020.

The Vatican Recognized A Pope Who Never Actually Existed

Vatican records for centuries listed a pope by the name of Donus II serving in the 970s, and a portrait of him was even hung in the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome. The pope never actually existed. A medieval scribe had misread the Latin word Domnus, meaning lord, and the error went unnoticed in official documents until a Vatican archivist spotted it in 1947.

Why These Stories Matter

All of these examples show how contingent historical events actually were. History is usually portrayed as a series of inevitable causes and effects, but these real cases make clear that major turning points were often shaped by chance and small, little-known details.