50 Hilariously Clever Memes That Explain History In A Way Textbooks Don’t (New Pics)

Did you know that in Roman slang, Gladiators would sometimes be called “barley boys”? Since they, understandably, needed to be pretty strong, they would, like any fitness guy, bulk up, in their case, on barley. The truth is, people in the past were, well, people, just like us, which means that history can often be a lot more approachable, if you learn it the right way.

We’ve gathered some excellent, informative and downright hilarious examples of history memes. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.

#1 Surprise!

#2 Source?

#3 Le French

While much of human history has been anything but “fun,” but at least as modern observers, we can turn all that suffering into trivia questions, or, as this list demonstrates, memes. Perhaps it’s a very human superpower, to take some tragedy of the past and to shift how you see it mentally. After all, if you allow your past difficulties to dominate your present, you can hardly move on.

It probably helps that a lot of historical events were quite funny, from one perspective. For example, Rama IV, the king of Siam, offered to provide the United States with war elephants during the civil war. Try to imagine some pachyderms at Gettysburg, the thought is pretty comical.

#4 Is This Comic Gold?

#5 I’m Not Sure What Else Were They Expecting

#6 U. S. A 👍

Or that Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of England, and Czar Nicholas II of Russia were all first cousins. There is nothing “funny” about the First World War, but the fact that his whole thing did look like a family drama at a distance sort of puts things into perspective. The more things change, the more things stay the same, as the saying goes.

#7 Just A Small Souvenir!

#8 His Whole World Was Turned Upside Down

#9 Real

Similarly, Tito, Hitler, Trotsky, and Stalin all lived in Vienna in 1913, as did Sigmund Freud (age 57) and Archduke Franz Ferdinand. If the subject matter wasn’t so touchy, it’s easy to immediately imagine all the sitcom-worthy scenarios that can arise with this colorful collection of individuals. Would really redefine the concept of “neighbor drama” when we consider what happened over the following three decades.

#10 I’ve Been Preparing This Monologue For Years. Listen

#11 Surely This Power Will Be Used Wisely

#12 The British Government The Second Ww2 Was Over:

#13 Pretty Accurate

#14 Gluten Tag

#15 A Very Historical Pig

#16 Check It Out Guys!

#17 Legends

#18 His War Never Ended

#19 Ideals Where Different

#20 Guys Wtf?

#21 Centuries Later, They Have Finally Done It!

#22 I Mean If They Were In 70s Siberia They Probably Didn’t Hear It

#23 The Vote Was 76-1

#24 New Chapter From The Epic Of Gilgamesh

#25 Chickens Are Underrated

#26 He Is Not Perfect Or Innocent But Honestly

#27 Literally The Best Selfie

#28 Can A Country Be More Based?

#29 We Owe Him An Apology

#30 Which Is More Accurate?

#31 What Were Real Pirates Like?

#32 “If There Is A God, He Is A Malign Thug.” – Mark Twain

#33 The Betrayal Is Unreal

#34 I See Land, I Conquer

#35 The Americans Sure Enjoyed The Wars From The Other Side

#36 Those First Couple Of Months Must Have Been Weird

#37 Amazing Things Were Happening In 10th Century Baghdad

#38 If Not Dragon Why Dragon Shaped? 😠

#39 Poor Guy Just Wanted To Help People

#40 Sorry Rome, You Had Your Time

#41 Whose Great-Grandfather Is He?

#42 Not Again

#43 Let’s Call It .. Part 1

#44 Archbishop Of Athens Was Chad

#45 Lifted For Your Sins

#46 Might Be A Little Hotter Than Usual

#47 They Could Agree On One Thing

#48 Damn

#49 What Pride Flag Is This

#50 Mexican Origin Story

#51 Rip Ancient Texts

#52 “I Would Have Saved Him!”

#53 Who Wins This One?

#54 Arminius My King

#55 We Are The Exception

#56 How Was I Supposed To Know?

#57 He Was Literally Him 🗣️💯

#58 There Is No In Between

#59 Bad But Still Meme That I Had To Share

#60 What? 🇵🇪

#61 Terrible President, Great Human Being

#62 Not The Most Successful French Innovation

#63 Viking Supremacy

#64 The Goodest Boy

#65 Poortugal

#66 West We Sail

#67 European Empires Could Have Avoided Decolonisation With This One Simple Trick

#68 It’s Going Great Ma

#69 How???

#70 Not Overly Simplified At All

#71 I’m Already In Tears

#72 Average Coup In A Muslim Majority Country

#73 Ahah Really

#74 Can Someone Explain?

#75 1st Punic War

#76 He’d Be Flabbergasted

#77 I See No Flaws

#78 After Being Paid To Go Off

#79 Based

#80 The Infamous “If” By The Spartans Wasn’t As Bad**s Once You Know Actually Happened Afterwards

#81 Poor Greeley Man

Presidential candidate Horace Greeley, who ran against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, died on election day, just before the EC casted its votes and certified Grant’s victory. It was the first and, as of now, only time when a major U.S. presidential candidate died before the election officially ended.

#82 Japan Really Liked Poland

#83 Let’s Wait For The Pope To Ban Drones Too

#84 “You Aint Dying Without Justice!”

#85 Ok

#86 The Spear Is Without Question The Goat Of Weapons Used Throughout History. Nothing Else Comes Close, I Suppose Every Aincent Society Ever Mained It For A Reason