What are some history facts that few people know?

The Netherlands has a city or town named Turkey. The story behind it is that way back in the day Spain claimed to go to war with the Netherlands. The Netherlands not being that powerful asked the Ottoman Empire for their support. The Ottoman empire gave the Netherlands one Ottoman flag and one soldier uniform and told them to have someone walk around in that with the flag near it’s shores for the Spaniards to see as they arrive (cause they told the Netherlands that they’d attack from sea). The Ottoman empire also sent a message to the king or duke of Spain (idk who the leader was and what he was called at the time) stating that the Netherlands is under their protection and so attacking them ment declaring war on the Ottoman Empire, as the fleet saw the soldier uniform and flag, and got word of the letter they fled before a single shot even occurred.
As a thanks they named a city after the empire and as the empire then became Turkey of today they change the name of the city too.
Not many people know this and I mention it as often as I can when a Dutch person badmouths the Ottomans.

There were no potatoes outside Peru and Bolivia until the 16th century.

The Soviets trained dogs strapped with Bombs to run under tanks in WWII. The Soviets mistakenly trained them on their own tanks which run on diesel whereas the German tanks ran on gasoline. When they field tested the dogs they ran under their own tanks and that ended that insane piece of history.

In January 1945, near the waning days of the war, thousands of Germans tried fleeing the Eastern front by boarding the MV Wilhelm Gustloff. It was sank by Soviet torpedoes shortly after voyage in the Baltic Sea. While the official death toll isn’t known, it is estimated at nearly 9,000, with only about 900 survivors. This was, by far, the worst maritime disaster ever.

It’s seldom talked about because, well, they were Germans and we were at war with them, so very few cared. Plus, even the Nazi Germany media didn’t really report on it either, since as they were nearing the end of a war they were losing the last thing they needed was another major hit in the morale

Harry Truman was the first US president to have secret service protection after his presidency. He wasn’t happy about it and had them do his yard work so they weren’t just sitting around doing nothing, he was also known to sneak away and go to the bank and by the time they realized he was gone he was on his way back home.