It’s no secret that humor helps us learn and remember things better—if you’re laughing and having fun, chances are that a fact will stick that much harder in your mind. And we find that one of the best formats for this is creating memes. If you’ve ever thought that history was a dull subject, you might just change your mind at the end of this article.
The r/HistoryMemes subreddit is a sprawling online community of millions of history lovers who create, share, and comment on a very wide range of memes about the past. We’ve collected some of the freshest pics to pique your interest, Pandas, so scroll down, enjoy, and we hope you’re taking notes because this will be on the test.
#1 I Just Hope The Man She Replaced Ended Up Working As *her* Maid
Image credits: office_cinderella
#2 Read A Fricking Book For Once!
Image credits: ABAokay32
#3 Washington Washingdogs
Image credits: AnosmicDairy169
The sub has been flourishing for more than a decade. Ever since it was founded all the way back in September 2012, it has grown by leaps and bounds. At the time of writing, the group was home to over 7.5 million members (or ‘History Experts’ as the community dubs them).
Members of r/HistoryMemes are encouraged to share memes about historical events, famous historical figures, and trends that were established at least twenty years ago. Moreover, the memes can be related to history class or “the application of the subject of History in real life.” The memes can also be tied to mythology or religious texts, or be ‘meta’ memes about the subreddit itself.
#4 How About Another 4 Years Of Delays?
Image credits: Key_Dealer_1762
#5 Everybody Needs Somebody
Image credits: RocketBoost
#6 This Is Why I Failed Chemistry
Image credits: robartino
The team running the entire community has outlined its extended rules in great detail. It’s probably best to give those a read (right over here) if you’re new to the community and want to start things off on the right foot.
For instance, some memes and formats are actually banned on r/HistoryMemes. This is done for the sake of maintaining a high level of quality. Some topics that are prohibited include British Museum memes, as well as images related to France supposedly surrendering all the time. These topics have been milked to death.
#7 Had Me At 360 No Scope
Image credits: historyinmemes
#8 Fly Pig Fly!
Image credits: TheCryptokenKeeper
#9 Same Thing For The Court Dwarfs
Image credits: mehmed2theconqueror
Some other banned meme topics include US oil, nuclear bombs in Japan, Nazi scientists in NASA, and Hitler’s links to art school. Meanwhile, among some of the prohibited formats are Political Compass memes and fake caption-style posts where someone posts with a title that includes the name of an event, its date, and the word ‘colorized’ for comedic effect.
#10 Insane To Think Charles Darwin And Steve Irwin Both Owned The Same Turtoise
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#11 Poor Germany
Image credits: reddit.com
#12 Adams Is Critically Underrated
Image credits: _Boodstain_
Other banned formats include ‘Those who don’t know/Those who know’ memes, as well as Boys vs Girls memes. The mods also ask the community not to start meme wars or incite drama on the subreddit. Moreover, the images and titles that people post can’t be low-quality. In short, internet users ought to put in some effort in what they share.
#13 Worlds Oldest Complaint
Image credits: happymoron32
#14 The Struggles Of Anyone Doing Ancient History
Image credits: ActafianSeriactas
#15 Henry Avery Did Not Have The Most Satisfying Ending To His Plotline
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
And (though it’s common sense) redditors are urged not to deny or defend genocides and atrocities. Anyone going against this rule will instantly be banned, permanently. “Hateful historical revisionists are not welcome,” the mods explain. You’ll also get banned if you compare atrocities to one another.
Again, this is all common sense stuff on what not to do, but if the rule’s there, it means that there are folks who consistently do the opposite.
#16 Leave, We Don’t Want You Anymore, Go Starve On The Desert
Image credits: EnzoRaffa16
#17 Actually Fuming At All The History Books I Could Have Read Smh
Image credits: dasShambles
#18 The Most Fantasized People In History
Image credits: Wonderful-Plum4032
According to one thesis written by a senior student at Yale University, humor really does help us remember facts better. If factual information is paired with an especially funny joke (compared to a non-humorous one), individuals recall the fact better. However, what also helps is if the joke is relevant and somehow tied to the fact itself.
#19 Have We Men Changed In 110 Years?
Image credits: ShinyHappyAardvark
#20 Canadian History Be Like
Image credits: Upbeat-Fox7091
#21 Supposedly, When John Hetherington Invented The Top Hat And Wore It In Public For The First Time, It Caused People To Faint From Shock And A Riot Broke Out. It’s Debatable Whether Or Not This Actually Happened, But I Want To Believe
Image credits: Goodbye-Nasty
Meanwhile, Edutopia notes that humor activates the dopamine reward system in our brains which helps with “goal-oriented motivation and long-term memory.” Humor, when used correctly, can help students retain information better, whether they’re still in kindergarten or already in college.
#22 Why??
Image credits: luanalovesyouu
#23 Dod Funding Is The Best Kind Of Funding
Image credits: usefulrustychain
#24 The Race Was Held At 3:00pm On A Sweltering 32-Degree Celsius Day, And Took The Runners Over Dusty, Unpaved Roads. James Sullivan, The Chief Organiser Of The St Louis Olympics, Was Interested In ‘Purposeful Dehydration’ — An Ill-Advised Area Of Scientific Research At The Turn Of The Century — And Ensured There Was Only One Water Station On The Entire Course. Fourteen Kilometres From The Finish Line, American Runner Thomas Hicks Was In Agony. He Was Fading Fast From The Dust And Heat, And Tried To Lie Down On The Road. Hicks’ Trainers, Who Also Believed That Water Diminished An Athlete’s Performance, Gave Him Small Sips Of A Toxic Cocktail Which Included Strychnine (Rat Poison) To Stimulate His Nervous System. High On Rat Poison Which Was Mixed With An Egg White And Brandy, The 28-Year-Old Staggered Along For The Rest Of The Course While Hallucinating
Image credits: historyinmemes
Generally speaking, the average person won’t have the time and energy to check whether every tiny little piece of information that they come across on the internet is factually correct. So it’s best to be a bit skeptical of everything and to consider the source where the info came from.
“When looking at ‘mindblowing’ facts on the internet a healthy sense of skepticism is essential—as is looking at the source. Is this being claimed by Twitter user @fakefacts420 or a Professor of History at the University of Oxford? Are you reading this on a university website or an email your nan has forwarded you?” one moderator from another but related subreddit, r/AskHistorians, told Bored Panda earlier.
#25 Some Names Were More Creative Than Others
Image credits: Hextor26
#26 Mediteranean Banter
Image credits: edgewolf666-6
#27 They Were Blamed For Everything From Economic Hardship To War And Plague
Image credits: ShattertheEmpyrean
In other words, try to get your information from reliable sources and individuals. Now, this doesn’t mean that they won’t any mistakes ever (everyone’s human after all), but it would be naive to think that all sources are ‘equal.’ What you can do, if you’re particularly bamboozled by a fact or meme, is cross-reference the information from a few reliable sources. You can also check out some sites (e.g. Snopes) that debunk myths and fake news.
According to the mod from r/AskHistorians, some time periods have an unusually large number of conspiracy theories associated with them. “There are probably dozens of potential conspiracies surrounding Sumerian agriculture, but that topic isn’t in the public eye in the same way that something like the Second World War or the Roman Empire is,” they said.
Unfortunately, some individuals aim to “exploit past events to push a political point in the present day” by weaponizing history in a sense.
#28 Fine, I’ll Do It Myself
Image credits: SYZYGYMD
#29 She Wasn’t That Bad But She Could Also Have Been Better
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#30 Now The Bad Thing Would Be If You Were A Christian And The Secret Trap Door Opened
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
Let us know in the comments which of these memes you vibed with the most, dear Pandas. Were there any that made you want to learn more about a time period or historical event? Feel free to share your insights and findings.
In the meantime, for some more r/HIstoryMemes goodness, take a peek at Bored Panda’s earlier posts here and here.
#31 Just Don’t Fall Into A Body Of Water Or Get Stuck In Mud And You’ll Be Fine
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#32 Ancient Civilizations Had Very Specific Hang UPS
Image credits: DrKillBilly
#33 Battle Of Dentists’ Tooths
Image credits: Khantlerpartesar
#34 Fortunately, We Have Archeology, But It Will Never Be The Same
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#35 Your Religion Needs At Least One Flood Myth To Be Cool
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#36 The Soviets Did Not F**k Around
Image credits: premeddit
#37 The Monk Refused The Cleric’s Offer Of Medicinal Herbs
Image credits: nepali_fanboy
#38 Ah Yes, The Ww1, The War To End All Wars!
Image credits: TheNiceWriter
#39 This Came To Me At 2.30 Am
Image credits: Momalkav
#40 Til The Tower In The 1990’s Went Beyond The Limit Of 5.4° Of Lean Which Should’ve Had It Fall Over And Noone Knows Why It Didn’t
Image credits: urmovesareweak
#41 Canada
Image credits: TurbulentWave51
#42 Giga Chad Sam
Image credits: Jan_Mantania
#43 Can’t Say It Wasn’t A Good Smart Decision
Image credits: HawaiianPerson
#44 Learn The Difference!
Image credits: mehmed2theconqueror
#45 No, I Don’t Believe You!
Image credits: Be_Good_To_Others
#46 Visited Enough
Image credits: Twelve-Majestic-Lies
#47 God Speaks To Me
Image credits: itoldyallabour
#48 Let’s Be Honest, We Aren’t Playing On The Same Level
Image credits: mehmed2theconqueror
#49 Tents Could Be Very Expensive And Most Peasants Which The Army Consisted Off Could Never Afford One, Only Noblemen, Kings Or Rich Knights Could
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#50 Being Sent Overseas Was Often A Death Sentence
Image credits: wafflelegion
#51 The Last Guillotine Execution In France Was In 1977 And One Month Later Star Wars Was Released
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#52 Sic Semper Tyrannis Is More A Rule Than A Saying
Image credits: Accomplished_Leg1079
#53 I Mean, Yeah, It Is Possible That The Car Park Was Where The King Was Buried
Image credits: nickonreddit123
#54 Groundbreaking Stuff
Image credits: jamiedadawg
#55 Thought Some People On This Sub Needed A Clarification
Image credits: mehmed2theconqueror
#56 It’s A Stupid Argument
Image credits: Key_Dealer_1762
#57 “Don’t, Don’t, Don’t, This Will Hurt Someone”
Image credits: Sk-yline1
#58 I Guess You Could Say It Was A Job To Die For
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#59 I Mean It’s A Fucking Leaf
Image credits: PeDestrianHD
#60 I Present You, Horse
Image credits: JaredTimmerman
#61 Real Duels Were Pretty Rare And Most Of The Time Problems Was Resolved In Alternative Ways
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#62 Elizabeth Bathory And Vlad III The Impaler Were True Monsters Of Their Days
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#63 China: Suffering From Success
Image credits: AdvanceAccording3149
#64 Poor Minotaur Has Got It Rough
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#65 Udreeeea… My Dudes
Image credits: CardLeft
#66 *change Team*
Image credits: Excellent_Fuel3124
#67 10-Day War Be Like
Image credits: LukaMaki
#68 My Guy Tyr Was The Biggest Chad In Norse Mythology
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#69 Hey Drake, Where’s Jesus?
Image credits: BisonicLemur
#70 What A Wonderful Time To Be Alive!
Image credits: mehmed2theconqueror
#71 Downside Of Being A Brutal Killing Machine
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#72 Enter The Punic Wars
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#73 Go Ahead Just Place It On The Scale
Image credits: ReflectionSingle6681
#74 There, I Fixed It
Image credits: DoomySlayer
#75 Can’t Have Myths Without A Storm God Fighting A Dragon
Image credits: Haryn1910