Buzz
The world around us is a curious place, filled with extraordinary things. Yet, we often take them for granted. After being surrounded by the oddities of our world for so long, we lose that sense of awe they once sparked in us.
However, there was a time when the things we now consider everyday were completely unfamiliar. The individuals who encountered these things for the first time had no idea what they were about to witness—or how to explain it to everyone back home.
10. An Explorer Mistook Gorillas for Exceptionally Hairy Humans
Around 2,500 years ago, Hanno the Navigator became one of the first Europeans to encounter a group of gorillas. Tasked with exploring Africa, he had grown accustomed to encountering unusual and exotic tribes.
So when he stumbled upon an island inhabited by gorillas, he assumed they were simply a peculiar group of humans. Hanno recorded that he discovered “wild people, mostly women, whose bodies were covered in hair, and whom our interpreters referred to as Gorillae.”
He and his crew attempted to greet the gorillas, but the apes weren’t exactly friendly. Instead, they hurled rocks at the men and fled. Hanno’s men managed to capture three of the gorillas, hoping to persuade them to return to Carthage. Unfortunately, Hanno noted, the gorillas “could not be convinced to come with us.”
When the gorillas became aggressive, Hanno and his men killed them. That’s when Hanno went a bit mad. “We skinned them,” he wrote, referring to what he thought were human beings, “and brought their hides back to Carthage.”
9. The First Dinosaur Bone Was Thought to Be Goliath’s Leg
When Robert Plot first came across a dinosaur bone, it was, unsurprisingly, a confusing discovery. He had no idea what he was looking at, other than that it was enormous, frightening, and unlike anything he’d ever encountered.
Determined to solve the mystery, Plot took the bone to compare it with an elephant’s in 1676. “I compared ours,” he wrote, “and found those of the elephant not only of a different shape, but also vastly different from ours.”
Plot was convinced there could be only one explanation. “They must have been the bones of men or women,” he wrote. A firm believer in giants, he theorized that “there have been men and women of such extraordinary size throughout history.”
Plot believed that this bone was proof that every giant tale he’d ever heard was based in reality. “Goliath for sure stood at [297 centimeters (9’9″)] tall,” he wrote, then proceeded to fill pages with every giant story he could recall.
“These bones from Cornwall may belong to a man or woman,” he concluded. ”'Tis evident.”
8. Galileo Claimed Saturn Had Ears
Galileo was the first person to spot Saturn's rings, but this occurred in 1610, long before telescope technology was advanced. When he observed Saturn, Galileo wasn’t seeing the sharp, clear images we get from NASA today. Instead, he was viewing a blurry light and trying to discern what he could. So, it's understandable that he mistook the sight for a star with ears.
It took Galileo three years of careful observation to conclude that Saturn had ears. Initially, he thought he was seeing three stars that were unusually close together. “The star of Saturn is not a single star, but a composite of three,” Galileo wrote, “which almost touch each other, never change, or move relative to each other.”
Two years later, from a different angle, Galileo couldn’t see the rings anymore. Not realizing it was a problem with his telescope, he was convinced the other two stars had vanished mysteriously. “I do not know what to say in a case so surprising, so unlooked for, and so novel,” he wrote. “Has Saturn swallowed his children?”
When the stars reappeared the following year, Galileo revised his theory. After three years of study, he was now sure that Saturn wasn’t made up of three disappearing stars. Instead, it was one singular celestial body—and, Galileo concluded, it had “ears.”
7. The Most Famous Image of a Rhinoceros Depicted It in Metal Armor
When Albrecht Durer created his rhinoceros illustration in 1515, he had never seen one in person. A rhinoceros was touring Europe, but Durer never had the chance to observe it firsthand. Instead, he relied on a few descriptions and assumed he had enough information to create an accurate drawing.
He drew the image you see above and proudly inscribed on it, “This is a true representation.” Durer claimed that the rhinoceros “is the color of a speckled tortoise and is nearly covered in thick scales. It is as large as an elephant but with shorter legs and nearly invulnerable.”
In his illustration, Durer depicted the rhinoceros wearing a metal breastplate like a medieval knight. He even added an extra horn on its back and covered its legs in scales. It wasn’t entirely accurate, but for centuries, this image was widely accepted as the definitive anatomical drawing of a rhinoceros, appearing in books and classrooms alike.
6. The First Description Of A Tornado Is Surprisingly Heartless
While tornadoes have struck locations outside North America, none have been as devastating or as frequent as those that devastate the United States. The earliest known account of a tornado comes from John Winthrop, the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1643. And it’s rather unsettling.
“There arose a sudden gust,” Winthrop’s account begins. “It blew down multitudes of trees. It lifted up their meeting house at Newbury, the people being in it. It darkened the air with dust.”
However, when Winthrop reports the aftermath, we get a stark insight into his attitude toward human life. “Through God’s great mercy, it did no hurt,” he exclaims, then casually adds, “but only killed one Indian.”
The Native American was crushed by a falling tree—which, according to Winthrop, was a near-disaster averted. After all, that tree had nearly hit a white person. Relieved, Winthrop allowed himself to contemplate the worst. Thanking God that it had only killed a Native American, Winthrop noted that the tree “was straight between [the settlers] Lynn and Hampton.”
5. The First Explorer To Australia Called It ‘No Good’
Long before James Cook was born, the Dutch reached Australia. Led by Willem Janszoon, a team of explorers sailed south and reached the Australian coast. Janszoon believed he was exploring New Guinea, unaware that he had stumbled upon an entirely new continent. To make matters worse, he wasn’t very impressed with it.
“Vast areas were largely untended,” Janszoon noted, “with certain parts occupied by savage, cruel, black barbarians.” This description is disturbing by today's standards. However, to be fair to Janszoon, nine of his men had been killed and eaten during his brief time in Australia.
The explorers gave up on Australia and turned back, dismissing the entire continent by declaring that there was “no good to be done there.” Their opinion influenced others.
A few years later, an official recommendation was issued advising against returning to the place where Janszoon had landed. “Such discovery was once attempted around the year 1606,” the report stated, and suggested that it should not be attempted again.
4. The First Description Of A Kangaroo Came From The Wrong Country
“A remarkable creature lives among these trees,” begins the first ever description of a kangaroo. “Its face resembles that of a fox, its tail is like a marmoset’s, and its ears like those of a bat. Its hands are similar to those of a human, while its feet resemble an ape’s. This animal carries its young in an external pouch or large bag.”
This is a fairly standard description of a kangaroo, except for one detail—it was written in 1511, almost a century before the first Europeans set foot in Australia.
The author, Peter Martyr, was describing an animal he had seen in person. It had been brought to him by the crew of Vicente Yanez Pinzon, a companion of Christopher Columbus who, according to all records, never ventured to Australia.
Martyr penned this account in a letter to Cardinal Ludovico d’Aragon, noting that the cardinal had also examined the creature. Although they didn’t name the animal, Martyr’s description matches the kangaroo perfectly: “This animal never removes its young from the pouch except when they are playing or feeding, until they are able to survive on their own.”
Does this suggest that Pinzon made it to Australia? Or does it imply that kangaroos were in Central America? The evidence isn’t entirely conclusive, but there’s even more evidence pointing to a kangaroo reaching Europe before Janszoon’s expedition. Around 1580, a Portuguese writer sketched a kangaroo within the letter 'D' on a piece of paper.
3. George Shaw Was Convinced The Platypus Was A Scam
The first recorded description of a platypus was written by George Shaw in 1799. Someone had sent him a specimen from Australia for examination. Upon seeing a duck-billed platypus for the first time, Shaw was skeptical, thinking that this was some sort of elaborate trick.
“It naturally gives rise to the suspicion of some deceptive preparation by artificial means,” Shaw wrote regarding the animal, which he described as a “miniature otter” with a duck-like beak “attached to its head.”
Shaw wasn’t convinced of its authenticity until he conducted “the most minute and rigid examination.” Afterward, he produced a comprehensive report on the platypus, concluding that it probably dug, swam, and consumed aquatic plants. But Shaw ultimately gave up trying to understand anything else about the strange creature.
“That,” a perplexed Shaw wrote, “is all that can at present be reasonably guessed at.”
2. Columbus Portrayed The Native Americans As Easy Prey
Upon arriving in America, Christopher Columbus sent a letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, detailing his discoveries. If there were still any doubts about Columbus’s character, this letter makes his morally questionable nature abundantly clear.
“I discovered numerous islands, inhabited by countless people, and I have claimed them as my own,” Columbus proclaimed. “No resistance was offered to me.”
The indigenous people Columbus encountered were generally described as welcoming, offering no opposition to his taking everything they possessed. “They refuse nothing they own when asked,” Columbus wrote. “They are content with any small gift, no matter its worth.”
In his conclusion, Columbus promised to deliver to the king “as much gold as they may require” and “slaves, as many as they command.”
1. The First Description Of Surfing Calls It The ‘Most Supreme Pleasure’
When James Cook and his crew reached Hawaii in 1778, they became the first Europeans to witness surfing. The crew watched native men riding the waves on surfboards and in canoes—and they were awestruck by what they saw, calling it an extraordinary sight.
William J. Anderson, the ship’s surgeon, was particularly impressed. He had seen a man paddling a canoe instead of using a surfboard, but the man was undeniably riding the waves.
Anderson described the scene: “He ventured out from the shore, moving towards the spot where the swell began to form. He watched its initial movement closely, paddling quickly ahead of it until he realized it had gained enough strength to push his canoe along, carrying it forward without passing beneath him.”
Anderson was captivated by the sight. “As he was carried swiftly and smoothly by the wave,” he wrote, “I couldn't help but think that this man was experiencing the most supreme pleasure.”
