History lesson time! Today we're going to discuss the origin of memes. Yes, internet memes. Why am I differentiating the two? Well, it's because the term “meme” was first used by Richard Dawkins in 1976 - and wasn't about the internet. A meme, by Dawkins' definition (via the Oxford Dictionary) is “An element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.” It's all about the transmission of ideas. Some great historical examples…

What's the coolest dinosaur of all time? The top three that I've always heard people say are Tyrannosaurus Rex, Pterodactyl, and Velociraptor. Sure, all pretty good picks. T. Rexes are massive and funny looking. Velociraptors are fast and cool. Pterodactyls are the ones that can fly. Those three are definitely the most represented within dinosaur-affiliated media, but I have a dark horse candidate for the coolest of the animals: supersaurus (AKA the massive dinosaurs with the ridiculously long…

Did you pay attention in history class ? Personally, history was my favorite subject growing up. It didn't really require a ton of critical thinking, at least for me. You kind of just had to show up to class, listen to the teacher tell stories of what happened before our lifetimes, and maybe read a little bit. Doing the bare minimum of what's listed there, I performed well enough. Of course, not everyone had the same experience. History is just an interesting subject to learn about. So why don'…

We here at Memebase feel that history memes are a special breed. I usually have one of two reactions to them. A knowing smirk, chuckle, or nod at a meme dealing with history that I'm well-versed in. Shock, horror, and an hour-long voracious time-traveling trip through the depths of Wikipedia. Generally speaking, I mostly react in the former manner. It's good to feel smart. But every now and then a meme will introduce me to an era, event, or cultural tidbit that just leaves me feeling ill, but a…

Now, I've never been to a Renaissance fair, but it's definitely on my bucket list. Hanging out with my buds, eating a cartoonishly large hunk of mutton, drinking brews out of a gilded stein, and pretending we're in the late 1300s? That sounds like a dream come true. If you subtract the inherent suffering found in the medieval ages , it seems like a pretty good time. Who needs modern medicine? I'll just let one of those plague doctors in the bird mask tell me how to fix my ailments. Medieval mem…

Happy hump day, everyone. It is Wednesday, my dudes. And guess what? We're not feeling great about this particular day of the week, no matter how hard Camel Joe and the cigarette companies tried to make Wednesday a good thing. But when life hands you lemons, and it's too cold for lemonade, sometimes you have to make the best of things in another less proverbial way. We need to take pleasure from wherever we can get it, and the man isn't gonna do that job for us. Sometimes we have to stake out o…

The Internet is a pretty nerdy place. For one, there's loads of information available about any topic a person would want to geek out about. It's also a place where these geeks can go to enjoy discourse on their favorite subjects - without having to enter the real world. These communities have fun on forums, but they're also super active when it comes to memes, as one can see in this nicely sized collection of mostly-nerdy memes. This gallery features gaming memes, history memes, and some relat…

Not all memes are for everybody. They're much like stinky french cheese at a viciously overpriced grocery store. You might smell one and initially think, “Wow, this smells like battery acid. What an unpleasant thing to put in my mouth or near my brain.” However

Whether you enjoy having a little giggle at the past, or fact-checking nerdy history memes in your free time, we've got a bunch of funny stuff right here for dunces and history buffs alike. And they're all over the historical map. If you're into exposing the super-sus and sketchy actions of the CIA, there are memes for you. Prefer the World War II? You guessed it, there are memes about that, too. If you're into a more all-out style of conflict, the jokes here rely heavily on wars, even shouting…

It's true that the past however thousands of years have blessed us with technologies from the wheel to our iPhones. But there's also been a lot of bad sh*t to come out of these technologies and relative progress of humanity. Weapons, war, racism, genocide, etc etc. The people of the past, whether on the “good side” or “bad sides” of history, would probably balk at the fact that we're sitting here looking at memes about their trials and tribulations. Or at least we hope they would. That said, it…

Hey, did you know that the Gallipoli front during World War I was a total disaster? British veterans who were there called it one of the worst military campaigns ever. Crazy, right? I actually found out about it from some random history meme that I just had to Google. As it turns out, when the Brits weren't busy fighting the Ottoman Empire, they were dealing with swarms of flies from rotting bodies, running out of water, scorching heat, lice, dysentery, and not enough food. It was a pretty nast…

Time for a little R&R

The Disneyfication of Greek mythology in 1997 animation Hercules is pretty hilarious if you're familiar with the real (and very messed up) lore. In the movie, Zeus, Hera and Hercules are presented as one big wholesome family. The actual legend is full of adultery, violence, revenge, and terrible parenting. In the Disney movie, Hercules is the beloved child of Zeus and Hera. He is stripped of his immortality by Hades and forced to life as a mortal on earth. In the original myth, Hercules is not…

When I was a sullen teenager with a vintage clothing addiction and an ever-growing record collection, I would often find myself thinking “I wasn't made for these times.” I likened myself to an old soul - world-weary and wise, with a timeless charm and worldly intellect. While some of this is probably thanks to living in New York City, a cultural mecca of sorts, I was also just…dumb. What times did I really think I was made for? The Great Depression? Did I think I would be better suited to the d…

It's easy to idealize the past when the present is, um, lacking. Maybe that's why nostalgia is so present in media. We're not just talking about those ‘90s kids memes . We're talking about all the music that

I think that “ whimsical ” is one of the weirdest adjectives to self-identify as. Like, imagine just walking around describing yourself as a whimsical adult to unsuspecting strangers. Like what? It’s one of those qualities that are weird to advertise yourself as, but there are definitely people who are a little whimsical. They are the kinds of adults who are obsessed with dark Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan merchandise for some reason. They take the Renaissance fair more seriously than anyon…