wwI

The era we're living through seems pretty bleak most of the time. It's hard to ignore the pandemic and our current political shitshow. But the past has been just as bleak, if not more. These dank history memes use humor to lighten up that darkness. As a bonus? They're kind of educational! 

Let's face it, 2020 has been something out of an apocalyptic horror story. But it's important to put things into perspective. Historically speaking, the world used to be pretty damn f*cked up. We're not about to compare Covid-19 to the Spanish Flu or Black Death, but maybe (to some people) it's comforting to remember we're far from the first people to deal with plagues, fire and brimstone. These spicy history memes are a great reminder of that. 

Every time we open our phones or turn on the television there are constant reminders of how absolutely terribly the world is doing. While dark and edgy history memes aren't going to solve the climate crisis or find a vaccine for coronavirus, they're a pretty decent reminder that the planet has gone through sh*t and bounced back for the better. We're just hoping that happens to us sooner rather than later. Happy scrolling!

If you're not a history expert or weirdly obsessed with WWI, the premise of these dank history memes may surprise you. Apparently, despite widespread use of deadly weapons such as the machine gun, Americans and their use of shotguns were the subject of an actual German protest in 1918. The Germans felt the guns were a form of terrorism, that the caused unnecessary suffering. Their protest was not taken seriously - especially because the Germans were using some pretty terrible weapons of their own. Chlorine gas, flamethrowers - even giant Zeppelin bombers.

The Germans were so appalled by the Winchester shotguns that they threatened to execute any Americans carrying the weapon. Their threats didn't sway the US Army, who kept using the guns. Some people even credit the weapons with the defeat of the Germans. Right now, the guns (and the protests surrounding them) are the subjects of an insane amount of history memes, mostly popping up in meme communities on Reddit. And they're pretty freakin' funny. We've put some of the better examples in this gallery, but we bet you can find some more if you creep around r/historymemes. Happy scrolling!

We think history can be really fascinating, but we also understand that learning it out of a textbook is boring as heck. If you're a high school history teacher reading this, then you should definitely start utilizing memes in your everyday lessons if you want students to retain the information better. Who else agrees?

It's true what they say - history does tend to repeat itself. If you want to freshen up on your historical knowledge and make sure that history indeed does not repeat itself, then perhaps take a little scroll through these memes. We promise they're a lot better than sitting in class!

Let's face it, history class is really boring. Who wants to learn by reading out of a boring-a** textbook? And beside, chances are you probably won't remember anything you read after the exam is over anyway. History memes serve as a fun way to cram that historical knowledge into your noggin.