12 Times Historical Figures Took Out Their Rage On Inanimate Objects

The Buddhas of Bamiyan.The Buddhas of Bamiyan.The Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan. One stood 184 feet tall; the other measured 124 feet. These structures were built in the 6th century. Many Buddhists used them as a sacred site while passing through the region.

In 2001, the Taliban made a statement. They targeted the Buddha statues. Despite international demands to leave them alone, the Taliban used dynamite and anti-aircraft weapons. They rappelled down the cliff to place explosives, destroying the art.

The Taliban reasoned thatthe statues were “un-Islamic.”Therefore, they had the right to level the statues to the ground.

Claude Monet.(1840-1926) is one of history's most famous painters. Museums worldwide display his works. One example is “Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat,” shown in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.

The Impressionistic painting, worth €10 million, lacked strong protection. Andrew Shannon visited the museum in 2012. He disliked the artwork for some reason.He punched a holeClaude Monet went straight through it.

Shannon served five years in prison for the insult. Restorers fixed the painting after an 18-month job.

Five hundred years ago, people held many different beliefs. Russians believed bells had souls. This applied to the large bronze bells hanging in church and government towers.

These bells possessed a deeper life force. If they disobeyed or acted out, they faced punishment. This applied tothe bell of Uglich.This bell rang after Ivan the Terrible's son, Dmitry, died in 1591. Townsfolk rioted upon hearing the news, causing several deaths.

Uglich leadership acted fast. They “tortured” the bell by cutting off its “ears” (what it hung from) and its “tongue” (the clapper in the dome), then whipped it. The 320-kilogram bell was exiled with banished families.They did not return for more than 300 years..

A single bridge defined the legacy ofXerxes I., Xerxes, the ruler of Persia from 486-465 BCE, was on a path to conquer Greece. His army reached the Dardanelles strait. The emperor ordered a bridge built so the army could continue.

However, a storm destroyed the bridge while soldiers planned to cross. Xerxes became angry and ordered thesea punished with 300 whippings.He also ordered the sea pierced by burning iron rods. Engineers also faced punishment for the bridge failure, paying for the collapse with their lives.

Soldiers built another bridge and crossed this time. The Greeks defeated them, forcing a retreat. What did Xerxes's army find when they tried to cross back? The sea had washed the bridge away again.

The lesson might be: do not anger the sea.

In the 5th century, people started working on shrines in the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves.Bezeklik Thousand Buddha CavesThe Uighur people created detailed statues and artwork in China over centuries. Today, visitors find much of the art badly damaged or scarred. People did this on purpose.

The Bezeklik caves were first made by the Uighur people.Uighur peopleLater, some people in the area adopted Islam. This faith teaches followers cannot build statues of living beings.

Muslim followers began defacing the ancient statues. They gouged out the eyes, for example.

Doing terrible things to gain fame is not a new trend. In 356 BCE, a man named Herostratus decided to burn down the Second Temple of Artemis.Herostratus decided to burn downthe Second Temple of Artemis. This 200-year-old building was likely the first Greek temple made of marble. It measured 400 feet by 100 feet with 40-foot columns.

Herostratus wanted fame for burning the temple.

Ancient Greeks did not like this. They tortured him on a rack and executed him. They then banned his name from writing to stop his wish. They could not stop his infamy, but they made an example of him.

Bells used to anger people long ago. This was true for Musashibo Benkei.Musashibo BenkeiBenkei was a 12th-century monk who became a warrior. He became jealous of a neighboring monastery's giant bell and stole it.

Benkei stood 6 ½ feet tall when depicted as a giant. He could carry the bell alone. He dragged it up a steep hill to his monastery. Anyone ringing the bell allegedly heard it cry “Miidera!” as it wanted to go home.

Benkei grew tired of the crying. So, hethrew it down the hillback toward the Miidera temple. Monks salvaged the bell and still use it today.

In 1916, the US remained neutral during WWI. German agents still planned an attack on American ground.

The Black Tom railyardheld over 2 million tons of war materials in train cars. Suddenly, the entire yard exploded. Four people, including a baby, died in the blast. Shrapnel also damaged the Statue of Liberty.

The Germans aimed to stop the Americans from supplying the British during the conflict. Damaging a major American symbol of freedom was also a factor in picking this railyard.

King Charles II took power in 1660 and sought revenge.

He targeted Oliver Cromwell, who helped organize the death warrant for King Charles I (Charles II's father). After the former king was beheaded in 1649, Cromwell became Lord Protector of Great Britain.

The only issue was that by the time Charles II began his reign,Cromwell was already dead.He had been dead for three years. Still, Charles II exhumed his enemy's body, hung the corpse,and finally decapitated it.They put Cromwell's head on a spike, displaying it for nearly 20 years.

Alexander the Great and his army rolled up toGordium.In 333 BCE, in modern-day Turkey, he heard a local legend.

An ancient wagon belonged to Gordius, the father of King Midas. Its yoke had knots tied in an impossible way; supposedly, anyone who could untangle the knot system ruled all of Asia.

Hearing this, Alexander decided he would take on the task. After checking the puzzle for a moment,he proclaimed:

It does not matter how they are released.

Alexander cut through the knots with his sword. Was the prophecy true? Alexander conquered Asia in his short life, so the fable might have some truth.

The Stone of Destiny, also called theCoronation Stone or Stone of Scone,The stone slab has a controversial history. Scotland originally used the sandstone slab for king coronations. King Edward I brought it to England in 1296 for placement under the coronation chair that has crowned British royalty since.

The stone's location caused a split among some Scottish citizens over the years. They believed it should stay in Scotland, not England.England officially returned in 1996.the stone to Scotland; it now only travels south for a British royal coronation.

However, in 1914, the stone remained in England. A group of suffragettes fighting for women's rightshit the chair and stone with a bomb blast.The chair sustained damage, and the stone reportedly cracked from the blast.

Thinking about the Iraq War, one clear picture is likely whenAmerican troops pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein.American troops pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Firdos Square in April 2003.

News crews globally broadcast the event live, cheering the American military's success in overthrowing Hussein's rule. Now, this moment seems more like aplanned public relations move..

The US government sought to link its campaign to other political freedoms, like tearing down the Berlin Wall. They picked an area with many journalists and little military action to show freedom.