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Teens Are Using TikTok To Make History Less Boring And They Legitimately Taught Me Something (25 TikToks)

Who can predict how people will use technology? Adults are afraid they’ll accidentally sell their own organs on the dark web, meanwhile, teens are making a bunch of history TikTok videos to study. I love these nerds.

The trend of turning history into funny, easily understood videos set to music is an absolute delight. While some of the commentaries on historical events is a bit facile, it does make for a helpful study aid. When was the last time you thought about the Monroe Doctrine? Probably never, so these TikToks are a refresher course.

Others have a very woke perspective, addressing how the U.S. failed Vietnam and the horrors of colonization—and all set to peppy pop music. While I doubt the teens making these got a lot of studying done, for the rest of us, they’re a reminder that history is a living thing, always ready to be retold from new perspectives. Here’s how TikTok teens see it:

1. The Titanic

Titanic

2. Germany Invades Belgium

3. The League of Nations

4. Attack on Pearl Harbor

5. The Declaration of Independence Is Signed

6. Europeans Colonizing The World

7. The Monroe Doctrine

8. Colonization of Africa

9. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

10. The Many European Plagues


11. William McKinley is Elected

12. Christopher Columbus

13. Henry VIII and his Many Wives

14. Boston Tea Party

15. The 1912 Election

16. The U.S. Leaving Vietnam

17. Catherine The Great

18. The Protestant Reformation

19. Napoleon invades Russia

20. The Double Helix Heist

21. Austria and Hungary

22. The East India Company

23. The U.S. Joining WWII

24. The History of Feminism

25. Tarrare

The one above is….insane history I never knew about before. Thank you, weird teens.

More funny TikToks, memes, and tweets: