Back in the year 451, Metz—a city in what’s now northeastern France—got absolutely wrecked by Attila the Hun and his army. At the time, the Huns were bulldozing through Roman territory, and Metz was just unlucky enough to be in their path. On April 7th, they rolled in and burned it to the ground. The city was torched, people were slaughtered, and anything of value was looted.

This was all part of Attila’s campaign through Gaul (modern-day France), and it wasn’t random. The Roman Empire was falling apart, and Attila knew it. Metz wasn’t some massive fortress city, but it was an easy target with decent resources and trade routes, so the Huns hit it fast and hard. After Metz, they kept moving west, tearing through town after town like a wrecking ball.

The Roman military at this point was basically duct-taped together. Local leaders tried to resist, but most of them were either outnumbered or already dead. Eventually, Attila got checked at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains later that year, but Metz was already toast by then. The sack was one of the many signs that Rome wasn’t in charge anymore—barbarian warlords were running the show.

Metz did recover—eventually—but the 451 sacking stuck in the city’s history like a bad scar. Today, it’s a modern city with Roman ruins, Gothic cathedrals, and a surprisingly chill vibe considering it’s been burned to the ground more than once. The Huns didn’t stick around, but their reputation sure did.

On April 7, 1805, after a long, freezing winter in what’s now North Dakota, Lewis and Clark packed up and officially left Fort Mandan to continue their westward expedition. They’d been stuck there since October 1804, waiting out the brutal cold with help from the local Mandan and Hidatsa tribes. While they were hunkered down, they prepped for the next leg of the journey—deeper into the wild, heading toward the Rocky Mountains and (hopefully) the Pacific Ocean.

Before leaving, they split into two groups. One boat went back east with maps, samples, animal skins, and letters for President Jefferson. The rest of the crew—32 men, one woman (Sacagawea), her baby, and a dog named Seaman—started paddling upriver into the real unknown. This was the part of the trip where there were no more maps, no one to guide them, and a whole lot of guessing ahead.

Sacagawea had just given birth two months earlier, but still joined the expedition alongside her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, as an interpreter. She wasn’t just helpful—she became a key reason they made it through. Her presence helped signal to other tribes that the expedition wasn’t a war party, and her knowledge of the land (especially near her native Shoshone territory) would prove clutch later on.

From Fort Mandan, the crew traveled up the Missouri River toward what would eventually become Montana. Over the next several months, they would face brutal rapids, rocky terrain, and major setbacks. But this was the moment the expedition truly shifted from “exploring known territory” to full-on “let’s see what’s out there.” April 7 was go time.

Giza’s Bright Limestone☀️
When it was first built, the Great Pyramid of Giza didn’t look like the sandy stone stack we see today. It was once covered in smooth, polished white limestone, known as casing stones, which made the entire pyramid gleam in the sunlight—almost like a giant mirror. Ancient writers described it as blindingly bright, visible for miles across the desert. It may have even been intended to represent the rays of the sun god Ra, reflecting divine light. Over time, earthquakes and centuries of stone-looting stripped away most of the outer casing, revealing the rougher core we see now. But originally? This thing sparkled like a beacon.

A Brother’s Deadly Love🩸
In one of the most brutal sibling rivalries in history, Roman Emperor Caracalla murdered his younger brother Geta—while they were in their mother’s arms, supposedly making peace. After their father, Emperor Septimius Severus, died in 211 CE, the two brothers were meant to rule the empire jointly. Spoiler: that lasted about five minutes. They hated each other so much, they divided the palace and even talked about splitting the empire in half. Caracalla invited Geta to a reconciliation meeting, where their mother, Julia Domna, was present to keep things civil. Instead, Caracalla had his men stab Geta to death right there in her arms. Afterward, Caracalla ordered a massive purge of Geta’s supporters and tried to erase his memory from Roman records—a process called damnatio memoriae.

Wright Brothers Flight✈️
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made history with the first powered, controlled flight—but that legendary leap into aviation was surprisingly short. Their first flight? Just 120 feet. A Boeing 747? Wingspan of about 211 feet. Yep—the entire flight was shorter than one of today’s airplane wings. Still, what mattered wasn't distance—it was proof that flight was possible. That short hop changed the world, launching an era of aviation that would go from canvas and wood to metal giants crossing oceans. So next time you look out the window on a jumbo jet, just remember: it all started with a flight that couldn't even clear one wingtip. 🛩️➡️✈️🌍

Tesla’s Alien Contact👽
In the early 1900s, Nikola Tesla—inventor, futurist, and all-around electrical wizard—claimed he had picked up radio signals from extraterrestrials. While experimenting with wireless communication at his Colorado Springs lab, Tesla detected strange, rhythmic transmissions he couldn’t explain. He later wrote: "The feeling is constantly growing on me that I had been the first to hear the greeting of one planet to another." He believed the signals might be coming from Mars—which, to be fair, was the alien hotspot of the time. Modern scientists think he likely intercepted natural cosmic signals or pulsars, which weren’t even discovered until decades later. But still—Tesla genuinely thought he’d tuned into an interplanetary chat.

If you enjoy this edition of Today In History be sure to send it to a friend and force them to sign up because that’s what good friends do. Until next time, stay curious, question everything, and keep uncovering the mysteries of the past.