Maybe you're having a bad day. It could be any number of things: a break-up, a mid-term, a bad day at work. There are no shortages of everyday stresses for almost all of us. That said, it can always almost be worse.

Next time you're up against it, sit back and think "at least these historical moments didn't happen to me":

1. The Pirates v.s. Julius Caesar:

You may have heard that Julius Caesar was once kidnapped by a group of pirates on the Aegean Sea. They set his ransom at 20 talents of silver (about $600,000 equivalent today) but 25 year old Julius Casar laughed at them and insisted they raise it to 50 talents. What you probably haven't heard comes after.

According to Plutarch, it took 38 days for the ransom to be fulfilled. During these 38 days, Caesar acted like the pirates' chum rather than their captive. He recited speeches for them, wrote poetry, played games, took part in exercises, and even commanded them to be quiet when he was sleeping. Overall, the pirates gave him respect, relative freedom and some manner of authority. But, Caesar didn't quite have the same respect for them.

Once the ransom was paid, Caesar told his captors that he would come back and kill every one of them. The pirates thought he was joking, and as such didn't flee. This was the guy who had been their buddy for the last month, right? Unfortunately for them, Caesar was not kidding. He came back with a small army, crushed their settlement and took back his 50 talents of silver. He also, of course, crucified all of his friendly captors. So the next time a friend back-stabs you, just be thankful they didn't destroy your home and nail you to a block of wood to die.

2. The Tale of U-1206:

U-1206 was a submarine for the German Navy in 1945. It left for its first combat patrol from Nazi controlled Norway on April 6 of that year. Its mission: to destroy British and American ships in the Northern Atlantic. To understand what led to the sub's demise, you must first understand the toilets of World War II era German submarines.

Generally, toilets were discharged out into the water but, due to the intense pressure at lower depths, this could only be done when the submarine was surfaced or near the surface. To allow the crew to "do their business" at all times, a high-pressure toilet was invented and installed on some submarines, like the U-1206. Unfortunately, these toilets were much more complex and came with complicated instructions. These instructions were, apparently, difficult to follow (with disastrous results).

A week into the patrol, first time commander Captain Karl Adolf Schlitt decided to "hit the head" at a depth of 200 feet. Rather than ask for help from the toilet specialist, the courageous commander decided to do it on his own. To make a long story short, water began to flood into the sub- which in turn created a deadly chlorine gas- and Captain Schlitt had to order the submarine to surface. They were then spotted and attacked by an Allied plane, resulting in at least 4 deaths and irreversible damage to the submarine. The surviving members of the crew managed to escape, but the U-1206 herself sunk to the bottom of the ocean floor. In the grand scheme of things, this unfortunate defeat didn't matter at all, seeing as the war for Germany lasted only 3 weeks after wreck (although I guess one could argue this led to Hitler's suicide but, probably not). Regardless, to this day the U-1206 is remembered as the only vessel to be sunk, essentially, by her own toilet. Keep that in mind next time you're having a crappy day.

3. Napoleon's Worst Defeat:

Napoleon conquered most of Europe, but there was one thing- other than Russia in winter- that he couldn't defeat: bunnies. In July of 1807, Napoleon proposed to have a round of rabbit hunting with the some of his top commanders. His chief of staff arranged a luncheon and gathered a colony of rabbits. Now the numbers recorded for how many rabbits were in attendance are a little sketchy. Some sources say hundreds while other say closer to 3,000; either way, there were a lot of rabbits for the strong warriors to slaughter. But, as you may have guessed, things didn't quite go as planned.

Rabbits, generally, will flee when released from their cages during a hunt. These brave (or stupid) bunnies however charged straight at the battle hardened soldiers. What was at first amusing soon became terrifying as the siege of floppy eared mammals continued. Despite being shot at and beat back with whatever the men had on hand, wave after wave of bunny swarmed over the troop. Napoleon- arguably the mightiest military leader ever- fled to his carriage. The terror didn't end there however. Historian David Chandler described the onslaught: "...with a finer understanding of Napoleonic strategy than most of his generals, the rabbit horde divided into two wings and poured around the flanks of the party and headed for the imperial coach.” Some even reportedly bound into the emperor's carriage. The viciously fluffy attack ceased after Napoleon made his escape. The blame for the incident was place on the chief of staff, who procured tame rabbits who were unafraid of humans. In fact, they most likely thought that the party was there to feed them. It just goes to show that everyone and anyone can have embarrassingly horrid days.

So the next time you are having an awful day, think back to history's greatest lesson: at least I'm not that dude.