› added 1 year ago

70

TIL: That according to an alleged sacred text called the Greater Questions of Mary, Jesus took Mary Magdalene to the top of a mountain, where he pulled a woman out of his side and engaged in sexual intercourse with her. And then, upon ejaculating, Jesus drank his own semen.

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OogO6 TIL of Chekhov's Gun - a dramatic principle that nothing unnecessary should be in a scene: if the author mentions a gun hanging over the fireplace in chapter 1, it needs to go off in chapter 2 or 3
6EBL8 TIL Pope Urban VII was the shortest serving Pope in history; living only 12 days after his election. In his short reign, he instituted the world’s first known smoking ban, threatening to excommunicate anyone who "took tobacco in the porchway of or inside a church”. He died of Malaria.
oR1bo TIL There's a "Museum of Failure" in Sweden which highlights 150+ failed products. It's meant to show that innovation requires risk-taking and failure.
R7WZ7 TIL The first known vending machine was invented by the Greek engineer and mathematician Hero of Alexandria around 215 BC. These first vending machines were located in Egyptian temples and dispensed holy water in exchange for coins.
e6kE TIL that once the Babylonians could predict when solar eclipses would occur, they would install a substitute king during this period. As they believed that these eclipses were an evil omen, this substitute king could be blamed. (He usually was killed after - of course making the omen true.)