› added 5 years ago

581

TIL that from 1334 to 1827 graduates of Oxford and Cambridge were required to swear an oath that they would not lecture outside these two English universities, as a consequence there were no new universities established in England until Durham University became England's third university in 1832.

E1Z8p TIL that in Roman-era Marseilles people who wanted to kill themselves applied to the Senate, and if their reasons were judged sufficient they were given free hemlock to do so
VBXLk TILL Smaller Toy Breeds Of Dogs Existed Since Roman Period And Zooarchaeological Evidence Shows They Appear More Susceptible To Multiple Pathological Conditions, But Also Display Signs of Greater Human Care, Especially in Terms of Pampering And Feeding.
7rBeM TIL that "the Defenestration of Prague" was an actual historic event that shaped world history and led to 8 million deaths. (Yes, they really mean "defenestration". I never knew how that hilarious word came to be, but turns out this is the origin.)
0dQdA TIL about the Empire of Atlantium—a micronation founded in 1981 when teenager George Cruickshank and friends painted a 10 sq-meter patch in his Sydney backyard, declaring independence. Now it has a 0.75 sq-km territory, 3,000 "citizens" from 100 countries, and you can stay at its capital via Airbnb.
NMGP TIL while rock star Bono was busy campaigning to have first-world taxpayers forgive all third world debt, U2 was simultaneously hiding its earnings from Irish tax collectors in the Netherlands.