› added 6 years ago

291

TIL that to avoid being conscripted by the Roman Army, some men would cut off their thumbs so that they couldn’t wield a sword. By the end of the fourth century, conscription avoidance was so widespread that Emperor Theodosius passed a law that forced the thumb-less to serve.

Read more historyextra.com

via reddit.com

QJQKL TIL that the city of Hamburg in Germany has a total of 2,496 bridges, which is the most of any city in Europe and many more than cities like Venice, Amsterdam and Saint Petersburg. This has led to Hamburg being referred to as "the Venice of the North".
mxLvp TIL as Late Republican Rome descended into civil war, the collection of precious rocks was exploited in elite political competition. Senator Nonius refused to sell Mark Antony his opal ring for 2 million sesterces, so the triumvir proscribed him. He fled into exile with nothing but his gem.
kJX85 TIL Munchkins are made from the leftover middle part of a donut in Dunkin' Donut
p8lbZ TIL “Pop goes the Weasel” is about booze. Pop is English slang for pawning and weasel is for a suit. The Eagle was a London pub. “Up and down the city road, in and out of The Eagle, that’s the way the money goes, pop goes the weasel” means drinking until you need to pawn things to buy more booze.
l7O4K TIL an inmate named Charles Justice was released early on parole for designing improvements to the electric chair, using metal instead of leather for the wrist restraints. Months later, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by the same chair he had improved