› added 6 years ago

502

TIL that in the 1650s the Holy Roman Emperor allowed the Lutherans to build three churches. Petulantly, he stipulated that the churches be constructed in one year using only wood, straw and loam. In response, the Lutherans constructed the ornate Churches of Peace, now UNESCO world heritage sites.

Read more atlasobscura.com

via reddit.com

7rMG7 TIL that Police in Chicago and the UK are developing algorithms, software and techniques make Minority Report-style pre-crime a reality. The UK has software called PredPol in use already by at least 14 police forces.
OG9w1 TIL in 2012, Choi Gap-bok, a Korean yoga master escaped from prison by squeezing through the food slot at the bottom of his cell door. The slot was 5.9 inches tall and 17.7 inches wide. Choi applied skin oil to his body and slipped out while three guards were sleeping.
0d46M TIL Alexander Hamilton was the first major American politician publicly involved in a sex scandal. He had an affair with 23-year-old Maria Reynolds, whose husband was aware of the infidelity and likely orchestrated the whole thing to regularly extort blackmail money from Hamilton.
b99E0 TIL that the Roman Empire didn't fall until the year 1453. Whilst Rome fell in 476, the Eastern Roman Empire- also known as Byzantium- survived for another thousand years. This means that Joan of Arc, the Spanish Inquisition, and Glasgow University all existed at the same time as the Roman Empire.
4XBrX TIL there is a volcano in Colorado which is likely to become active again---Dotsero, beside Interstate 70, last erupted only 4,200 years ago.