› added 4 years ago

103

TIL For over five hundred years the Russians wondered what kind of people their Arctic and sub-Arctic subjects were. "They have mouths between their shoulders and eyes in their chests," reported a fifteenth-century tale

Read more cornellpress.cornell.edu

via reddit.com

XEyVP TIL that the Black Spartans of Dahomey were one of history’s most fearsome warrior class. However, unlike the Samurai of Japan, the Knights of Europe, or the Immortals of Persia, this was an all woman Army.
9BXX TIL that Wall St. tried to overthrow FDR
GAo7J TIL of Idi Amin's full title: "His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular"
1WnD TIL that employers cannot take away their employees tips
wLx0Y TIL that while the Romans used concrete extensively in building their structures, the recipe was lost after the Fall of the Roman Empire, partially contributing to the Dark Ages. It wasn't reinvented until the late 19th century.