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TIL during WWI, Romania decided to send its vast collection of treasure to Russia for safekeeping. In 1918, the new Soviet government cut all diplomatic ties and refused to return the treasure. Russia still holds the treasure valued at over $1.5 billion and has no intention of giving it back.

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v1vor TIL The city of Bruges enjoyed almost 400 years of prosperity due to a single storm in 1134 that opened up a natural channel that allowed sea trade. It lost its prestige when the channel got blocked again in the 1500s.
nWabP TIL: Survivors of Bubonic Plague (Black Death) of Europe had genes that led to increased chances of developing autoimmune disorders.
WkpWB TIL that Hanns Scharff, German Luftwaffe's "master interrogator," instead of physical torture on POWs used techniques like nature walks, going out for a pleasant lunch, and swimming where the subject would reveal information on their own. He helped shape US interrogation techniques after the war.
nW5p7 TIL~2600 yrs ago in China, an ill king was predicted by a prophet that he won't live to eat the next harvest. When he was later presented with the new harvest and ready to eat it, he remembered the prediction and killed the seer, felt stomachache before eating, went to latrine, fell in and died.
9wMBB TIL the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC displayed a working "Little Boy" Atom Bomb that lacked only uranium until 1986. Then the Department of Energy took the bomb from the museum to remove its inner components, so it could not be stolen and detonated with fissile material.