› added 5 years ago

534

TIL of the Taichang Emperor, a Chinese emperor in 1620 who reigned for just 29 days after falling ill from "excessive sexual indulgence after he was presented with eight maidens". Shortly after, he would experience severe diarrhea after taking a laxative which would ultimately lead to his death.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

7rEWM TIL The little known Greater Swiss Mountain Dog is considered the oldest of the Swiss breeds and was instrumental in the early development of both the St. Bernard and the Rottweiler.
a8jOM TIL the constellation Canes Venatici exists because of a double translation error. From Greek for "club", the Arabic translator didn't know the word and rendered it as "staff with a hook". Then the Latin translator misread "hook" (kullab) as "dogs" (kilab).
M4bK TIL Ren Xiaofeng, a manager of The Agricultural Bank of China, stole $26,000 from the bank with the intention of buying lottery tickets, winning, and repaying the initial theft. Against the odds, it worked so he tried again with $6.7 million. He lost all but $95,000 and was sentenced to death.
XEl6X TIL that tiramisù, the Italian dessert, was meant to be a natural aphrodisiac as it was invented in a brothel and it literally means "pick me up"
698MZ TIL a criminal named James Allen requested a copy of his deathbed confessions be bound in his skin and given to a man Allen had previously attempted to rob. The family kept it for years, using it to spank their kids and grandkids when the children misbehaved.