› added 8 years ago

482

TIL China’s only monogamous emperor made the decision to promote monogamy because one of his father’s women murdered his mom. He was hidden because the consort killed the emperor’s heirs in an attempt to gain power. When it was discovered that one had survived, she killed his mom instead.

Read more atlasobscura.com

via ift.tt

X01lR TIL: Dumbbells are named after silenced[dumb] bell towers that were used to practice ringing the heavy bells
OGBJR TIL about The Wire of Death, a lethal electric fence created by the German military to control the Dutch-Belgian Frontier after the occupation of Belgium during the First World War. Somewhere between 2-3k people died as a result of trying to make it past the fence.
yQ4ja TIL Scotland banned Christmas for nearly 400 years. It didn’t become a public holiday until 1958.
jNx1R TIL that during the 1521 siege of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Hernan Cortes' conquistadors attempted to build a trebuchet. The very first shot went straight up and the machine was destroyed.
WkM7o TIL of Yasuke, an east african man who came into the service of Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga as a retainer in 1581 after being brought to Japan with Jesuit missionaries. When they first met Nobunaga had Yasuke's skin washed, believing it was ink only to realise that was Yasuke's natural skin colour