› added 10 years ago

93

TIL that after the death of Alexander the Great, the architect Dinocrates proposed to have the entirety of Mount Athos carved in the general’s likeness.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

xV0J0 TIL between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Catholic church exhumed skeletons from catacombs and decorated them with gold and precious stones to serve as relics for saints. While some of the corpses may have been early martyrs, most actually did not belong to anybody with religious significance.
Z8VwR TIL White Castle is the oldest burger chain, beating out McDonald's by 27 years
d8yZ TIL that Bill Gates flew coach almost exclusively until 1997. When he finally acquired a corporate jet, he bought it with his own money, not Microsoft’s.
NXvle TIL R. Lee Ermey was the only person ever allowed to improvise dialogue in a Kubrick film.
Zpp4o TIL Dublin, Ireland, was once the Viking Kingdom of "Dyflin", founded by the Norse in the 9th century. "Dubh Linn" means "black pool" in Irish. Under their rule, Dublin became the biggest slave port in Western Europe. The last king of Dublin was killed by the Norman conquerors in 1171.