Fuck Rome and nazi Germany. Lemmie tell yous about railway history.
It all began when John Train had a great idea for a new method of transport…
Railway history is incredible because it was very much built on personal spats between various millionaires and scam artists. Yerkes is probably my favourite example of both.
I learned railway history from Hell on Wheels
That’s a pretty good source to understand the zeitgeist of the whole railroad boom. It’s fictionalized but pretty truthy.
Oh, my sibling in sin, I will tell you things about railways you wouldn’t believe, like a proto-railway that played a role in the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans, or rope haulage, or how the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales was designed to constantly go downhill because it was opened in the 1830s before steam locos were both powerful enough or widespread enough to be practical.
Sit down, I’m going to tell you about how the inventor of the RORO Train Ferry died in shame.
After we hear about Carthage, sure thing
Not much to hear about Carthage 😔 (because of rome)
Where’s your newsletter
Actually I am a slightly overweight bald man with a beard so Vikings are my personality
I feel attacked. But my excuse is that my mother is from Norway and my name is Bjørn.
Don’t worry, actual vikings within one generation of the fjords get a pass for being fans.
Same with Italians and being fans of Rome.
Not Germans, though. Sorry Germans. You know how it is.
Ancient Egypt nerds present!
If it’s not in a song by Sabaton or Iron Maiden, it ain’t real history.
The French Revolution took about a century to fully process through. There were several instances of guillotines and piles of heads. We usually know about the first one (and the second one for those who’ve seen Les Misérables. ) During the post 1789 process there was also a weird cult thing that looked a bit like MAGA, until even the cultists got tired of Robespierre’s bullshit.
Marie Antoinette was a perfectly serviceable princess / queen and fielded charities and smiled at the commoners and all the things ambitious feudal ladies are supposed to do. She never said Qu’ils mangent de la brioche but the rumor of it was current, and sped her way to the guillotine. She was also accused of sexual perversities, including The German Vice (lesbianism) most of which had to be explained to her so she could deny having ever done them.
Fun fact: Robespierre was nicknamed the incorruptible (prior to the reign of terror) for his strong moral convictions including his opposition to the death penalty.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Agreed, that’s why he did nothing wrong.
Les Mis does not depict the second French Revolution, but the June Rebellion years earlier.
I may be thinking of the July Revolution of 1830, in which case you’re right. They’re not the same, just related.
[burning with an urge to tell you about indigenous transgender priestess revolutionaries]
Don’t forget low quality copper
They’re
Your write.
Yore rite. (Ancient ceremony)
Bore hide (hide of a bore)
The times of you’re.
I was about to write that it feels like it could be a Terry Pratchett thing.
But then I realised that he actually did it with Equal Rites.
Jaleel White
Jokes on you, I know a lot about the Spanish Civil War, Second Italo-Ethiopian War, and Second Sino-Japanese War too.
You should check out the founding of the Mexican government, lots of walks through the betrayal garden.
Just because I like music doesn’t mean I have to like every genre and artist.
I know it’s a meme, but this logic is 🗑️
Oh, you like reading? Name every word
reads them from a dictionary
Aladeen
Plus it’s like… they might know all sorts of other shit but not the one particular thing you ask about
Like famous YouTubers!
That’s a very good way of putting it actually.
Alrig-
no plague, either
Well, the-
or Leonardo da Vinci
…
Lemme tell you 'bout my boys Hero of alexandria and Ismail al-jazari
Have you heard of Karl 12 of sweden ?!!
/Swedish racists
Should I know about the other 11 before digging into that one?
Nah they’re just more or less the usual ashole king. The 12th was a complete douche, think angry spoiled kid, went on a war rampage in russia/poland and grabbed some land, got wrecked (but that’s just bad luck eh right?) went to invade norway, got shot in the head lol. Such a great king.
Praise be to Urkle!
If you like those two, you should read about Khan leading the Mongols. Undeniably fascinating.
Bullshit! I’m an Aztec nerd!
tell me your top 3 aztec facts please
One: Women would use indigo hair dye called xiuquilitl to turn their hair blue.
Two: In Tenochtitlán human waste would be collected from public toilets for fertilizer. Thus it was someone’s job to sail the “poop canoe” to deliver night soil.
Three: Only a certain type of cacao was used as currency. Counterfeiting was rampant.
Blue hair and probably also pronouns… damn woke Aztecs! The poop canoe seems pretty ordinary to me, after all, shit is gold in an agricultural society. Then, how does one counterfeit cacao??
Even with billions of cacao beans exchanges, Aztec cacao sellers took great measures to disguise their fake cacao. According to Bernard Sahagun, a Spaniard documenting Aztec lives, cacao sellers processed fakes using hot ashes, chalk, and a generous coating of amaranth dough, wax, or avocado pits (Coe 100). To further camouflage their counterfeit cacao, sellers mixed the fake cacao with pure Theobroma cacao beans. Other cacao deception experts exploited empty shells by filling the insides with mud (De Maré).
Sahagun was one of the first westerners to document the indigenous people of Mexico.
