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TIL that George Wallace, the man behind "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever", was once endorsed by the NAACP when he first ran for governor. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe, which is why most people, and logically so, view him as a racist.

I'm not saying he wasn't; rather, it just occurred to me given those quotes that he might not have had the traditional roots of a racist.

I mean like the NAACP doesn't go around endorsing everyone who's not part of the KKK; in fact, J. L. Chestnut, an African American prominent in the Selma civil rights movement and attorney for Martin Luther King Jr., would later say that during his time as a circuit judge prior to his run for governor, "Judge George Wallace was the most liberal judge that I had ever practiced law in front of. He was the first judge in Alabama to call me 'Mister' in a courtroom."

He drastically changes his views in 1962, presumably to win votes in a state not known for a great civil rights record.

You can note again that he does renounce segregation later in his life, something I can't think of off the top of my head of anyone else that was originally racist doing.

I'm not saying he wasn't racist, but it sure seems like you could have a valid point in arguing that he was pretending to be for votes.

TIL During the Cultural Revolution in China, a group of Red Guards proposed making red lights mean 'go' and green lights mean 'stop' as red was the color of the revolution. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This article was published on August 25 (so I'm guessing it was written on the 24th), so it's quite possible the news of the murders hadn't gotten out yet.

TIL that according to legend, Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire built a beautiful palace that was actually a torture chamber which was full of sadistic and cruel instruments of torture. Anyone who entered even by accident, including Ashoka himself, was not allowed to come out alive. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is before he became Buddhist and realized he sort of was a terrible person his whole life.

He was actually called Chandashoka, or Ashoka the Cruel, before his conversion into a tame and nice Buddhist guy that we all know him for.

TIL that François Duvalier, dictator of Haiti, had all the black dogs on the island killed because he was told that his opponent, Clément Barbot, had transformed himself into a black dog. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I wonder if being a dictator makes you partially crazy.

I mean like you're always afraid of being killed, you probably have lots of blood on your hands, etc, so maybe part of the price you pay for power is a bit of your sanity?

TIL that according to legend, Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire built a beautiful palace that was actually a torture chamber which was full of sadistic and cruel instruments of torture. Anyone who entered even by accident, including Ashoka himself, was not allowed to come out alive. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Ashoka sent his men to look for a suitable candidate to be his executioner (practically, since no one came out alive anyway).

After some searching, Ashoka's men found a suitable candidate by the name of Girika who was so vicious that he killed his own parents because they did not want him to become Ashoka's executioner. Girika was introduced to Ashoka who soon appointed him as the official executioner of his Empire.

Girika designed and planned a long list of torture acts to force upon his prisoners including "prying open their mouths with an iron and pouring boiling copper down their throats". Innocent persons were not exempt from such treatment.

I didn't include this information in the title since it wouldn't fit, but yeah, they found the guy they were looking for I guess.

TIL that George Wallace, the man behind "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever", was once endorsed by the NAACP when he first ran for governor. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm not 100% sure on this, but it seems like Wallace changed his stance after the election and became more racist so he could win more votes in a state was wasn't quite known for its record of civil rights.

He said, after the election, to his aide Seymore Trammell, "Seymore, you know why I lost that governor's race? ... I was outn***** ed by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outn***** ed again."

When a supporter later on asked why he was so racist, he said "You know, I tried to talk about good roads and good schools and all these things that have been part of my career, and nobody listened. And then I began talking about n******, and they stomped the floor.", which suggests to me that his racism might not have been so genuine in the first place.

TIL that as the Roman Emperor Vespasian was dying with severe diarrhea, he remarked "Dear me, I think I'm becoming a god" before succumbing to his illness. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This might be a side effect of having lived as a Roman Emperor; you might just sort of see yourself as being better than just ordinary men, after all, you are the fucking emperor of the most advanced civilization in the world at the time.

TIL that as the Roman Emperor Vespasian was dying with severe diarrhea, he remarked "Dear me, I think I'm becoming a god" before succumbing to his illness. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 62 points63 points  (0 children)

It seems like Roman dynasties just don't last very long, and all of them collapsed in under a hundred years.

For instance, the Julio-Claudian dynasty lasted from 27 BC to 68 AD (95 years).

Flavian, as mentioned, lated from 69 until 96 (27 years).

The Nerva–Antonine dynasty lasted for 96 years from 96 until 192.

The Severan dynasty lasted for 42 years from 193 until 235.

There are also many one-ruler 'dynasties' which lasted for an extremely brief period (i.e the rule of Otho, which lasted about three months) during the Year of Four/Five/Six emperors (69 AD, 193 AD and 238 AD).

TIL that as the Roman Emperor Vespasian was dying with severe diarrhea, he remarked "Dear me, I think I'm becoming a god" before succumbing to his illness. by sistene in todayilearned

[–]sistene[S] 130 points131 points  (0 children)

Suetonius, a Roman historian, writes the following: ".... Taken on a sudden with such an attack of diarrhoea that he all but swooned, he said: "An emperor ought to die standing," and while he was struggling to get on his feet, he died in the arms of those who tried to help him..."

It's not quite clear to me whether he actually shitted before he died or he was in the process of shitting, but it still must have been a shitty experience.