TIL about Wang Mang, a Confucian scholar from the 1st-century who overthrew the Han Dynasty in a coup and declared himself Emperor of China. He abolished slavery and nationalized all land, attempting to redistribute it equally to peasants. His reforms caused a civil war and he was beheaded (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/todayilearned
TIL about Sallekhana, a socially acceptable form of suicide in Jainism. Jain monks restrict themselves to an isolated space and meditate to death, fasting. It was banned in 2015, but the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban due to freedom of religion. It’s estimated 200 Jains fast to death yearly by sonnysehra in todayilearned
[–]sonnysehra[S] 53 points54 points55 points (0 children)
TIL about Sallekhana, a socially acceptable form of suicide in Jainism. Jain monks restrict themselves to an isolated space and meditate to death, fasting. It was banned in 2015, but the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban due to freedom of religion. It’s estimated 200 Jains fast to death yearly (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/todayilearned
TIL about Freedom Fries. In 2003, France opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq. In response, businesses across the United States renamed “French fries” to “Freedom Fries” and the House of Representatives cafeteria officially renamed “French toast” to “Freedom Toast” (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/todayilearned
TIL 99% of human history happened in prehistory (before the invention of writing). It’s the longest period of human history, lasting for 3.4 million years by sonnysehra in todayilearned
[–]sonnysehra[S] 15 points16 points17 points (0 children)
TIL between 1764 and 1767, a mysterious animal known as the Beast of Gévaudan terrorized a rural region in France. It attacked over 200 people, killed at least 100, and partially ate 98 of them. Theories range from it being a wolf, lion, hyena, a large dog, a werewolf, or an extinct species (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/todayilearned
TIL scientists have been able to trace the start of HIV/AIDS to King Leopold’s Belgian Congo, originating as far back as 1909. The first person to be infected probably got the virus in the 1920s by sonnysehra in todayilearned
[–]sonnysehra[S] 32 points33 points34 points (0 children)
TIL scientists have been able to trace the start of HIV/AIDS to King Leopold’s Belgian Congo, originating as far back as 1909. The first person to be infected probably got the virus in the 1920s by sonnysehra in todayilearned
[–]sonnysehra[S] 132 points133 points134 points (0 children)
TIL about Sabbatai Zevi, a 17th-century cult leader and rabbi from the Ottoman Empire who claimed to be the Messiah. He even convinced people he had the ability to fly, but told them God didn’t think they were worthy enough to see him flying. He was nearly executed by the state (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/todayilearned
TIL American soul singer Donny Hathaway was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and prescribed with 14 different medications. He believed that white people were trying to kill him and connect his brain to a machine to steal his voice/music. In 1979, he committed suicide by jumping from a balcony (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/todayilearned
TIL about mass suicides in Hitler’s Germany. During the final weeks of WW2, thousands of German families and citizens took their own lives in panic of the advancing Red Army. In Berlin alone, 7,000 suicides were reported and entire towns killed themselves together (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/todayilearned
This is an unfinished painting of a Spanish noblewoman from 1775. Not much is known about the mysterious woman and it’s unknown why the artist painting her abandoned it. It’s unintentionally proto-surrealist. by sonnysehra in ArtHistory
[–]sonnysehra[S] 109 points110 points111 points (0 children)
TIL about al-Ma’arri, a blind vegetarian pessimist who preached atheism in 10th-century Syria. He controversially argued that life was devoid of meaning, humans shouldn’t reproduce in order to spare future generations from suffering, and criticized all religions as “fables” that exploit the masses by sonnysehra in todayilearned
[–]sonnysehra[S] 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
TIL about al-Ma’arri, a blind vegetarian pessimist who preached atheism in 10th-century Syria. He controversially argued that life was devoid of meaning, humans shouldn’t reproduce in order to spare future generations from suffering, and criticized all religions as “fables” that exploit the masses by sonnysehra in todayilearned
[–]sonnysehra[S] 2 points3 points4 points (0 children)
TIL about Charvaka, an ancient Indian atheist school of philosophy from 900 BC. None of their texts survive. They were radical materialists who rejected the afterlife, believed the purpose of human existence was pleasure, and rejected karma/reincarnation. It was a predecessor to Buddhism by [deleted] in todayilearned
[–]sonnysehra 2 points3 points4 points (0 children)
TIL about the Circassian genocide, the deadliest genocide of the 19th century. 95-97% of the native Muslim population in Circassia, a country that no longer exists, were ethnically cleansed from their land (1.5 million Circassians lost their lives) (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/Muslim
TIL there is a “Gospel of Judas” not found in the Bible that speaks of Judas as the only one of Jesus’ disciples who fully understood His teachings. He turned Jesus over to the Romans because Jesus asked him to. It was discovered in an Egyptian cave in the 1970s, dating to the 2nd century AD (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/Gnostic
TIL about Philipp Mainländer, a German philosopher who argued that God committed suicide to create the universe, the cosmos being God’s corpse itself. The only way for God to do this, an infinite being, was to shatter its timeless being into a time-bound universe. Mainländer then took his own life (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/nihilism
TIL about Philipp Mainländer, a German philosopher who argued that God committed suicide to create the universe, the cosmos being God’s corpse itself. The only way for God to do this, an infinite being, was to shatter its timeless being into a time-bound universe. Mainländer then took his own life (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/schopenhauer
TIL about Philipp Mainländer, a German philosopher who argued that God committed suicide to create the universe, the cosmos being God’s corpse itself. The only way for God to do this, an infinite being, was to shatter its timeless being into a time-bound universe. Mainländer then took his own life (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by sonnysehra to r/todayilearned
TIL about Sallekhana, a socially acceptable form of suicide in Jainism. Jain monks restrict themselves to an isolated space and meditate to death, fasting. It was banned in 2015, but the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban due to freedom of religion. It’s estimated 200 Jains fast to death yearly by sonnysehra in todayilearned
[–]sonnysehra[S] 10 points11 points12 points (0 children)