Today I Learned

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_of_Wallingford

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_(name)

We are all of us plague!

while this post is popular, i want to mention i dropped a new ep of my travel podcast today: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/yes-you-can--65239344

Nearly 50 years later, Revere references the site of Mark’s execution as a geographic marker that had remained culturally relevant. Mark’s body hung in a gibbet on Charlestown Common for nearly 20 years and his last words were published and sold next to a prison on Queen Street. His body and last words, immortalized in print, would serve as a terrorizing reminder to the enslaved population of Boston of what the cost of resistance would be. Even while their white counterparts were actively organizing to free themselves from the rule of the British monarchy.

Sources:

Wikipedia - Mark Codman

Historic Boston Inc - Article on Mark and Phyllis Codman, Their Crimes, and Executions

They’re also born with soft quills that don’t get stiff til after birth :)

Unlike the one in NYC, the homes here aren't skyscrapers, just huge, galling mansions. There's even a handy map that makes them easy to find.

Their family who were held hostage were unharmed btw. (Probably a lot of PTSD tho)

Excerpt:

On the night of Sunday 19 December 2004, groups of armed men arrived at the homes of two employees of Northern Bank, one in Downpatrick, County Down, the other in Poleglass, west Belfast. Chris Ward was taken from his house in County Down and driven to Poleglass, where Kevin McMullan (his supervisor at the bank) had been tied up by men disguised as officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Gunmen remained at Ward's home, keeping his family hostage. McMullan's wife was taken from her home and held at an unknown location. The criminals left at 06:00 on Monday morning, 20 December, having instructed the two workers to report for work as normal at the bank's headquarters.

The gang constantly kept in touch with McMullan and Ward using mobile telephones it had given them. The two men were ordered to tell staff to go home early and to fill a bag with £1 million in £50 and £100 notes. Ward was then instructed to leave the bank carrying the bag and go to a bus stop in nearby Upper Queen Street, where one of the robbers picked it up. This was later regarded as being a test run for the main theft in the evening. McMullan and Ward remained at work after the close of business and were instructed to load crates of banknotes onto trolleys. Having told the security staff they would be wheeling out rubbish for collection, they made four trips to move the trolleys from the basement to the bullion bay, where money was normally picked up and dropped off. They covered the crates with office furniture and empty cardboard boxes to disguise them. After Ward called the gang, a white van came to the headquarters and was permitted by security to enter the bay, where it took the two bank employees 15 minutes to load everything in.  The criminals said they would come back to pick up more trolleys, ordering Ward and McMullan to fill up as many as possible. By the time the van returned, the workers had only filled two more, which were again wheeled up from basement to the van. They then locked up the bank, setting alarms and leaving as usual; they drove to Ward's house, where the masked men were still guarding his family. At around 21:00, the criminals left, carefully erasing any forensic trace of their presence by scrubbing surfaces down and taking away cups they had used. After twenty minutes, McMullan left and drove back to his house. Around this time, McMullan's wife was driven to Drumkeeragh Forest near Ballynahinch and released. She found her way to a house to raise the alarm and was treated for hypothermia. At 23:00, following his final instructions, Ward called the police to inform them the robbery had taken place.

As of 2023, the robbery remained one of the largest in the history of both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and nobody had been held directly responsible. It was the largest cash theft in the UK until the Securitas depot robbery in 2006, when almost £53 million was stolen.

More useless historical facts... One day I will fill up my entire brain of these "cool facts" that is probably not useful in life.

I kind of remembered that the European flag is not just for the European Union. (It was actually created for the Council of Europe.)

I had no idea that the stars are properly called mullets.

"On an azure field a circle of twelve golden mullets, their points not touching."

What I think of when I hear "a flag with a circle of twelve golden mullets":

So much for saying that goldfish have a thee-second memory-span. The can also recognize people. (Wikipedia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Turkey#Eligibility

Arrest of Opposition's (Presumptive) Candidate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_of_Ekrem_%C4%B0mamo%C4%9Flu

On 19 March 2025, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu from the opposition Republican People's Party was arrested by Turkish police for alleged corruption, extortion, bribery, money laundering and supporting terrorism, particularly the PKK. His arrest, along with that of more than 100 other people, caused widespread protests and demonstrations.

Since November 2024, AKP actions against opposition representatives heated up. On 18 March 2025, Istanbul University annulled İmamoğlu's degree, citing irregularities. As Turkey's presidential candidates must hold an university degree, this would effectively block him from running for president. The decision came just days before the opposition party was set to nominate him.

The roles, powers, and influence of non-sovereign monarchs throughout Africa vary greatly depending on the state. In some states, such as Angola, the local king may play an integral role in the local governing council of a region, such is the case with the king of Bailundo,[1] or on a smaller level, such as many of the Fons of Cameroon, they may be seen as leaders or heads of a particular town, settlement, or village.[2] They are often regarded as custodians of tradition and culture, and in some cases, play an important role in local religious activities (such as in Benin, where some of the kings double as heads of Vodun cults and are believed to have spiritual powers).[3][4]

Their relationship with the national government of which their respective realm sits within can be complex. Particularly influential monarchs are often sought after by local politicians and elected leaders for support,[5][6] while others have contentious relationships with their national governments. In some cases, the national government has stepped in to curtail the influence of non-sovereign monarchs (such as when Chadian government suspended the powers of the Ouaddai sultan in 2022, or when the emir of Kano was deposed by the regional government).[7][8]

Ok I didn't really learn this today, but I've always thought it was cool.

The domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica) is a pigeon subspecies that's derived from the rock dove or rock pigeon. The rock pigeon is the world's oldest domesticated bird. Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets mention the domestication of pigeons more than 5,000 years ago, as do Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Wild rock doves are uniformly pale grey with two black bars on each wing, with few differences being seen between males and females; i.e. they are not strongly sexually dimorphic. The domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica, which includes about 1,000 different breeds) descended from this species. Escaped domestic pigeons are the origin of feral pigeons around the world. Both forms can vary widely in the colour and pattern of their plumage unlike their wild ancestor, being red, brown, checkered, uniformly colored, or piebald.

The genus name Columba is the Latin word meaning "pigeon, dove", whose older etymology comes from the Ancient Greek κόλυμβος (kólumbos), "a diver", hence κολυμβάω (kolumbáō), "dive, plunge headlong, swim". Aristophanes and others use the word κολυμβίς (kolumbís), "diver", for the name of the bird, because of its swimming motion in the air. The specific epithet livia is a Medieval Latin variant of livida, "livid, bluish-grey"; this was Theodorus Gaza's translation of Greek péleia, "dove", itself thought to be derived from pellós, "dark-coloured".

Before the Columbian Exchange, rock doves were restricted to a natural resident range in western and southern Europe, North Africa, and extending into South Asia. They were carried into the New World aboard European ships between 1603 and 1607.

Fun fact, there is no clear distinction between pigeons and doves. Generally, bigger species get labeled "pigeons" while more delicate ones are named "doves".

If there’s anything we’ve learned from the coronavirus pandemic, it’s that washing our hands is one of the best ways to protect ourselves from the dangers of contagion. But hand washing does much more than cleanse us physically; sometimes it can wipe our mental slate clean. Here are some examples of what a bit of soap can do for our psyches.

It is were the term gas lighting comes from

"Guardian super-blogger flames Reg boffinry desk" "the observed variations in the solar spectrum have caused roughly as much warming of Earth's surface as have increases in carbon dioxide emissions, says Haigh." Open and shut, then. Much of recent global warming [...] was actually down to changes in the Sun.