gnostek1 / 2Hellenistic bronze of Sleeping Eros , the type of work that Verres extorted from Sicilian collectors
01Verres looted the statue of Diana from Segesta, a piece so famous its absence was marked in city records.
02Cicero's second speech against Verres was never delivered in court — Verres fled Rome before it could be read aloud.
03Verres was proscribed and executed in 43 BC — reportedly because Mark Antony wanted his art collection.
gnostek1 / 18Langton's ant after 11,000 steps. A red pixel shows the ant's location.
01The 'highway' pattern — a repeating 104-step diagonal corridor — emerges reliably around step 10,000.
02Christopher Langton described the ant in 1986; the highway emergence remains unproven from first principles.
03The ant is Turing-complete: given an infinite grid, it can simulate any computation.
gnostek
01Roman officer Volusenus struck Commius in the head with a sword during a supposed parley; Commius escaped and swore never to set eyes on a Roman again.
02Commius later negotiated a formal peace with Mark Antony on the sole condition that he never be required to enter Roman presence.
03He eventually crossed to Britain, founded a dynasty among the Atrebates tribe, and minted coins bearing his own name — the only Gallic rebel to build a kingdom afterward.
gnostek1 / 13Takifugu in a tank
01Tetrodotoxin is 1,200 times more lethal than cyanide by weight; the fugu liver holds the highest concentration.
02Between 1996 and 2015, 23 people died in Japan from fugu poisoning — almost all amateur fishermen cooking their own catch.
03Chefs must present a valid fugu license; unlicensed preparation carries up to two years in Japanese prison.
gnostek1 / 5Corybantian dance , the type of dance most likely danced on Gymnopedia festivals (image from Smith 's Dictionary of Antiquities ).
01The festival lasted several days in July, the hottest period of the Spartan calendar, with no shade permitted.
02Choral competitions involved three age groups — boys, men, and elders — performing simultaneously.
03When news of the defeat at Leuctra arrived mid-festival in 371 BC, the ephors refused to stop the dancing.
gnostek1 / 3Medieval English split tally stick ( front and reverse view). The stick is notched and inscribed to record a debt owed to the rural dean of Preston Candover , Hampshire, of a tithe of 20 d each on 32 sheep, amounting to a total sum of £2…
01Tally sticks recorded English government debt from the 12th century until 1826, outlasting empires.
02The notch width indicated denomination: a thumb-width notch meant £1,000; a barleycorn-width meant one penny.
03In 1834, burning obsolete tally sticks in a furnace set fire to the Houses of Parliament, destroying them.
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01Six emperors rose and fell in a single calendar year, 238 CE.
02Gordian I hanged himself with his own belt after his son died in battle.
03Pupienus and Balbinus, elected by the Senate, were tortured and dismembered by guards after just 99 days.
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01Gravano admitted to participating in 19 murders and received only five years under his cooperation deal.
02Gotti's conviction came partly from recordings made inside his Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy.
03After release, Gravano ran an Ecstasy ring in Arizona with his own family — and was arrested again in 2000.
gnostek1 / 9Trump's tweet activity from his first tweet in May 2009 until June 2020
01Trump's tweet on August 22, 2018, named Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as directed to 'closely study' the situation.
02South Africa's rand dropped 1.4% against the dollar within two hours of the tweet.
03The Fox News segment that prompted it aired only hours before Trump posted; no briefing was involved.