gnostek1 / 26th-century mosaic of Justinian I in the Basilique San Vitale in Ravenna , Italy . Damascius was head of the last Neoplatonic school in Athens when the laws of Justinian I forced its closure.
01Damascius led the final seven Neoplatonists out of Athens to the Persian court of Khosrow I in 529 AD.
02He wrote a treatise on first principles so dense it was considered unreadable even by fellow Neoplatonists.
03The Persian king negotiated their safe return into the treaty of 532 AD with the Byzantine Empire.
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01The Battle of Qadisiyyah in 636 AD ended four days of fighting with Rostam's death and Sasanian collapse.
02Persian legend records his sister, Gordafarid, donning armor and charging Arab lines upon hearing of his death.
03His defeat ended 400 years of Sasanian rule and opened Persia permanently to Islamic conquest.
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01Arnett narrated the opening Baghdad strikes live on CNN on January 17, 1991, in real time.
02The Pentagon demanded CNN pull him; CNN refused, citing the public's right to witness the war.
03His reports were the only Western footage from inside Iraq for weeks, watched by an estimated 1 billion viewers.
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01Mary weighed approximately five tons; the first execution chain broke, forcing a second attempt before a crowd.
02She killed trainer Red Eldridge on September 11, 1916 — one day into his job.
03The town of Erwin, Tennessee threatened to ban the entire Sparks World Famous Shows circus unless Mary was executed.
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01Derby-Lewis's list contained the names, addresses, and vehicle registration numbers of over 60 ANC targets.
02His wife Gaye Derby-Lewis typed the final version of the list and was convicted alongside him as a co-conspirator.
03Derby-Lewis applied for amnesty to the TRC but was denied; he died in prison of cancer in 2016.
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01Milken paid a $600 million fine in 1990 — the largest securities-industry penalty recorded to that point.
02He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1993 and subsequently donated hundreds of millions to cancer research.
03Donald Trump pardoned Milken in February 2020, 30 years after his guilty plea to securities fraud.
gnostek1 / 17Piles of new Notgeld banknotes awaiting distribution at the Reichsbank during the hyperinflation
01Weimar inflation peaked at 29,500% per month in October 1923; a postage stamp cost 10 billion marks.
02The German government printed money to pay World War I reparations; by 1923, paper notes were cheaper as fuel than firewood.
03A new currency, the Rentenmark, was introduced November 15, 1923 — one Rentenmark exchanged for one trillion old marks.
gnostek1 / 4Facsimile of the Einstein–Szilard letter
01Einstein later called signing the letter 'the one great mistake of my life.'
02Szilárd drafted the letter; Einstein signed it — lending the weight of his name alone.
03Roosevelt's response was to appoint a Uranium Committee within weeks of receiving it.
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01Colonel Allan MacLean was wounded multiple times before being taken by Chinese soldiers on November 29, 1950.
02The combined Task Force — roughly 3,000 men — suffered casualties above 50% before breaking through the encirclement.
03MacLean's replacement, Lieutenant Colonel Don Faith, was killed leading the breakout; he received a posthumous Medal of Honor.