Top products from r/TellMeAFact

Dr. Edward Curtis, after assisting at the autopsy, wrote a letter to his mother in which he stated, "I was surprised to find that the great man's brain weighed no more than that of an ordinary mortal." He also wrote, "I was simply astonished at the showing of the nude remains, where well rounded muscles built upon strong bones told the powerful athlete. Now did I understand the deeds of prowess recorded of the President's early days."

From the book Kennedy and Lincoln: Medical and Ballistic Comparisons of Their Assassinations on page 38, which I am currently reading.

I was told by a historian that Jonathan Riley-Smith is one of the leading academics on the Crusades.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Crusades-History-Jonathan-Riley-Smith/dp/0300101287

Just as interesting and, from what I've been told, respected (to me, even more interesting, since the Arabs tend to be real drama-queens and the book seems to enforce that)

http://www.amazon.com/Crusades-Through-Arab-Eyes-Essentials/dp/0805208984

You might also enjoy the Tea Party Coloring Book

and Don't Make Me Go Back, Mommy: A Child's Book about Satanic Ritual Abuse for only $275.40! You can view some pages here.

Bacon isn't just for entrees and breakfast... it's also delicious as a desert topping in a growing movement of meat-based and meat-added deserts, such as Bacon Chocolate Bars and Bacon cupcakes!

Sources:

http://www.amazon.com/Vosges-Haut-Chocolat-Mos-Bacon/dp/B001LMT1CY

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/161019/dark-chocolate-bacon-cupcakes/

Went to pick it up, here's a link for anyone else interested

The notion that Jews have to have sex through a hole in a sheet is a myth. In fact, such a thing isn't even allowed. It is forbidden for there to be any barrier to the emotional connection between husband and wife during sex, and hiding between sheets is a prime example of violating that rule.

Source: Kosher Sex by Rabbit Shmuley Boteach. Rabbi Boteach is a well-known Jewish relationship counselor. He had a short lived tv series on TLC, aimed at the general public, not just Jewish families. He's also a really nice guy - I met him once and he is just really kind, and also funny. The book is fascinating, even if you aren't Jewish.

With the possible exception of Luke, none of the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John which constitute the majority of the new testament were actually written directly by the disciples whose name they bear. Instead, they are based on the viewpoints of those disciples and what they would've likely said about the events they depict.

Source: this book

Donald Trump has his own [Borad game] (http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Trump-Game-TRUMP-the/dp/B0002CEXOU)

During the height of its power, starting with Julius Caesar's campaign in Gaul, the Roman Republic and early Empire had a stated policy of "Murum Aries Attigit", which translates to "Until the Ram Touches the Wall". In short, at the very start of the siege, the Romans would issue (usually fairly favorable) conditions for surrender and state that the offer was only good until their battering rams touched the walls of the city. Once that happened, no surrender would be permitted or accepted, and it usually meant the city was pillaged, slaughtered, burned to the ground, and occasionally plowed into the earth so it was nothing but a scorched patch of earth.

This show of thorough violence made it very likely that the next village they laid siege to would be more inclined to surrender early, and save the Romans the time and trouble of destroying them.

Source: Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars

Maybe not the greatest military victory in the sense of a single engagement with outstanding commanding and tactics, but the conquest (fall) of Constantinople was a hugely important and arguably "great" military victory. Let's set the scene: it is 1452, Sultan Mehmed II ascended to the Ottoman throne in the previous year. By this point, the Ottoman Empire has taken over all the land formerly controlled by the Byzantine Empire, on both the Asian and European (into Greece) sides, except for the city of Constantinople. This city, bridging Europe and Asia, on the Bosphorus straits, had been a thorn in the Ottoman side for years, this being their third major siege of the city. Mehmed begins building a fortress on the European side of the strait, Rumelihisarı, opposite to the previously built Anadoluhisarı on the opposite side of the strait. This effectively cut off the strait and inhibited any support coming from the Genoese colonies in the black sea. One story recounts of how a small ship carrying supplies to the city attempted to run through the "danger zone" but a giant block of stone, not even a cannonball, was fired from Rumelihisarı and suddenly there was no more boat. Nobody else tried to pass through the strait. Understanding the dire situation he was about to be in, Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI, sought help from the West, contacting Pope Nicholas V in hopes of garnering support in case of a siege. As it turns out, there was too much bad blood remaining between the Eastern and Western Churches so the Pope didn't offer very much help to the Emperor so he was pretty much on his own, except for the few men who came on their own accord, including Giovanni Giustiniani who took control of the defense of the city, and the Venetian ships that were in the bay (aka the Golden Horn) at the time. Besides the few ships that were stationed in the bay, the defenders also built a chain across the mouth of the bay to inhibit any ottoman ships from entering and laying siege to the city from the water. There were about 7000 defenders for the city as opposed to somewhere upwards of 80000 men and over 100 ships for the Ottomans. Besides men alone, the Ottomans also brought an arsenal of cannons including one 27 foot long behemoth named "Basilica" that was able to fire a 600lb ball over a mile away (fun fact, it would take 3 hours to reload apparently). This was supposedly one of the biggest cannons ever made at the time. And this would have been necessary because the walls surrounding the city were regarded as some of the best ever built. Nobody figured that the walls would fall, some believed that Constantinople was the best defended city in the world.

Now the siege begins. The Ottomans have enough men to completely encircle the city where there is land, the defenders can't man the entire wall. All day every day Basilica fires upon the walls but because it is inaccurate and slow to fire, the walls are mostly maintained and repaired before any serious damage can be done. Because of the chain, the Ottoman ships couldn't make it into the Golden Horn for the entire beginning of the siege, but one night, the entire Ottoman fleet was beached and put on logs. The boats were sent over the coastal hill, back down the other side, and right into the bay, behind the defending fleet. Soon thereafter, in a desperate attempt to strike at the Ottoman fleet, the defenders attempted a daring night attack with the plan to sneak up on the Ottoman fleet and destroy it with Greek fire. The Ottomans were tipped off of the sneak attack prior and prepared accordingly, proceeding to cripple any semblance of a fleet the defenders had, and thereby gaining control of the Golden Horn. Back at the land battle, men were thrown wave-after-wave at the walls, all repulsed with great casualties. The Sultan decides to attempt sapping the walls. Tunnels were dug but were quickly intercepted and destroyed by the defenders' counter-tunnelers (led by a Scot). At this point, Mehmed was at his wit's end, he was ready to give up the assault and was advised so by one of his grand viziers. The other though, Grand Vizier Zaganos Pasha, a man known for his blood-thirst, supposedly gave such a stirring speech to the Sultan that all it would require to take the city is one last major frontal assault, that the Sultan assented and plans were begun to prepare for the big assault in the coming days.

It is now the night of May 28, 1453, the siege having begun 52 days ago. Knowing that the end was imminent, the defenders held one last major ceremony in St. Sophia, members of both the Latin and Greek churches attended. Soon after midnight, the assault began. A veritable torrent of men was sent against the wall, Christians conscripted to fight, Ottoman soldiers, the elite Janissaries, all died in droves in the attack. But recently a small section of the wall had been damaged and this allowed for the Ottomans to gain purchase. In the ensuing fight for the walls, Giustiniani was gravely injured so the few men that came with him attempted to carry their leader to safety, abandoning the wall, thereby eroding the confidence of the Greek defenders. Soon the Ottomans were able to take the rest of the fortifications and the defense fell. Some say the emperor shed his imperial regalia and led the troops in a final attack while others say he hanged himself when he saw that the walls had fallen. Mehmed enters the city through the "liberated" main gates atop his white charger resplendent in his Sultan outfit cutting a resplendent image against his newly conquered city. The attackers were allowed to plunder for 3 days after which order was restored, but not before the city was sacked and thousands of inhabitants were sold into slavery. Mehmed was able to protect some of the city, though, re-purposing St. Sophia into a mosque, Hagia Sophia, as it remains to this day.

That was a very short version of the story, if anybody is interested in learning more, I would recommend 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West