1 Comment TIL of the city of Salonica in modern day Greece was for centuries one of the only Jewish majority cities but during Nazi occupation 90% of the Jewish residents were murdered and their cultural artifacts plundered, houses stolen, and the cemetery dug up and the headstones used as building material. by whatilearned January 27, 2022, 7:28 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
4 Comments TIL about the Czechoslovak Legions. During WW1, Russia recruited 60K Czech and Slovak troops to fight the Hapsburgs. After the Bolshevik Revolution, they took on all comers, plundered the Tsar’s gold, and battled their way across Eurasia to the Pacific. They then sailed back to their homelands. by whatilearned January 24, 2022, 12:58 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
7 Comments TIL An astronomer travelled to India in 1760 to observed the transit of Venus. His ship blew, and he missed the date. He stayed in India for 8 years to try again, but the sky was too cloudy. When he returned home, he had been declared dead, his wife remarried, his estate plundered, and his job lost by whatilearned July 31, 2021, 12:39 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
9 Comments TIL of Guillaume Le Gentil, a French astronomer who attempted to observe the 1761 and 1769 transits of Venus. By the time he returned, he had been declared legally dead, his wife remarried, and his property had been plundered by his family. by whatilearned May 3, 2021, 8:29 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
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