Thread of crazy archaeological discoveries 🧵

1. A 3,000-year-old perfectly preserved sword 2. This stunning 3rd-century A.D. Roman mosaic floor was unearthed beneath a vineyard in Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy.

The site was discovered by chance in 1887 during agricultural work.

This masterpiece was found in May 2020, just a few meters below the surface:

I used Grok 3 to reinterpret ancient myths and epic poems. The results are impressive 🧵

1. Priam begs Achilles for Hector's body 2. The Tower of Babel

According to the biblical story, humanity, united by a single language, comes together to construct a tower that reaches the heavens.

Yahweh confuses their language, so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world.

Thread on the beauty of book spine art 🧵

1. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon was published 249 years ago today, in 1776. 2. The Langs' Fairy Books, a series of popular collections of fairy tales published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne.

Thread of paintings by famous artists you (probably) haven't seen before 🧵

1. Smoking Skull by Vincent van Gogh (1886) 2. The Artist's Mother by Pablo Picasso (1896)

Yes, this is a portrait of the mother of the co-founder of the Cubist movement, painted when Picasso was just 15.

Pablo himself is quoted saying, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."

This thread will warm your heart 🧵

1. Fans didn't forget them 2. Brazilian priest João Paulo Araujo Gomes rescues, feeds, and bathes abandoned dogs.

At each mass, he presents one dog for adoption.

Thanks to his kindness, dozens of stray dogs have found new homes.

Valentine’s Day thread on the beauty of Venice

1. This is a mirrored aerial view of Venice, Italy 2. Venice, the capital of Italy's Veneto region, is a unique city built on 127 islands connected by 472 bridges and a network of iconic canals, earning it the nickname "City of Bridges."

The name is derived from the Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC.

Life in America 50 to 100+ years ago 🧵

1. A genuinely happy looking family, 1959 2. In 1947, a housewife poses with a week's worth of groceries, which cost her just $12.50.

With this budget, she managed to feed herself, her husband, their four-year-old twins, and even the family cat.

Adjusted for inflation, that $12.50 would be about $166 in 2025.

The beauty of symbiosis in nature 🧵

1. The thinner tree was cut down years ago, and the larger one has been supporting and feeding it since then. They "wake up" together in the spring and "go to sleep" together in the autumn. This natural phenomenon is known as inosculation. 2. An unexpected duo, a coyote and a badger, traveling together through a tunnel under a highway.

Coyotes and badgers are known to hunt together, combining their specific skills to increase the likelihood of catching prey.

The most beautiful palaces on Earth 🧵

1. The snow on the Royal Palace of Caserta, Italy, reveals its magnificent violin design. 2. Mysore Palace, India

This royal residence, also referred to as Amba Vilas Palace, used to be the official home of the Wadiyar dynasty and the seat of the Kingdom of Mysore.

Known as the "City of Palaces," Mysore is famous for its seven stunning royal palaces.

Thread on the beauty of wildlife 🧵

1. A cub looks at her mother with admiration 2. When it’s cold enough to see the melody

The beauty of old maps 🧵

1. Panama Canal: The Kiss of the Oceans (1923 postcard) 2. Likely crafted in Florence, this globe made from two ostrich eggs may be the first known globe depicting the New World.

Dating back to the early 1500s, it features the inscription HC SVNT DRACONES ("Here are the Dragons"), positioned above the southeastern coast of Asia.

Why do some paintings feel alive?

Artists like Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Velázquez didn’t just paint — they sculpted with the dance of light and shadow.

A thread of some of the best examples 🧵

1. Caravaggio, the Master of Light 2. Magdalene with Two Flames (1640)

Profoundly influenced by Caravaggio's style, Georges de La Tour focused on "tenebrism," the dramatic effects of light and shade.

Notice how the light from the candle illuminates the room and casts a shadow of Magdalene on the wall.

Thread of photos taken just before world-changing events 🧵

1. Saying goodbye to a subspecies: the last male Northern White Rhino died in 2018. 2. This photo was taken on the morning of JFK’s assassination.

President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, arrive at Love Field on November 22, 1963.

Art memes thread 🧵

1. The legacy media: 2.

40 years ago, something truly magical happened in Rome…

The Eternal City was blanketed by a rare snowfall, with over 50 cm (20 inches) of snow.

Here’s a thread that will take you back in time to that unforgettable winter 🧵 The surreal beauty of Castel Sant'Angelo blanketed in snow

Periodic reminder that Gian Lorenzo Bernini was only 23 when he carved The Abduction of Proserpina from a single block of marble.

A thread about one of the most beautiful sculptures ever created by a human being 🧵

Crafted between 1621 and 1622, this stunning Carrara marble masterpiece demonstrates the sheer brilliance of a young artist destined for greatness.

It depicts the powerful god Pluto as he drags the goddess Proserpina into the depths of the Underworld.

The most beautiful tombs on Earth - thread🧵

1. Tomb of Napoleon in Paris 2. Taj Mahal, India

Built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, this iconic white marble mausoleum is celebrated worldwide for its breathtaking architecture and is revered as a symbol of eternal love.

Earth as you’ve never seen it before 🧵

1. Mars is so bright it reflects on the ocean as it rises. Captured by astrophotographer Abdul Dremali in Rhode Island in 2018, this phenomenon won’t occur again until 2035. 2. Amazing footage of Earth from the ISS

Life frozen in time: a thread on the haunting wonder of Pompeii and Herculaneum 🧵

1. The plaster cast of a 23-year-old woman caught in the 79 AD Mount Vesuvius eruption 2. This is a rendering of the 79 AD eruption.

Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, and several nearby villas were buried under 4–6 meters (13–20 feet) of ash and pumice, lying undisturbed until their 16th-century rediscovery.

The most surreal views from above 🧵

1. The Blue Dragon River, Portugal 2. Atacama Desert, Chile

At about 119 meters (390 feet), the famous Atacama Giant is the largest prehistoric anthropomorphic geoglyph on Earth.

This massive figure served as an early astronomical calendar, aligning with the moon to indicate the day, crop cycle, and season.

Thalassophobia: the fear of deep water 🧵

1. A diver walking towards the abyss 2. Beyond 200 meters (656 feet), light fades, and the deep seabed begins, descending to abyssal plains 3,000–6,000 meters deep.

But it doesn't stop there: the deepest point of the Mariana Trench is more than 2 km (1.2 mi) farther from sea level than the peak of Mount Everest.