Thread of interesting things you (probably) didn’t know 🧵

1. These "wavy walls" in England surprisingly use fewer bricks than straight ones. Originating in Ancient Egypt, their arch design provides sturdy support with just one layer, unlike straight walls that require two. 2. What babies do in the womb

Similarities between the human body and nature 🧵

1. Lungs and tree branches 2. A tree stump and a human fingerprint

Have you ever wondered what the world’s most iconic cities looked like centuries ago?

This thread will take you back in time 🧵

1. Milan, Italy (1819) 2. New York City, USA (1875)

This lithograph by Currier & Ives captures the chaos of nineteenth-century NYC, focusing on the busy intersection of Broadway and Fulton Street, with traffic-laden streets and crowded sidewalks.

The relentless passage of time 🧵

1. Same people as youth and 100-year-olds 2. Titanic's grand staircase, before and after

The large ornate staircases in the Titanic's first-class section are among the most iconic features of the British ocean liner, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. This is how they look now, at the bottom of the sea.

Colorized historical photos and videos that will make you feel like you're in a time machine 🧵

1. Jerusalem, April 1897 2. Jesse Owens salutes during the presentation of his gold medal for the long jump, after defeating Germany's Lutz Long at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Iconic movie scenes inspired by art 🧵

1. The Truman Show - René Magritte 2. Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010) - The Kiss (Gustav Klimt, 1907–1908)

Thread of beautiful Game Of Thrones filming locations that you can visit in real life 🧵

1. King's Landing - Dubrovnik, Croatia 2. The Dark Hedges - Kingsroad

This stunning avenue of beech trees in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was planted in the 18th century by the Stuart family.

It gained international fame as the Game of Thrones filming location for the Kingsroad, the longest highway in Westeros.

Crazy photography milestones - a thread 🧵

1. Hannah Gorby was born in 1746, a decade before Mozart and 23 years before Napoleon. She lived long enough to witness the invention of photography, becoming one of the earliest-born people ever to be photographed in 1840. 2. Other contenders for the title include John Adams, who was supposedly born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on 21 January 1744, and Caesar, who is believed to have been born in 1737.

Caesar was also the last slave to be manumitted in New York.

Thread on "accidental art" 🧵

1. The wear and scuff marks on this boat look like a stunning painting of an island in the sea 2. A bird shaped chip on a car windshield

Alternative angles of iconic landmarks you (probably) haven’t seen before 🧵

1. St. Peter’s Basilica seen through a keyhole 2. Where does the Great Wall of China end?

The Shanhai Pass is the eastern end of this magnificent series of fortifications, which spans 21,196 kilometers (13,171 miles).

This is the exact place where the Great Wall of China meets the ocean.

Squirrels have been kept as pets since antiquity, becoming especially popular during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance — a trend that lasted until the early 19th century.

Benjamin Franklin even wrote an elegy in memory of a friend’s fallen pet squirrel — a thread 🧵 Squirrels were popular household pets, particularly among children, in 18th- and 19th-century America.

They were so beloved that in 1772, Benjamin Franklin wrote an elegy for the beloved squirrel of his friend Georgiana Shipley...

The creepiest places on Earth 🧵

1. Vezio Castle, Italy 2. The Island of the Dolls, located south of Mexico City, is filled with old dolls of various styles and colors.

Legends about the dolls and the island's former owner, Don Julián Santana Barrera, have made it a popular dark tourism destination.

This short story will brighten your day 🧵

At the age of 40, Franz Kafka — who never married and had no children — was walking through a park in Berlin when he met a young girl who was crying because she had lost her favorite doll... (1/6) Kafka offered to help search for the doll and then told her to meet him there the next day.

That evening, he wrote a letter from the doll’s perspective, which he read to the girl when they met again the following day. (2/6)

Megalophobia: the fear of large things 🧵

1. This is a single image 2. An iceberg passing near a house in Greenland

Accidental Renaissance - a thread🧵

1. The Holy Cat 2. The Tattoo

The surreal beauty of bioluminescence 🧵

1. What glowing organisms look like in the rain 2. Bioluminescence, the mesmerizing glow produced by living organisms, is nature's own light show.

From sea creatures to fireflies, this stunning phenomenon appears in marine life, insects, fungi and microorganisms. It serves many purposes, from attracting mates to lure prey.

Historical photos you've never seen before 🧵

1. Last picture of Hachiko, the faithful dog who waited for over nine years outside Shibuya Station for his master to return even after he had died. (colorized, 1935) 2. A mother and her 8 sons who all served and all made it home

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

You’ve likely read these lines before. But do you know who wrote them? What inspired them?

How can someone sum up in five words all that man needs to know on Earth? (thread) 🧵 There is a man in a museum, staring at an urn.

From this ancient relic, the voice of the past emerges, whispering insights that would ignite the imagination of one of the greatest English Romantic poets of all time: John Keats.

Crazy things from the past 🧵

1. Vampire killing kit 2. A Victorian dollhouse, late-1800s

Wildlife in all its beauty - a thread🧵

1. When its cold enough you can see their song 2. A leopard and its "black panther shadow"

Photographer Mithun Hunugund patiently waited six days to capture this breathtaking shot: "Saaya and Cleopatra have been courting for 4 years now and whenever they are together it’s a sight to behold."

Looking at the world through a microscope 🧵

1. Terrifying photo of an ant's face 2. The human eye looks like a black hole

This stunning photo by Suren Manvelyan reveals the depth of the cornea; behind it lies the iris, the colored part of the eye that regulates the size of the pupil.