Why Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, was arrested at a Paris airportπ§΅
French authorities detained him due to alleged issues with Telegram's content moderation. The exact charges are unclear. Russia's embassy is seeking more information.
The arrest has caused controversy, with some Russian officials criticizing France's actions. Pavel has also been vocal about government interference within Telegram on multiple occasions.
The FBI's interest in Telegram focuses on its encryption, with Pavel Durov revealing attempts by the FBI to infiltrate Telegram by hiring an engineer to create a backdoor for accessing user data, which Telegram opposes for privacy reasons.
Aug 11 β’ 7 tweets β’ 7 min read
7 Wild Sports From History, Ranked By How Made-Up They Sound π§΅
Before Europeans settled in what is now known as Florida, Seminole Indians were already wrestling alligators for sport. Drawings from centuries ago show Seminoles leaping on alligators to slay them.
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The Olmecs of Mesoamerica are credited with creating the first organized ball game in sports history approximately 3,500 years ago. The game involved teams playing on a narrow strip between two sloped walls, with the objective of keeping a rubber ball in the air without using their hands or feet. In the 13th century, many courts added a stone circle; if a player managed to hit the ball through this circle, their team would automatically win the match.
Beyond being a sport, the game held significant ritual and cultural importance for the Olmec and Mayan civilizations. Ritual performances of the game were sometimes played with prisoners of war, and members of the losing team were often sacrificed to the gods. The game's popularity is evidenced by the 1300 ball courts found in Mesoamerica, with most Mayan cities having at least one.
Jun 18 β’ 8 tweets β’ 3 min read
Meet Lonnie Johnson: NASA Rocket Scientist, Nuclear Engineer, and the Accidental Inventor of the Super Soaker
A Threadπ§΅
Lonnie Johnson, the man behind the iconic Super Soaker, has a story that's as impressive as his invention. Born in Mobile, Alabama in 1949, Johnson grew up in a segregated environment but had a knack for engineering from a young age.
May 15, 2023 β’ 5 tweets β’ 2 min read
Omayra SΓ‘nchez GarzΓ³n was a Colombian girl trapped and killed by a landslide when she was 13 years old.
Sanchez found herself trapped under the wreckage of her house, enduring three days submerged in water. Unfortunately, rescue workers lacked the means to provide life-saving medical aid by amputating her trapped legs.
May 14, 2023 β’ 5 tweets β’ 1 min read
9 year old Eunice Winstead with her 22 year old husband, Charlie Johns, in Tennessee, 1937.
Before the wedding, the Reverend checked the license; all seemed fine. It permitted him to marry Eunice (18) and Charlie (22). But later, it was revealed that the couple had lied on their application.
May 13, 2023 β’ 4 tweets β’ 1 min read
Powerful scene of copper miners on strike, standing in protest outside the company store, anticipating the arrival of replacement workers from the day shift. This gripping moment unfolded in Ducktown, Tennessee, in September 1939.
Picketing, a form of protest, involves the gathering of individuals outside a workplace or event venue. The purpose is often to discourage others from entering ("crossing the picket line") or to raise public awareness for a particular cause or issue.
May 13, 2023 β’ 5 tweets β’ 2 min read
During the mid-1900s in Pennsylvania, there was a mysterious figure known as the Green Man or Charlie No-Face, who roamed the streets after dark.
Raymond Theodore Robinson (1910-1985), an American man with severe disfigurement, gained legendary status in western Pennsylvania due to his nightly strolls.
May 12, 2023 β’ 7 tweets β’ 2 min read
Unveiling a Tragic Injustice: Meet George Stinney Jr., an innocent life taken by the U.S. at the tender age of 14
At just 14, George Stinney Jr., an African American boy, faced an unjust fate. He was wrongly convicted and executed for the murders of two young white girls in 1944, later proven to be an unfair trial.
May 12, 2023 β’ 5 tweets β’ 2 min read
Chinese Mexican showgirl Lyn May was a dancer who entertained numerous presidents, appeared in about 100 films.
Whether itβs a desire to be even more beautiful or wanting to become more successful, the 69 year old Mexican vedette had a ton of plastic surgery done.
In the late 1800s in South Africa, Jack the baboon was bought by James Wide, a railway signalman who had lost both his legs while jumping between railcars.
In the late 19th Century, a railway signalman called James Edwin βJumperβ Wide worked for the South African railways as a guard in a town called Uitenhage. He got his nickname from his dangerous habit of jumping or swinging from one railcar to another.
May 10, 2023 β’ 8 tweets β’ 2 min read
During the 1990s, North Korea leader Kim Jong-Il, and his son and future leader Kim Jong-Un, used fake Brazilian passports to travel to Disneyland.
Did this really happen? A Brazilian security source told the news agency that the documents - which were issued by the Brazilian embassy in the Czech capital, Prague in 1996 - appeared to be genuine.
May 10, 2023 β’ 7 tweets β’ 2 min read
Dr. Fukushi Masaichi (1878 β 1956) was a human skin collector, who spent decades traveling the world in search of the most beautiful and meaningful tattoos to add to his collection.
The doctor had such a fascination and interest in tattoos that he even paid for some people to get full bodysuits, or to finish existing work on the condition that he could harvest their skin when they died.
May 9, 2023 β’ 8 tweets β’ 2 min read
There are many reasons why Benjamin Franklinβs portrait is in the highest US bill denomination. So important was Benjamin Franklin that his portrait is on 17.7 billion $100 notes in circulation as of May of 2023 according to the Federal Reserve.
No, he was not a president; in fact currently, there are only two people who were not presidents in the front of US bills. One is Benjamin Franklin and the other is Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill.
May 9, 2023 β’ 6 tweets β’ 2 min read
The 1949 Pulitzer Prize-winning photo "Babe Ruth Bows Out" showing Babe Ruth during his final public appearance at a ceremony at Yankee Stadium to retire his number. Photographed by Nat Fein.
It is the photo that should be remembered as the day one of the greatest legends of sports said his farewell to the game nicknamed "America's Pastime". Although not a particularly accurate observation, it is the most fitting and lasting memory of the man known as Babe Ruth.
May 9, 2023 β’ 11 tweets β’ 2 min read
A room from the excavated ruins of Herculaneum - Destroyed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago.
Before the Roman city of Herculaneum became famous as the frozen in time brother of nearby Pompeii, it was a getaway town for the highest of Roman society.
May 9, 2023 β’ 6 tweets β’ 2 min read
Unpacking the Mona Lisa after World War II and the intricate plan to keep it safe from theft during the war.
The concern of the theft of famous works of art was raised early in the war by art historians and museum directors throughout Europe as the Nazis began to rise to power.
May 9, 2023 β’ 6 tweets β’ 2 min read
Slave shackle being removed by a British sailor, 1907. The son of the man who took the photograph wrote the following account of what happened:
"The pictures were taken by my father who was serving aboard HMS Sphinx while on armed patrol off the Zanzibar and Mozambique coast in about 1907.
May 8, 2023 β’ 5 tweets β’ 1 min read
Instead of just drinking water, the monks decided to create a batch of extremely potent beer that was packed with carbohydrates and nutrients.
They then named the drink, sankt-vater-bier, which roughly translates to "Holy Father beer." In 2011, a journalist named J. Wilson contacted a local brewery in an effort to recreate this beer. He went on to drink it for 46 days during Lent & didnβt consume any solid food.
May 8, 2023 β’ 6 tweets β’ 2 min read
Victor Noir's grave in Père Lachaise cemetery by Patrick Magaud, 1984.
Noir is perhaps more famous for his death and grave than work. He was a journalist who was shot dead; the grave consists of a full-sized bronze statue of the man laying down as if he was just shot.
May 7, 2023 β’ 11 tweets β’ 2 min read
In 1982, when Mount Galunggung volcano in Indonesia erupted, British Airways flight 9, flown by Captain Eric Moody, flew right through it losing all four engines at 37,000ft and somehow landed safely.
On the evening of Jun. 24, 1982 when flight BA 009 took off from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, there had been no hint of trouble: in fact the weather forecast for the five-hour journey for Perth, Australia, was good and the crew were anticipating an uneventful flight.