Random Facts is an evolving archive of odd but true things — gathered not to explain the world away, but to make it feel newly unfamiliar.
In the late 12th century, the Egyptian Sultan Al-Aziz Uthman, the son of Saladin, ordered the demolition of Egypt’s ancient pyramids. The plan began with the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three at Giza. Workers struggled for months, managing only to dislodge a few stones before giving up. His attempt, recorded by medieval […]