Posts from March 16, 2026

In July 1324, Mansa Musa — king of Mali and holder of more gold than anyone had ever seen in one place — arrived in Cairo with 12,000 servants, 80 camel-loads of gold dust, and no apparent intention of leaving with any of it.

In 1836, a Qing official argued for legalising opium to save the empire. The emperor said no. Twenty-two years later, the empire was required by British treaty to permit it.