If the electors of the Holy Roman Emperor did not vote within 30 days, they were only allowed to eat bread and water and were forbidden to leave the city.
100 Mind-Blowing Emperor Facts
0.5% of the male population are descended from Genghis Khan. (Scientists did a study in 2003 showing that about 16 million dudes share a Y chromosome with the famous Emperor.)
Theodore Roosevelt had a pet hyena. Its name was Bill, and it was a present from the Ethiopian emperor. Roosevelt was famous for his many pets, including a one-legged rooster, a badger, a pony, and a small bear.
The largest pizza measured 13,580.28 square feet. In 2012, a massive pie that had a surface area of 1,261.65 square meters was created in Rome, Italy. The pizza was named “Ottavia,” in honour of Octavian Augustus – the first emperor of Rome.
Rome once had a horse senator. Move aside, Bojack Horseman. This is one of the WTF facts that’ll make you think we’re pulling your leg, but happened in history: In 37 AD, the Roman emperor Caligula made Incitatus, his favourite horse, a Roman senator.
Emperor penguins can last 27 minutes underwater and can dive as deep as 500m.
Other than humans, emperor penguins are the only warm-blooded animals to stay in Antarctica for the winter.
Emperor penguins can stay underwater for up to 27 minutes and dive as far as 500m deep.
Both male and female pigeons produce a substance called crop milk to feed their chicks. Very few birds have this rare ability, just greater flamingos, emperor penguins, pigeons and doves.
The biggest pizza ever created was 13,580 square feet, made in Rome, Italy, in 2012. The pizza was gluten-free and named “Ottavia” after a Roman emperor.
Moving statues. The only statue from classical Rome to remain largely unmolested and on public display for nearly 2,000 years is the Equestrian statue of emperor Marcus Aurelius. Erected in the late 2nd century AD, it was finally put inside a museum in the 1980s.
Keeping it in the family. The first time the Roman imperial crown passed from father to son, with the son being born in the Emperor’s lifetime, was when Commodus succeeded his father Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD. The pair had reigned jointly since 177. This was over 200 years after Augustus had first established the role.
Largest palace ever built. In 200 BC, Emperor Gaozu of Han requested the building of the Weiyang Palace complex north of modern Xi’an. Weiyang Palace has a claim to being the largest palace ever built on Earth: it covered 4.8 km2 (1,200 acres), which is nearly seven times the size of the current Forbidden City in Beijing or eleven times the size of the Vatican City, though little remains today.