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historical-nonfiction:

A Pythagorean cup looks like a normal drinking cup, except that the bowl has a central column in it. It was supposedly invented by Pythagoras of Samos (yes, that one). It allows the user to fill the cup with wine up to a certain level. If the user fills only to that level, the imbiber may enjoy a drink in peace. If, however, the user gets greedy, the cup dumps all the wine into the unfortunate victim’s lap.

Pythagoras sounds like a real asshole.

he was

Fun fact: This cup uses an “S-trap” which functions very similarly to the way a modern toilet flushes. The S-trap of the modern toilet was not invented until 1775, which was 2275 years after Pythagoras died.  Humans used this idea to embarrass people at parties for more than two millennia before realizing it could also be used to better pipe shit out of their houses.