Independent since 1804 after a victorious slave revolt, Haiti was forced in 1825 by Charles X, under threat from warships, to pay 150 million francs to compensate former colonists. The sum was cut to 90 million in 1838. To pay it, the country borrowed from French banks. According to a New York Times investigation published in 2022, Haiti handed over the equivalent of about $560 million in today's money.
Around 2300 BCE, Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, became high priestess of the Moon god at Ur. She composed hymns to the goddess Inanna and put her name to them. She is the oldest person identified as the author of a literary work, about 1,500 years before Homer.
Squeeze Earth's 4.5 billion years into a single 24-hour day. Homo sapiens shows up around 11:59:54 p.m., roughly six seconds before midnight. All of written history, from Sumerian tablets to today, fits into the final tenth of a second. A cosmic blink.