What is the coolest obscure historical fact you know?

 When Salahadin cunningly lured the field army of the Crusader States into joining him on an ill-advised hike across the desert (absent mindedly forgetting to mention that he was the only one with water), before ambushing and slaughtering those now sunburnt and rather dehydrated crusader forces at the battle of Hattin, his nefarious plans all came together allowing his forces to march on Jerusalem.

Salah ad-Din, aka Saladin, 1137 – 1193.

Aka, the sword of Islam, builder of an empire, stomper of crusaders, and conquerer of Egypt, Syria, Arabia and a shed load of other places.

However, much to Salahadin’s irritation, a few Chrusader knights and soldiers refused to leave their post defending the city, despite the hopeless situation. They set about making the ensuing siege extremely uncomfortable for old Salahadin. These warriors repeatedly repulsed his assaults, throwing any and all attempts to strom the curtain walls back while inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking forces.

Eventually, Salahadin negotiated with the capable leader of Jerusalem's outnumbered defenders, Balian of Ibelin, who agreed to only surrender the city provided Salahadin swore an oath to allow safe passage of the thousands of Christian civilians and refugees who were trapped in the city, as well as the knights and troops who protected them. The surrender of Jerusalem was remarkably peaceful with limited bloodshed compared to the norm of the day, with most of the Christians allowed to leave Jerusalem safely, but we should not forget that some people who were unable to pay the small token ransom were enslaved.

With Jerusalem captured, Salahadin's headache only got worse, because now his vengeful army wanted to tear down every Christian place of worship within the holy city, and butcher those false peddlers of rival religions. Being the sword of Islam and all that, came with an image to uphold.

Remarkably, Salahadin refused to be pressured by his officers and soldiers into destroying the Christian places of worship, he believed that respect for different faiths and religions should be a founding principle of the governance of the Holy Land and Jerusalem.

Salahadin handpicked two of his most loyal personal guards and passionately explained his belief that all religions should be treated with respect and that Christian pilgrims in particular should be safe to travel and visit the Holy land. Salahadin then ordered these two loyal soldiers to stand guard over the holiest church in the Christian world.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

On the surface, this obscure historical fact probably doesn't seem all that cool, but what if I told you Salahadin had decreed that the two men should stand guard until the day they died, at which point the responsibility for guarding the church would pass down to the eldest son of each man's family.

To this day, the descendents of those two Muslim guards still fulfill their duty, and stand guard over the church.

A staggering 836 years have passed, yet generation after generation, the fathers and sons of the Joudeh and Nuseibeh families have never once abandoned their sacred post.

“What we pass to the next generations is not only the keys to the church, but also the way to respect other religions.” — Adeeb Joudeh, bearer of the keys.

"Like all brothers, Christian sects sometimes have problems, we help them settle their disputes peacefully. We are the neutral people in the church, we help preserve peace in this holy place." — Wajeeh Nuseibeh, guardian of the door.

Salahadin ordered two of his personal guards to defend the holiest church in the Christian world, the men of these two Muslim families have continued to stand guard over the Church across generations, for more than 800 years.

When Salahadin cunningly lured the field army of the Crusader States into joining him on an ill-advised hike across the desert (absent mindedly forgetting to mention that he was the only one with water), before ambushing and slaughtering those now sunburnt and rather dehydrated crusader forces at the battle of Hattin, his nefarious plans all came together allowing his forces to march on Jerusalem.

Salah ad-Din, aka Saladin, 1137 – 1193.

Aka, the sword of Islam, builder of an empire, stomper of crusaders, and conquerer of Egypt, Syria, Arabia and a shed load of other places.

However, much to Salahadin’s irritation, a few Chrusader knights and soldiers refused to leave their post defending the city, despite the hopeless situation. They set about making the ensuing siege extremely uncomfortable for old Salahadin. These warriors repeatedly repulsed his assaults, throwing any and all attempts to strom the curtain walls back while inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking forces.

Eventually, Salahadin negotiated with the capable leader of Jerusalem's outnumbered defenders, Balian of Ibelin, who agreed to only surrender the city provided Salahadin swore an oath to allow safe passage of the thousands of Christian civilians and refugees who were trapped in the city, as well as the knights and troops who protected them. The surrender of Jerusalem was remarkably peaceful with limited bloodshed compared to the norm of the day, with most of the Christians allowed to leave Jerusalem safely, but we should not forget that some people who were unable to pay the small token ransom were enslaved.

With Jerusalem captured, Salahadin's headache only got worse, because now his vengeful army wanted to tear down every Christian place of worship within the holy city, and butcher those false peddlers of rival religions. Being the sword of Islam and all that, came with an image to uphold.

Remarkably, Salahadin refused to be pressured by his officers and soldiers into destroying the Christian places of worship, he believed that respect for different faiths and religions should be a founding principle of the governance of the Holy Land and Jerusalem.

Salahadin handpicked two of his most loyal personal guards and passionately explained his belief that all religions should be treated with respect and that Christian pilgrims in particular should be safe to travel and visit the Holy land. Salahadin then ordered these two loyal soldiers to stand guard over the holiest church in the Christian world.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

On the surface, this obscure historical fact probably doesn't seem all that cool, but what if I told you Salahadin had decreed that the two men should stand guard until the day they died, at which point the responsibility for guarding the church would pass down to the eldest son of each man's family.

To this day, the descendents of those two Muslim guards still fulfill their duty, and stand guard over the church.

A staggering 836 years have passed, yet generation after generation, the fathers and sons of the Joudeh and Nuseibeh families have never once abandoned their sacred post.

“What we pass to the next generations is not only the keys to the church, but also the way to respect other religions.” — Adeeb Joudeh, bearer of the keys.

"Like all brothers, Christian sects sometimes have problems, we help them settle their disputes peacefully. We are the neutral people in the church, we help preserve peace in this holy place." — Wajeeh Nuseibeh, guardian of the door.

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Salahadin ordered two of his personal guards to defend the holiest church in the Christian world, the men of these two Muslim families have continued to stand guard over the Church across generations, for more than 800 years.