A closer look
In 1577, Ottoman polymath Taqi al-Din built one of the most advanced astronomical observatories in human history in Istanbul, featuring custom-designed optical instruments that rivaled anything in Europe. Naturally, the universe rewarded his scientific brilliance with a poorly timed comet. When a plague hit the city shortly after the comet's appearance, political rivals convinced the Sultan that Taqi al-Din's telescope was basically a cursed tube that angered the heavens by prying into God's secrets. The Sultan ordered a squad of janissaries to completely level the million-dollar facility, proving that humanity's greatest enemy has always been some guy misinterpreting basic celestial mechanics.
