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The Oldest Trick in the Book is the infamous "Tapping on a person's left shoulder when you're standing on their right". This trick was first chronicled in cuneiform by the Ancient Sumerians. This chronicalisation also created "The Book" itself. In this article, we will chronologically summarise, from oldest to newest, the tricks in The Book.
In the year 10580 B.C.E. the Babylonian king, Hammurabi, reigned supreme over the Mesopotamian deserts. On February 30, during a long speech by Irhemhotep, he stood on Shamadad's right, and reached over and tapped him on the left shoulder. As a result, Shamadad looked to his left, where no one was standing. All would laugh, as decreed by law, or else be condemned to read Oscar Wilde quotes everywhere. Immensely proud of his ingenuity, Hammurabi ordered these endeavours to be recorded in cuneiform on a clay tablet. This tablet was the first page in a small 'tricks' archive, which would later become 'The Book'.
Years later, the minor prophet Zarathustra, experimenting with various tricks, attempted what was previously unheard of: the other side. Standing on the left this time, and tapping the person's right shoulder was, until that time, never considered, and almost heretical. It worked with stupendous results, even on people who have been so duped many times before. (Full article...)
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