› added 9 years ago

274

TIL that Screamin’ Jay Hawkins had so many illegitimate offspring that a website has been set up to identify them all

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5YRQR TIL the Battle of Derna in 1805 (the first military engagement of the United States in a different country, and mentioned in the official US Marine's song) was actually fought by 400-500 Arab-Greek Mercenaries and just 8 Marines. The mercenaries were never fully paid after the war.
GY94G TIL the name of the metal cobalt comes from the kobold, a troublesome Germanic spirit that miners blamed for making cobalt ores poisonous.
Vb4Q TIL A woman in a declining, remote village in Japan created hundreds of scarecrows to make her town more lively.
nbY7 TIL: King Cadwaladr of Gwynedd once ordered his men to put leeks on their helmets to identify themselves in a battle against the Saxons. To this day, the Leek is the national symbol of Wales
Wyyo TIL that in 2007 a soldier was acquitted for the rape of a 15-year-old girl because the soldier was suffering from “sexsomnia” or a rare condition where one can unknowingly engage in sexual acts while still asleep