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TIL that physicist Nikola Tesla once paid an overdue hotel bill with a box containing a working model of his ‘death beam‘, warning employees never to open it because of the danger. They hid the box & when it was discovered years later & opened, found to contain old (harmless) electrial parts.

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VMRQm TIL Jason Statham almost drowned during the filming of The Expendables 3 when a truck's brakes failed and it plunged into the Black Sea, but survived thanks to being an Olympic-class diver.
OgL4 TIL the Mona Lisa was painted with eyebrows and eyelashes, but they disappeared over time, possibly the result of over-cleaning.
vDo7 TIL that in medieval Germany, married couples could legally settle their disputes by fighting a Marital Duel. To even the field, the man had to fight from inside a hole with one arm tied behind his back. The woman was free to move and was armed with a sack filled with rocks.
pYdG4 TIL Australia has a public collection programme for funnel-web spiders. The public are asked to catch the deadliest spider in the world (capable of killing a child in 15 minutes, and has fangs that can pierce toenails) and take them to designated points. They are milked for the anti-venom programme.
8aQB8 TIL In ancient Egypt, servants were smeared with honey in order to attract flies away from the pharaoh