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TIL one of the countermeasures against war elephants was to douse some pigs with oil or resin, set them alight, and drive them towards the enemy’s elephants. The elephants would bolt in terror from the flaming, squealing pigs, often killing great numbers of soldiers by trampling them to death.

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B4ky TIL in Fucking, Austria, after the residents voted against changing the Town’s name, the mayor stated “Fucking is Fucking—and it’s going to stay Fucking.”
xjpo TIL The final words of Terry Kath (from the band Chicago) were “Don’t worry, it’s not loaded” whilst playing with guns
BxPK TIL studies show that if a babies pacifier falls on the ground, putting it in your mouth before putting it back in the babies mouth as opposed to washing it in soapy water can help strengthen the immune system of the baby and potentially ward off ailments such as eczema and asthma
OVda TIL Donald Rumsfeld reported 2 Trillion dollars were missing from the federal defense budget on 9/10/2001. ($8000 for every american citizen) The next day the pentagon accounting office was incinerated, and many people researching the missing money were killed.
wMm8 TIL Chuck Yeager - first pilot to exceed Mach 1 - was shot down over France in WW2, taught bomb-making to Resistance groups who helped him, escaped into Spain, argued the high command into letting him back into combat against regulations, then became an Ace (bringing down 5 enemy aircraft) in 1 day.