› added 1 year ago

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TIL: That the Nazi rallying call "Sieg Heil" was inspired by American football cheerleading techniques. Imported by his friend Ernst Hanfstaengl, Adolf Hitler was so impressed by the rousing qualities inherent at American sporting events, that he would seek to emulate the atmosphere at his rallies.

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N7rgE TIL Amsterdam employs alcoholics as street cleaners and pays them with beer. In addition to the five cans, they also get €10 ($11.36) and half a pack of loose tobacco for each 6.5 hour shift.
R5v6j TIL about The Dancing Plague of 1518 - A case of mass hysteria in Strasbourg where hundreds of people danced uncontrollably for days, leading to several deaths.
ZDBY TIL life on Earth may have originated on Mars. NASA’s latest studies show that microbes on Mars may have come to Earth on a meteorite.
p8X5b TIL the largest murder case conducted in human history was first-chaired by a rookie who'd never been in court before - and he won. His name is Benjamin Ferencz and he is still going strong at 101 years old.
VBLyZ TIL Because it is so close to the Sun, Mercury is only observable in the early morning just before sunrise, or at dusk. Ancient Greek astronomers once believed Mercury was actually two separate objects