› added 12 years ago

216

TIL Pope Benedict VIII condemned cats as evil and had them burned by the thousands. This led to an explosion of the rat population and attributed to the effects of the Black Death

Read more facts.randomhistory.com

via reddit.com

xVK4g TIL about the 'thousand-yard stare', which is a phrase often used to describe the blank, unfocused gaze of soldiers who have become emotionally detached from the horrors around them. It is also sometimes used more generally to describe the look of dissociation among victims of other types of trauma.
oOMW TIL TLC was founded in 1972 with the help of NASA and was an informative and instructional network focused on providing real education via television; it was distributed at no cost by NASA satellite.
WkyW4 TIL: Ozzy Osbourne from Black Sabbath once fell asleep during a driving test, waking up to a note saying 'you have failed'. He passed in 2009, age 60, on his 19th attempt.
d86kr TIL that the ceremonial gavel of the US Senate, in use since at least 1789, was broken in 1954 during a heated debate on nuclear energy by VP Richard Nixon
N4je TIL: After the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933, Yuengling sent a truckload of “Winner Beer” to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in appreciation, which arrived the day the amendment was repealed — particularly notable since Yuengling beer takes almost three weeks to brew and age.