› added 7 years ago

1149

TIL Elvis once handed Alice Cooper one of his guns and asked him to point it at him to show off his karate skills. Cooper later said that he genuinely wanted to pull the trigger to do something legendary with his life, but Elvis knocked the gun out of his hand and pinned him before he could fire.

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Vp9m TIL that since many female insects mate just once in their lives, insect populations can be controlled by releasing swarms of sterile males into the wild; the females mate with them, never have babies, and die. The method has eradicated populations of dangerous insects in several regions.
NXdrQ TIL Joseph Stalin was covered in scars from the smallpox that he’d survived at the age of seven and had official photos portray his face as smooth and fresh with well maintained hair by heavily editing and retouching photos.
69YLW TIL that the French had for the best part of 5 centuries a very lucrative salt tax. So much so that at some point it was as valuable to France, as the American silver mines were to Spain (according to Cardinal Richelieu)
8eXMV TIL that George V was euthanised by his personal physician to ensure the morning papers had the news
woEGY TIL Martin Van Buren Bates (1837-1919) is currently the tallest known person to live to at least 80 years. He stood at 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m).