› added 13 years ago

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TIL Monks in northern Japan would practice self-mummification. A practice in which they would exercise rigorously to rid all body fat from their system, begin drinking a poisonous tea, and remain in a tiny tomb in the lotus position until confirmed dead. The process took over 3000 days.

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bJPZ TIL Four days after the Hillsborough disaster, in the European Cup semi-final between AC Milan v Real Madrid, the referee blew his whistle two minutes into the game to stop play and hold a minute’s silence for those who lost their lives. Halfway through, AC Milan fans sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
d5M7 TIL that, with some anxious thoughts, you can “bore yourself calm” by repeating them in front of a mirror until they lose power.
gjAW TIL that in order to popularize potatoes in France, Antoine-Augustin Parmentier placed armed guards around his potato fields, instructing the guards to accept all bribes and allow people to “steal” the crop.
Oogga TIL A Mauser C96 was modified to form Han Solo's prop blaster pistol for the Star Wars films. Reproductions of the blaster became so popular in the cosplay community that gun collectors became aware that fans were buying and altering increasingly rare original Mausers.
X09AP TIL about the Smooth-Hawley tariff act of 1930 which increased US tariffs (by an average of 20%) on over 20,000 imported goods, while it seemed succesful at first by 1933 US exports had declined by 61% and its GNP by almost 50%