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TIL Napoleon III reserved a prized set of aluminum cutlery for special guests at banquets. Less favored guests used gold knives and forks. Aluminium was a valuable and prized metal.

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QbVp TIL In 1996, a painting was stolen from the Museum of Bad Art. The museum offered a reward of six dollars and fifty cents for its return, and the purported thief demanded a $5,000 ransom ten years later. It was returned with no ransom paid.
R79x8 TIL that Laika the first dog in space went through a grueling death hours after the launch of the spaceship from overheating She had been strapped in with no space to move, had only one serving of food, and was under immense stress from being in there. This made me immensely sad.
b6LMa TIL that a man in India died of rabies after a possible 25-year incubation period!
waeP TIL Lacrosse, as originally played by Native Americans, fielded teams from 100 to 1,000 men, with goals 500 yards to 6 miles apart, with games lasting several days, played sunup to sundown. These games tended to become huge mobs of players swarming the ball and slowly moving it across the field.
Lgl9 TIL Nikola Tesla was in favor of sterilising criminals and mentally unstable and believed that by 2100 no one who is not a desirable parent should be permitted to produce progeny