› added 9 years ago

423

TIL that a 17th-century French noble swordswoman beat men in duels, sang at the opera, and rescued her lesbian lover from a convent by burning it down. She was pardoned by the king.

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9pNm TIL When Beethoven went deaf, he composed his music by hacking the legs off his piano and sitting on the floor so he could feel the vibrations.
VxpZ TIL In the late 1980s, young punk rockers in Cuba, known as “los frikis,” were so fed-up with the stifling life of the communist regime that they chose to inject themselves with the AIDS virus so they could live in a sanitarium and be free from constant police-state harassment.
LQpXP TIL that in recorded history, there has only been a single hurricane in the South Atlantic Ocean to which made landfall. Ever.
pYJap TIL Pope Leo XIII awarded a Vatican gold medal to the creator of his favourite brand of cocaine-infused wine and also appeared on a poster endorsing it.
eLwk TIL in Italy, wheels of parmesan cheese can be used as collateral for loans. Banks charge 3-5% interest (depending on the quality) and a fee for maturing in temperature- and humidity-controlled vaults; large vaults can hold as many as 430,000 wheels worth €190M