› added 12 years ago

96

TIL Cuba has a literacy rate of 99.8%, higher than any other country in the world.

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0wdlM TIL According to Plutarch the traitor Bessus was executed by having two trees forcibly bent towards each other, tied him to both, and then the trees released, causing an agonizing death in which the ligaments, tendons, muscles and organs would slowly come apart as the trees straightened
5VVJ8 TIL “Electric Eye” by heavy metal band Judas Priest was in the temp score for “Toy Story 3”. Before it was cut, the song blared from the Aliens’ car in the opening scene. The song’s lyrics describe a satellite watching a surveillance state, foreshadowing (intentionally or not) the movie’s plot.
4XnG6 TIL that words that change meaning and sometimes pronunciation based on the capitalization of the first letter, like "Polish" vs. "polish" are called Capitonyms.
dDWNK TIL that in 1320, the city of Avignon put an entire species of beetle on trial to try and protect their harvest, and they demanded the beetles to withdraw to a designated reserve. When the beetles refused to comply, they were outlawed, detained, and killed.
XQgk TIL No one was burned at the stake for witchcraft in Salem. They were all hanged, with the exception of Giles Corey who was pressed to death over the course of two days