› added 12 years ago

106

TIL much of what we know about pirates comes from a single primary source with questionable reliability.

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XEpaP TIL The King of Siam used to gift albino elephants to courtiers who displeased him, in order to ruin them with the upkeep costs — this is the supposed inspiration for the White Elephant Gift Exchange.
JYaAv TIL an Ethiopian girl was being brutally beaten by 7 men when a pride of lions chased them away. They even stayed with her until help arrived.
1axQr TIL that the CIA tried to murder the Former Prime Minister of Cuba with a poisoned milkshake because he loved dairy products like ice cream.
kOPxE TIL that when a child actor is cast in California, a trust fund, or Coogan account, is setup to store at least 15% of their earnings. This was after the parents of Jackie Coogan, a child star from some early Charlie Chaplin movies, squandered nearly all of his fortune before he reached adulthood
v1jMD TIL Janusz Korczak ran a Jewish orphanage and, when the ~200 orphans were ordered to a death camp, he stayed with them until the end despite multiple opportunities to escape.