› added 11 years ago

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TIL the US Department of Justice and the National Institute of Justice reported in 2004 that the effects of renewing the 1994 assault weapon ban might be “too small for reliable measurement” because “[assault weapons] were rarely used in gun crimes even before the ban”.

Read more ncjrs.gov

via reddit.com

GADpJ TIL that younger sailors weren't subjected to the infamous "Cat o' nine tails" for punishment. Instead, they faced discipline with a milder whip called the "Boy's Pussy.
l7Xp7 TIL that generations of incest turned members of the Fugate family blue. They lived in eastern Kentucky’s Troublesome Creekand their peculiar skin color was caused by a metabolic condition affecting hemoglobin.
1a56X TIL cat burglars across Europe have been know to pump anaesthetic gas into victims residences via the AC unit.
QN7LM TIL that Thomas Jefferson invented the swivel chair. He supposedly drafted the Declaration of Independence while sitting in his own creation, making it one of the first recorded uses of a swivel chair in history.
Wk0QX TIL of the Alexamenos graffito, a piece of Roman graffiti estimated to have been made c. 200 AD. It depicts a man worshiping a crucified, donkey-headed man, along with the phrase "Alexamenos worships [his] god". It is thought to be the oldest surviving depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus.