› added 12 years ago

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TIL that Sunandha Kumariratana, the Queen of Thailand, drowned while her subjects watched because they were forbidden to touch her.

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via reddit.com

yV8nl TIL that aqueducts are water channels that use gravity to move water from a source to a destination. An ancient Roman aqueduct used only a 51 foot height difference to push water down a 31-mile-long path, resulting in as little as a 1-inch drop to push water 1,500 feet.
4krKJ TIL a farmer’s observation of his cows made his town a hot touristic spot for the rich and famous of 1600s England. He noticed that cows wouldn’t drink from a particular pond. The water was bitter. Also, it had medical properties. Epsom Salts were born and Epsom town became a popular spa destination
VMjBD TIL that Henry Ford had initially lead the movement of shorter working weeks from the entrepreneurial side of things. He (counterintuitively at the time) showed that shorter working hours led to higher productivity.
5wVk TIL than in 1881 a woman got away with murdering a man who broke off their engagement by using the “hysteria defense,” i.e., a doctor told the jury that “Any virtuous woman when deprived of her virtue would go mad, undoubtedly.” The jury acquitted her in 20 minutes.
QNJME TIL that Frank Abagnale Jr, the subject of the Steven Spielberg movie Catch Me If You Can starring Leo DiCaprio, may have falsified the main details and scams in the movie as he was in prison from age 17-20 in NY when most of these scams were to have taken place. Making the movie his biggest scam.