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TIL In Greece’s fight for independence, a Turkish garrison in Acropolis was besieged by Greek fighters. When the Turks ran low on bullets, they began to cut the marble columns to use the lead within as bullets. The Greeks sent them ammunition saying: “Here are bullets, don’t touch the columns.”

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EgoLo TIL Ignaz Semmelweis pioneered the habit of washing hands in hospitals but was rejected, had a mental breakdown and was sent to an asylum and was beat to death by the guards (XIX century)
QJRld TIL there was a pandemic in the early 20th century that caused life-long stupor and Parkinsonism in survivors, with many sleeping during the day and waking at night. It resulted in the deaths of millions of people worldwide. Called "Sleeping Sickness", the causative agent has never been found.
e0vo4 TIL that the colour that you see when your eyes are opened in a dark room has a name. It's called 'eigengrau', which means intrinsic gray. It's the shade of dark gray people see when there's no light.
1alLV TIL that Alexander of Greece (Greece's 4th King) died aged 27 after a mob of monkeys attacked and bit him as he was trying to break a fight between one of the palace monkeys and his German Shepherd dog.
Eaw0 TIL that the K2, the world’s second tallest mountain, has no local name. It is so remote and inaccessible that very few local people knew of its existence, and thus why it retains its original surveying moniker given to it by British surveyors.