› added 10 years ago

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TIL: When asked about rape committed by Soviet troops during World War 2, Stalin explained that “a soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometres through blood and fire and death has fun with a woman or takes some trifle.”

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EdwP TIL the tradition of “women and children first” protocol is a legacy from the Birkenhead, a ship that ran into a dangerous reef, and whose soldiers famously stood firm allowing the women and children to board the boats safely as there were not enough serviceable lifeboats for all the passengers.
PYAGe TIL about Bass Reeves, the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River and a former slave. Over the course of his career, he had made over three thousand arrest, never got wounded (except for his hat and belt), and became one of Judge Issac Parker's most valued deputies.
8apLZ TIL that Freddie Mercury wrote 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' in the bath. He was in the tub at a hotel and got inspired for the song, he even had the piano brought to his tub to allow him to compose.
wLRMY TIL 50 Cent tragically lost his mother when he was 8 years old. His mother, Sabrina Jackson, died in 1983 in a 'mysterious fire'. 50 Cent said in an interview, "Someone put something in her drink and turned the gas on."
Z815v TIL an American woman needed her husband's permission to open a bank account as recently as the 1960s