› added 12 years ago

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TIL to clear the streets for President Kennedy’s Inauguration the army used flamethrowers to melt the snow.

Read more inaugural.senate.gov

via reddit.com

Y70gr TIL of Anna Anderson, an impostor who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. Despite a private investigation proving she was a Polish factory worker with a history of mental illness, Anna managed to garner support due to disinformation spread by the Bolsheviks about Anastasia's execution.
PQ5w TIL that in 1964 a woman lived in a waterproofed house with a dolphin called Peter, tried to teach him English and had a sexual relationship with him NSFW
8eM6X TIL of Daniel Sickles. He shot the son of Francis Scott Key in broad daylight for sleeping with his wife, and was the first person acquitted under the insanity defense. Later he was appointed a Union general, and lost his leg disobeying orders. He regularly claimed to be 6 years younger than he was.
ypDV TIL in the 19th century Human Zoos (zoos that displayed humans) were quite popular. The last one was closed in 1958; oddly, the first person to ban them was Hitler.
MYLA TIL that in from the 1880s to the 1900s, pollution caused by horses was so severe, the presence of the (then unheard of) automobile was regarded as a saviour, as it did not pollute the streets with manure, urine and dead horses.