› added 4 years ago

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TIL when Australian javelin thrower Reg Spiers could not afford (financially) to purchase a flight back to Australia from London, he "mailed/posted" himself back to Australia in a wooden box...a journey that took 63 hours and passed through India and Singapore. This happened in 1964.

Read more nationalgeographic.com.au

via reddit.com

Xa8Q TIL: Of a Chechen terrorist attack in Moscow theater in 2002. Of the 130 people who died in the attack, only 1 was killed by terrorists, the other 129 were killed by the Russian special forces trying to rescue them.
pKB8 TIL customer service reps can see what you’re typing before you hit send.
6Z5l TIL that the Plague solved an overpopulation problem in 14th century Europe. In the aftermath wages increased, rent decreased, wealth was more evenly distributed, diet improved and life expectancy increased.
ZpJXD TIL a Japanese cafe has robots that serve customers while being controlled by paralysed people, who get paid 1,000 yen (about $7.66) per hour for their work.
0w15y TIL about the "Vigiles" or Watchmen of Rome. Created by Caesar Augustus, they were firefighters who were also allowed to stop petty crimes while patrolling the city at night. If a magistrate found that someone had ignored the Vigiles' fire safety tips, the citizen was ordered beaten.