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TIL that Vlad the Impaler, is considered a national hero, despite him being one of the cruelest rulers in Romanian history and is the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula

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VBpWG TIL about Roman politicians Saturninus and Glaucia who allegedly had a political opponent, Gaius Memmius, beaten to death in front of the voters. This caused civil unrest within Roman aristocracy and an angry mob brutally killed the duo among their alleged conspirators.
oRknW TIL that the Polish anti-communist organization Fighting Solidarity learned that the AMSAT-OSCAR 7, an apparently inactive satellite after a battery failture, had in fact remained intermittently functional, and used it surreptitiously for communication during the martial law in Poland.
loPY7 TIL In Boston, 1777, during a shortage of coffee and sugar, a crowd of over 100 angry women marched to a wealthy merchant's warehouse, demanded the keys, and grabbed him by the neck when he refused. They opened the doors, loaded up carts with coffee, and left.
kOdeg TIL Stephen Colbert grew up in South Carolina as the youngest of 11 children. His dad and two of his brothers were killed in a plane crash when he was 10. He became introverted, spent his time reading (especially Tolkien), but eventually found a way to express himself through acting.
p8E1Q TIL that one degree of latitude equals 69 miles