› added 11 months ago

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TIL the second Mongol Khan, Ögedei Khan, was well known for his alcoholism. When his brother, Chagatai, entrusted an official to watch his habit, he vowed to reduce the number of cups he drank a day, only then having cups twice the size created for his personal use.

7rV8p TIL that the real Johnny Appleseed was a wealthy missionary and a nurseryman named John Chapman. Rather then randomly planting apples he planted them as a way to gain land. Also his apples werent for eating but to make brandy instead. He also planted medicine herbs to give to the Native Americans.
6Xrw TIL between 1939 and 1989 in Spain about 300,000 new-born babies have been stolen in hospitals by a child trafficking network of doctors, nurses, priests and nuns. They just told the natural parents that their child had died.
ZRXQ TIL for 256 years, Irish beer company Guinness used fish bladders to filter their iconic Dark Stout. In late 2015, the company agreed to change this centuries-old tradition to accommodate vegans.
BgVDW TIL: Short Sleeper Syndrome is a gene mutation discovered by the University of Pittsburgh in 2014. They can function normally with less than 6 hours of sleep and never need to "recover" from lack of sleep as opposed to people who purposefully limit sleep. The mutation was given to mice and worked.
R517a TIL in 1936, Japanese woman Sada Abe strangled her lover, then cut off his genitals and kept them in her kimono. The story became a national sensation in Japan and later inspired books, films, and art.