› added 6 years ago

237

TIL about jailhouse lawyers; prisoners who study law behind bars to help other inmates with any legal advice they may need. These inmates often can't get themselves out, but want to help others who can.

MoBA TIL Socrates was so annoying that people nicknamed him the Gadfly (horse fly), but instead of an insult he started calling himself the Gadfly.
epRl6 TIL that the Yellowstone Park "Zone of Death" is a legal loophole in a small part of Yellowstone Park. A man was tried for an elk's murder in the Idaho section. The Sixth Amendment guarantees a fair trial by a jury in the area, but no jury can be assembled as nobody lives there, making crimes legal
9w0ZM TIL during the negotiations to end the Spanish-American War, Spain originally rejected the US demand for the whole of the Philippines and wanted to cede only Mindanao or the Sulu Islands. US negotiators responded by proposing to pay $20 million for the whole of the Philippines, which Spain accepted.
DQEAj TIL that Atropine (the drug used to dilate eyes) is made from the "Belladonna plant". The name "bella donna" is derived from Italian and means "beautiful woman", because the herb was used hundreds of years ago by women to dilate their pupils to make them appear seductive.
b9wvZ TIL that a sports writer wrote a rude and snarky article about the WNBA even though he had never been to a game. He was confronted by a WNBA star who chided him and invited him to watch her play. Two years later they were married.