› added 5 years ago

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TIL of Marcus Crassus the creator of the first Roman fire brigade, employing 500 slaves. At the first cry of help, they would stand while Crassus offered to buy the building for cheap. If refused, he let it burn and simply rebuilt it with slave labour. He is often called "The richest man in Rome".

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epDZb TIL exactly what it means to be “Hanged, drawn and quartered”: “…fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn by horse to the place of execution, where he was then hanged (almost to the point of death), emasculated, disembowelled, beheaded, and quartered (chopped into four pieces).”
kO8o5 TIL that there are currently about 48000 different Christian denominations, and every year that number grows by around 1000
QxbM TIL that there used to be a “Mrs. America” pageant in which contestants were judged on cooking, sewing, ironing, and party preparation skills.
9DpG TIL NASA astronauts earn $64,724 a year.
p8vRp TIL that wolf packs might exist because ravens eat so much of their meat. When one wolf kills a moose, 47% is lost to the birds while a pack of six loses only 17%. “The team witnessed a single wolf killing a moose 11 times, which weakened the notion that wolves hunt in packs because of difficulty.”