› added 11 years ago

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TIL, Lewis Carroll was accused of being a paedophile, after a letter was discovered addressed to 11 year Alice Liddell (possibly your Alice in Wonderland). He also was an avid photographer, who’s whole collection was of little children, often nude. [Childhood ruined]

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via reddit.com

b9BnZ TIL in England in 1858, a confectioner making peppermint lozenges tried to purchase harmless powdered gypsum from a local pharmacist but was accidentally sold 12 pounds of arsenic trioxide. 21 people died and more than 200 others became ill when the poisoned candy was unwittingly sold to the public.
PYrlV TIL High tech car manufacturers user ostrich feathers to clean the dust off chassis before painting because "There is nothing man-made that will remove dust particles as well as natural ostrich feather"
Bjre TIL that when the King of Thailand sued his first wife for divorce, she was unable to defend herself in court because of a law forbidding criticism of the King.
LQdmQ TIL that Henry Ford's net worth upon death (in 1947) equates to around $200 billion in today's money, making him the 3rd richest person to have ever lived.
J9L8 TIL when the creators of the TV show Sledge Hammer! learned it would be cancelled, they had the main character fail to disarm a nuclear warhead, destroying San Francisco. The episode got such good ratings that ABC renewed it, so the second season had to be a prequel since the entire cast was dead.