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TIL in Europe between 1550 and 1700 over 80,000 people were tried for witchcraft and half were executed - often burned alive. Data shows it was most intense where Catholic-Protestant rivalry was strongest and the phenomenon reached its zenith when there was “peak competition for Christian consumers"

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1BV TIL There was going to be a movie of Dr. Who, starring Allan Rickman, and directed by Stephen Spielberg, but the BBC ruined it.
LQoWr TIL the Sixth Crusade was mostly conducted through diplomacy and involved very little actual fighting. Jerusalem was ceded to the Crusaders through Treaty of Jaffa (1229). The reaction to the treaty in both the Christian and Muslim worlds was largely negative.
0drE5 TIL that Edward I of England was invited by Scotland's nobles to arbitrate a succession crisis over the Scottish throne. Edwards attempts to use this to assert overlordship over Scotland led to a 32 year war of independence.
VMKpG TIL London Underground workers fought management red tape with a 'piss strike,' meaning they followed safety rules so exactly that workers going to the toilet one after the other essentially shut down any work being done.
jnDa TIL that the phrase “It’s Greek to me” has analogues in many languages. In Greek, the foreign language in the saying is Turkish or Chinese. In Turkish, it’s French or Arabic. In French and Arabic, it’s Chinese. In Chinese, it’s “ghost script,” “bird sounds,” or “chicken intestines.”