› added 11 years ago

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TIL a convict named Billy Hunt tried to escape Port Arthur prison by disguising himself as a kangaroo. The plan worked until a couple of hungry guards decided to supplement their rations with some kangaroo meat and took aim. Billy had no choice but to surrender.

loMv7 TIL, although it sounds incredible that people have survived falls from aircraft as high as 20 000 feet, the extreme height makes little difference as anything above 10 or 12 stories and you've reached terminal velocity. So a fall from 20,000 is no different from a 500 foot fall."
M7Qx0 TIL on 1962, Mississippi Senate expressed its "complete, entire and utter contempt for the Kennedy administration and its puppet courts" about the integration of Ole Miss, when protesting against the admission of James Meredith
oBJAY TIL, in the Philippines, for the bargain price of roughly £350, you can purchase "death kits" which is made up of documents that proves your death. The process involves obtaining a fake death certificate and buying an unclaimed corpse from one of the many morgues in the Philippines.
NXBWQ TIL eyewitness sketches aren't solely based on verbal descriptions. They are compiled using an "identikit", or a stock library of facial features (eyes, noses, etc.). The witness picks out the closest match for each feature which is then assembled into a more coherent image.
JYmO8 TIL of TV Pickup in England which refers to a phenomenon that affects electricity generation and transmission networks. It happens a lot during "Tea Time" where folks start their electric kettles all at once.