› added 7 years ago

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TIL in 1842 Queen Victoria had a pistol aimed at her while she was riding a carriage, but the gun misfired and the assassin escaped. The next day she deliberately took the same route to bait the assassin, who subsequently caught.

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rN9r0 TIL about Rogers' Rangers, an independent ranger company attached to the British Army during the Seven Years' War. The Rangers disbanded in 1761 only to be revived as a Loyalist force during the American Revolution, with the US Army Rangers and Queen's York Rangers claiming descent.
9YKpr TIL Wi-Fi doesn't stand for anything!
bEDN TIL that a 2006 study concluded that prehistoric predators had excellent vision, surpassing modern birds of prey. Compared to a bald eagle (whose vision is 4x better than ours), Tyrannosaurus rex had eyes that were 13x as precise as a human’s eyesight, meaning it could see prey from 6 km away.
OPL TIL Mark Twain came into and then left this world on successive Halley’s Comet appearances, and predicted that day as the date of his death.
E1pPd TIL the invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with public skepticism. While people were concerned about magic, the public didn't initially believe witches gathered to worship demons, have orgies, eat babies, and perform other abominable acts.