› added 7 years ago

483

TIL of Ashley Revell, a man who sold all of his worldly possessions, and bet all of the money (about $135,000) on one roulette spin.

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8eNKV TIL that the tallest tree ever measured wasn’t actually a redwood. It was an Australian mountain ash. Which was recorded at a height of over 130 metres! (427 ft)
yQbZX TIL of Clarence Elkins, who was wrongly imprisoned for the murder of his mother-in-law and assault of his 6-year-old niece. His wife worked hard to exonerate him and found a likely suspect who was in the same jail as him. Clarence collected a cigarette he’d used. His DNA matched.
a8wJ0 TIL that when naturalist Robert Plot discovered the first dinosaur fossils in 1677, he believed they belonged to giant humans that roamed the earth years ago. It wasn’t until 1824 when Oxford professor William Buckland concluded that the fossils belonged to an extinct lizard, the “Megalosaurus.”
46vR TIL - Portugal decriminalised drugs and replaced the penalty with therapy
Br7Gb TIL About Draco, an Athenian lawyer who gave the city its first written code. The word Draconian originated from his name as his laws were so brutal. According to legend, he died due to his popularity; after giving a speech at a theatre, he was smothered when the audience threw their cloaks at him.