› added 4 years ago

118

TIL Talking to yourself in the third person - a technique known as illeism - can improve your decision making and emotional stability

Read more digest.bps.org.uk

via reddit.com

78NpO TIL Benedict IX is the only person to have been Pope more than once. He was forced out, managed to regain the throne, only to resign because he wanted to marry his cousin. He soon changed his mind and became Pope for the third time. He is the youngest Pope in history (aged 20 when first elected)
YpkBG TIL that during the Austro-Prussian War, Liechtenstein had an army of 80 men. During the conflict no men were injured or killed and they returned home with 81 men because they’d made an Italian friend along the way. The army was then disbanded and Liechtenstein hasn’t had a military since.
D1eJj TIL Hutton Gibson, father of critically acclaimed actor Mel Gibson, is a Jeopardy champion and Holocaust denier. He also believes in 9/11 conspiracy theories and rejects the Second Vatican Council because it is "a Masonic plot backed by the Jews".
epjO5 TIL male camels have a dulaa - a sack-like extension of the soft palate. It's pushed outside the mouth with saliva and is used to produce a low gurgling mating call. The size of the dulaa indicates a male's virility to a female
mxyRy TIL of the Burghers of Calais. In 1346, Edward III laid siege to Calais, but agreed to spare the town if 6 wealthy residents surrendered, wearing nooses around their necks and carrying the keys to the city. Six volunteered, facing certain execution. They were spared on the advice of Queen Philippa