› added 6 years ago

195

TIL "burking" is the death by asphyxiation caused by someone sitting on your chest and holding his hand over your mouth and nose. It is named after the Scottish serial killer William Burke, who used this method in order to leave few marks on the victims which he then sold to Anatomical Institutes.

Read more definitions.uslegal.com

via reddit.com

Zp0v TIL that in June 2010, a 26-year-old man in Germany dropped his pants, threw a puppy at a group of Hell’s Angels, and then tried to escape to Munich on a stolen bulldozer, causing a 3-mile-long traffic jam before being arrested.
NV8P TIL casino magnate Steve Wynn had once reached an agreement to sell Picasso’s ‘La Reve’ for $139 million, which would have been the largest artwork sale in history, when he accidentally stuck his elbow through the painting while showing it to Barbara Walters.
a8K0 TIL that the Roe effect is an hypothesis which suggests that since supporters of abortion rights cause the erosion of their own political base by having fewer children, the practice of abortion will eventually lead to the restriction or illegalization of abortion.
QJWKp TIL 30 square kilometres of marijuana were found growing in New South Wales, Australia 25 years after it was made illegal. It took 9 years to remove it fully, during which people regularly harvested it and distributed it in Sydney.
D44J TIL A Saudi businessman offered US$10 million to buy the shoes thrown at President Bush in a press conference in 2008.