› added 2 years ago

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TIL that in 1890 an anticlerical journalist (Leo Taxil) pulled off a 12-year prank to humiliate the Vatican involving: inventing a cult of satanic Freemasons, paying his typist to play the part of a Luciferian Templar Mistress, revealing it all to have been a hoax once the Vatican had endorsed it.

4PWJ TIL that “to train each Apache pilot from scratch cost £3 million. It took six months just to learn how to fly it, another six to know how to fight in it, and a final six to be passed combat ready. And that was if you were already a fully qualified, combat-trained army helicopter pilot.”
lowkA TIL about the Marvel character Doop, an alien bean who among other things; has fought Thor to a standstill, was ready to murder Wolverine with a broken glass bottle, murdered someone with an axe and had sex with a married woman as well as the private investigator that was hired by the husband.
W7ZAd TIL about Gary Plauche. Jeff Doucet had kidnapped and molested Plauche’s son. Doucet was being transported by sheriffs when Plauche shot him on live TV.
ANYa7 TIL: Alfonso XII, King of Spain during the first Restoration, had his legitimacy questioned as his mother's consort was rumored to be homosexual; the real father was likely a palace guard commander. Alfonso didn't live to see the birth of his heir.
6Exol TIL that during the Middle Ages, reliance on naturalistic remedies and a lack of training caused midwives to have many unsuccessful deliveries, resulting in accusations of witchcraft - and when midwives used medicinal knowledge unknown to the general public, they were also accused of witchcraft