› added 10 years ago

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TIL the winner of 1904 Olympic marathon hitched a ten mile ride in an auto. The 2nd place finisher attempted to boost his speed with brandy and rat poison. The 4th place finisher was sickened by bad apples and took a mid-race nap. The 9th place finisher was driven off the course by aggressive dogs.

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Nv6e TIL some species of carpenter ants can explode at will. As a last resort they contract their abs to rupture their internal glands, resulting in a suicidal burst of corrosive, immobilizing glue.
Z887p TIL Jews are often associated as scheming merchants who love money because in the Middle Ages Christians were forbidden to lend out money with interest, Jews were not.
BExe TIL NYPD ex-cop Adrian Schoolcraft secretly recorded corrupt activities for 17 months in 2008, leading to a huge scandal and 4 separate investigations into NYPD. He recorded illegal arrests, superiors giving illegal orders, multiple rape reports getting downgraded to trespassing and more.
pYydp TIL that each full moon was given its own name by Native Americans, and the harvest moon is the one closest to the autumnal equinox.
N5EE TIL that a US Air Force Veteran, posing as a Guantanamo Bay inmate for a training routine, was beaten to the point of serious brain injury by guards.