› added 10 years ago

156

TIL that usury, the practice of giving loans that unfairly enrich the lender (e.g., interest), is condemned in most religious texts, including those of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and others.

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yrWv TIL a man robbed $1 from a bank so he could be sent to prison and receive medical care. He handed a teller a note demanding a dollar, then waited calmly on a sofa for police to arrive.
kOZk5 TIL of Stubbins Ffirth who attempted to prove that Yellow Fever wasn't contagious by smearing vomit, blood, saliva, and urine from patients in open wounds on his arms. While he never got sick, it later emerged that the samples he used had come from late-stage patients who were no longer contagious
4YoR TIL that the Coliseum got its name not because of its massive size, but because its proximity to a colossal ‘Statue of Liberty’ sized bronze statue of the Emperor Nero.
EgoWV TIL that in 1950, Alfred Carlton Gilbert created a toy lab set that used actual radioactive material
yVxna TIL in the US, if your eye doctor doesn't immediately give you your contact lenses/glasses prescription for free, they can be fined $53,000