› added 5 years ago

125

TIL Half of England is owned by less than 1% of the population

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

mxYBy TIL of a 1930s Welsh medium who claimed to be able to levitate during seances performed in complete darkness with help from spirits. People began to demand their money back from him after learning he was simply jumping up in the air.
9wljB TIL the 1902 Rickshaw Controversy. After colonizing the Philippines, Americans tried to "improve" urban public transportation by replacing privately operated horse-cabs with publicly-funded Rickshaws. It failed as Filipinos thought it turned them into beasts of burden, and revolted against the idea.
d8PXr TIL that Colin Campbell Ross, an Australian, was executed in 1922 for the murder of a child (a case which was sensationalised by Keith - father of Rupert - Murdoch's newspaper). After the original evidence was tested for DNA in 1998, the case returned to court, and he was finally pardoned in 2008
p8Rj8 TIL of a poodle that fell 13 stories, hitting and killing and elderly woman. A second woman was killed after a bus hit her as she came to see the incident, and a man died of a heart attack after witnessing the events.
7rG17 TIL that Scotch whisky is distilled twice and Irish whiskey three times. For this reason, the Irish claim their whiskey is a smoother and purer whiskey.