› added 10 years ago

147

TIL that German journalists have a word, “widow shaking” for the practice of aggressively getting sob story material from relatives of disaster or crime victims.

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via reddit.com

DQ7Qr TIL about Gaston Henri de Bourbon, a bastard who became the bishop of Metz at the age of 11 despite never getting ordained as a priest and kept the title for 40 years. He also never resided in Metz.
jNDjX TIL that Nicolas Ferrial, the jester of King Francis I, once slapped the monarch on his bum. Nicolas was to be executed for this deed but the king promised to forgive him if he comes up with an apology even more insulting than the slap. And the jester delivered: 'I mistook you for the Queen!'
dd0Z TIL in his later years, Sir Isaac Newton was appointed to a largely symbolic (but paid) position at the Royal Mint. He took the job seriously and successfully prosecuted many counterfeiters for high treason. Those convicted were hanged, drawn and quartered
R7GRw TIL about "Moyenne Island" a small uninhabited island in Seychelles which one Brendon Grimshaw bought for £8,000 in 1962. With help from a partner, Rene Antoine Lafortune, Grimshaw transported and bred roughly 120 tortoises onto the island which is now the worlds smallest national park
LkZNP TIL of "King Neptune", a 700 lb pig that was "auctioned" piece by piece, including the Squeal, at fundraisers during WWII across Southern Illinois. He raised $19 Million Dollars ($271 Million in 2021) over a few years and was never slaughtered, living a peaceful postwar retirement.