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TIL Julie D'Aubigny was a famous 17th century French opera singer who once entered a convent just so she could have sex with a nun. She also had a habit of seducing women at parties, which would lead their husbands to challenge her to a duel. She was an expert duelist and killed 10 men like this.

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9QkB TIL in ancient Athens, the worlds first democracy, they had a process called ostracism, where once a year the people could vote on the politician they thought was most destructive to the democratic process. The “winner” was banished from Athens for 10 years.
VBM10 TIL in 2007, casting agents in the UK were struggling to find British children that could speak with an RP accent. There is the belief that this was the direct result of overconsumption of Australian TV shows, especially Neighbours.
grP88 TIL Finland used a lot of resources and logistics during WW II to bring the fallen to their home parishes for a proper funeral, instead of using mass graves in the battlefield.
885V TIL Tony Bennett fought on the front lines in Germany during WWII as an 18 year old G.I. He helped liberate a concentration camp and was demoted for eating lunch with his black friend.
XE6gE TIL Hu Yaobang, whose funeral triggered the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, wanted to have Tibetans and Uyghurs govern themselves, supported improved Sino-Japanese relations, investigated party nepotism/corruption, and was forced to resign as General Secretary for not silencing student protests