› added 10 years ago

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TIL of Clement Vallandigham, a lawyer who, while trying to demonstrate how the victim might have accidentally shot himself, shot himself and died. He then won the case.

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NXw78 TIL There is a hamlet in Montenegro called Japan. The most popular source attributes the name to a soldier who told the Montenegrin king his greatest wish is to bring water to the village from the source of Brituljak. When asked of its location, the soldier added it's as far away as Japan.
aw5YA TIL the Soviets helped foster conspiracy theories around JFK's death in order to sway public opinion away from the US government
Pe8O TIL that within a few decades of the Magna Carta being put in place in England, Genghis Khan (founder of the Mongolian empire) implemented a very similar document into law, which among other things, protected the right to freedom of Religion
lEx5 TIL sailors had crossed the Equator by 425BC and reported they’d seen the Sun switch sides in the heavens. Writers like Herodotus thought they were making it up
0Gaj TIL in Vatican City, drug possession and dealing is not illegal