› added 4 years ago

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TIL that Hanns Scharff, a German Luftwaffe interrogator, used kindness and subterfuge to interrogate his charges. Hans created a bond with captured Allied pilots. His stratagem was subtle and calculated, and he never resorted to hurting any of the people with whom he came into contact

0wpdM TIL in the 1940s the musicians of America went on strike against major recording companies. Eventually, the major labels ran out of back catalogue to release and settled with the musicians, but the years without royalties effectively ended the big band era.
p8R04 TIL that President Lyndon Johnson was known for his vulgar behaviour. He would burp, fart, pick his nose, and scratch his crotch in front of people. He would also openly urinate in front of others, including in front of a reporter at his ranch. He also harassed women about their weight and looks.
BbWr TIL it’s illegal to use hormones in turkey (or other poultry and pork) so “hormone free” turkeys are not any different than a regular one
nWmyW TIL Roman toilets were life-threatening. Creatures would come up and bite, wiping was done with a shared stick with a sponge (never cleaned) and there was so much methane that the toilets exploded. So many people died, they tried to use magic spells to keep demons away. (NSFW)?
4keWN TIL While the Confederacy used the strongest cipher available during the Civil War, the Vigenère cipher, the Union consistently cracked it. This was because the Confederates only ever used three key phrases: "Manchester Bluff", "Complete Victory" and, as the war came to a close, "Come Retribution".