› added 5 years ago

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TIL Louis III of France, who became king of West Francia aged 15, died at 18 years old when jumped on a horse, rode through a low door and hit his head on the lintel, fracturing his skull.

J1yE1 TIL that the modern three-point seat belt, commonly used today, was invented by Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin while working for Volvo. Volvo made the patent available to other car manufacturers for free, emphasizing the importance of safety over profit.
nLRG TIL of Ken Allen (1971–2000), an orangutan at the San Diego Zoo. Not only did he escape 3 times, his peers began following his example & escaped too. He outwitted zookeepers even when they posed as visitors. During his escapes, Ken would “peacefully stroll around the zoo looking at other animals.”
W79NY TIL a dingbat wasn't originally an insult, it was a term used in typesetting for special symbols a printing press could use that weren't letters, numbers, or punctuation. A printing press would have them to draw boxes on printed pages or include symbols in the text.
jN6WR TIL A researcher once played a recording of an elephant who had died. The sound was coming from a speaker hidden in a thicket. The family went wild calling, looking all around. The dead elephant’s daughter called for days afterward. The researchers never again did such a thing.
Oo1M4 TIL of Du Yuesheng, a Triad boss who was granted the rank of general in the Nationalist Chinese army after he ordered his gang to massacre 1000s of communist supporters. He then became head of the Opium Suppression Bureau, which he used to seize opium to be sold by his own criminal organization.