› added 9 years ago

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TIL that the Bayanzi tribe of the Congo would execute via decapitation with a twist. While alive, the head of the condemned would be connected to a springy sapling so that when it was cut off, it would be thrown through the air “With the force of a bomb”.

R7am8 TIL Stanley Kubrick was supposed to give Malcolm McDowell 2.5% of the profit from A Clockwork Orange, but never told McDowell about the arrangement and never gave him the money.
grXxA TIL, There is a rare blood group known as ‘h/h’ or ‘Oh’ which was first discovered in 1952 at Mumbai, India (Formerly Bombay), hence christening another name ‘Bombay Blood Group’. This blood is so rare that only 4 in a million would have it globally; however, every 1 in 10,000 have it in Bombay.
ADEBw TIL that Nazis left behind so many of their Karabiner 98k rifles at the end of WW2 that they ended up being used for the rest of the 20th century all over the world, and some were even used in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. Somewhere out there, an 80-year-old Nazi rifle is still used in warfare.
EZpd TIL Clarence Birdseye discovered flash freezing when fishing with the Inuit. After a fish was caught in -40c it would instantly freeze, when thawed and cooked it tasted fresh again and this is why we are able to have Hot Pockets today.
d8xxd TIL Charles D Barger was gassed in WWI, received the Medal of Honor and a record 10 Purple Hearts, became a policeman after the war and was shot 5 times during a shootout. Later in life he was shot by a deputy and died from self-inflicted burn injuries sustained during a mental breakdown.