› added 9 years ago

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TIL that in 1779, Thomas Jefferson submitted an anti-sodomy law to Virginia that would castrate men caught having gay sex. This law didn’t pass, and the state kept their anti-sodomy law in which death was the maximum penalty.

oBQrA TIL that Mr. Rogers responded to every letter he recieved from children who wrote to him
Z8Ywa TIL In 1986, 3 volunteers dove into radioactive water to prevent a second explosion at Chernobyl that could have spread fallout across half of Europe. The members of the "suicide squad" were Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and, Boris Baranov. Ananenko and Bezpalov are still alive today.
D194g TIL in Starship Troopers movie, one of the specimen in the crowd of bugs gets claustrophobic and freaks out flailing back and forth like he’s having a little seizure. The rendering system put it in the prominent position of the screen, Verhoeven saw an early version of the shot and loved it
NXbNJ TIL that in the UK, income tax remained controversial until well into the 20th century as it was viewed as an intrusion on privacy. The window tax was introduced as a way to tax in proportion to wealth, but without the controversy. More windows on your house meant higher taxes.
0dMBN TIL that a 2022 study proposed that Bruce Lee may have died from hyponatraemia - a low concentration of sodium in blood, which is caused by excessive water intake. At the time of his death, Lee had reportedly been existing on a near-liquid diet of mostly juices.