› added 1 year ago

52

TIL of the Pappenheimer witch trial, in which the Pappenheimer family was executed after being accused of witchcraft - the accuser desiring to promote witch trials in Bavaria and also to close a variety of other unclosed cases. Despite this, witch trials remained unpopular and rare.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

0wmwR TIL the Sacred Band of Thebes was a troop of select soldiers, consisting of 150 pairs of male couples which formed the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC, and were responsible for the defeat of the Spartans at the decisive Battle of Leuctra (371 BC).
EKnX TIL of Max Woosnam, possibly the greatest sportsman of all time. He won gold & silver Olympics medals, a doubles title at Wimbledon, hit a 147 break in snooker, a century at Lords cricket ground and captained Manchester City and England football teams. He also played off a 0 handicap at golf.
89x8 TIL When Adolf Hitler offered German WWI military hero General von Lettow-Vorbeck an ambassadorship, Vorbeck hold hitler to “go fuck himself.” Although repeatedly harassed by the Nazis, he survived their regime due to his popularity.
R67 TIL the NAACP was created by Jews in 1909, and that it didn’t have a black president until 1975.
4kkRX TIL About retired South Korean boxer Byun Jung-il who lost his bantam weight match at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Upset by the loss he refused to leave the ring for over an hour to the point that officials turned out the lights in the auditorium until he left.