› added 1 year ago

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TIL about the British post office scandal. Between 1999 and 2015 over 900 subpostmasters where prosecuted for theft and false accounting, when really it was a problem with their accounting software.

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via reddit.com

bdKQ TIL that a man in India set a world record in 1986 by spending 72 hours in a cage with 72 of the most venomous snake species in India; to spread awareness and to prove that snakes don’t bite unless provoked. He came out of the cage, unharmed without a single bite.
yVLQJ TIL that in 1979, Elf, a French oil compagny, lost over $150 million in a scam. Alain de Villegas, a Belgian Count, had led ELF officials to believe that a company had created a machine capable of detecting oil fields from the air. The scandal is known as the "Avions Renifleurs" ("Sniffer Planes").
kERB TIL although ‘Piano Man’ is Billy Joel’s nickname, considered his signature song, and plays it as his finale at his concerts, the song did not even reach billboard’s top 10.
jNYdN TIL that Dexter Fletcher, the man who does the voiceover for the UK McDonalds adverts, directed Rocketman (2019), Eddie the Eagle (2015) and finished directing Bohemian Rhapsody (2018); and starred in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells (1998).
78OgX TIL The first man to finish the 1904 Olympic marathon rode in a car half the race. The actual winner had to be carried across the finish line after his coaches gave him a mix of brandy, eggs and strychnine. 4th place stole 2 peaches from a spectator, ate rotten apples from an orchard and took a nap.