Post * OKVe — Curious Curator

› added 8 years ago

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TIL: the word “thug” comes from Thuggees, who were professional robbers and murderers that terrorized India for 600 years. They were eventually destroyed by the British

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jN1JM TIL in 1850s British explorer Sir Richard Burton called Somalis superstitious for believing mosquitos caused malaria

awBBZ TIL Douglas Tompkins, founder of The North Face Company, purchased and conserved over 2 million acres of land in Chile and Argentina, becoming one of world’s largest private land owners

v19KL TIL The Vatican has its own telescope staffed by priests, and has previously been given awards for the pursuit of scientific research.

nDed TIL that there is strong belief that James Buchanan may have been the first gay President of the United States. Never married, Buchanan had a close relationship with another man for many years which he referred to as a “communion”. Andrew Jackson once called the pair “Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy”.

RPNl TIL that a lost masterpiece by Da Vinci is likely hidden behind a wall in Florence, but nobody is willing to take the wall down because it ALSO has a priceless fresco painted on it.