› added 12 years ago

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TIL that a 10th-century Arab explorer in Russia witnessed a Viking funeral rite in which a slave girl had sex with each of the tribe’s warriors before they ritualistically sacrificed her to serve their fallen chieftain in the afterlife.

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QJX6X TIL White House Police officer Leslie Coffelt was fatally shot while protecting President Truman in an assassination attempt, but managed to kill his attacker with a headshot from 30 feet away before dying.
YpjkZ TIL that the James Webb Space Telescope not only missed its launch date by 14 years so far, but has also missed its designed mission end date by 9 years.
j0Jv TIL that in 2004, farmers in India used Pepsi and Coca Cola instead of pesticides because they were cheaper and got the job done just as well.
Bg7er TIL That Outback Steakhouse was founded by 4 Americans in Florida and the only true Australian item they serve is Fosters beer
W7Q78 Til of E Henry Knoche, A former star college tennis and basketball athlete, he asked for a job with the CIA with no qualifications other than his trophies, 2 years with the navy during WW2 and speaking Russian and an obscure Chinese dialect. When he retired in 1977 he was acting director of the CIA