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TIL a town crier needed to be employed in Germany to remind the local populace not to defecate in the river every time its water was drawn for brewing beer

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0ddvj TIL Billie Holiday was arrested on drug charges in 1947 and tried in utterly bizarre circumstances. The prosecutor asked for leniency, while her defense attorney convinced her to plead guilty, assuring her she'd be sent to a hospital. Instead, the judge sentenced her to a year in federal prison.
OYp6 TIL that armed citizens shoot and kill more criminals than police and have fewer incidents of mistakenly identifying the criminal.
Yp6VB TIL Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest business in Canada. Founded in 1670
5YWrQ TIL that the phone system's three rising tones (Special Information Tone, or SIT) comes in 8 varieties that are similar but can be distinguished by electronic equipment. It was designed so equipment could identify the error, even without understanding the spoken message.
QNMKe TIL Boeing B17 pilots often accidentally raised the undercarriage after landing, destroying the propellors and damaging the underbelly, due to the undercarriage lever and the flap lever looking the same.