› added 5 months ago

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TIL T.E. Lawrence's (Lawrence of Arabia) death in a motorcycle accident made one of his doctors study what he saw as the unnecessary loss of life by motorcycle despatch riders through head injuries which led to the increased use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists

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mR9y TIL Willie Nelson smoked a joint on the rooftop of the White House as Secret Service looked on.
jaap TIL that the first successful anal fistula surgery was performed on Louis XIV in 1686. Anal fistulas then became highly fashionable among his royal court, with people lining up to undergo the procedure whether they needed it or not, or placing bandages on their bums to pretend that they did.
neg4r TIL of Bekim Fehmiu, a Yugoslavian actor who was the first Eastern European to headline a Hollywood movie during the Cold War.
a8VJA TIL a 1980s arson spree in Boston was caused by police and firefighters protesting budget cuts
5EmQ TIL that a group of “illegal restorers” broke into the Paris Panthéon, set up a secret workshop, and repaired the monument’s broken clock.