› added 2 days ago

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TIL that Poveglia Island in Venice was used for over a century as a quarantine station for plague victims and later as a geriatric hospital before being abandoned in 1968.

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via reddit.com

WbKN TIL the tongue map that shows parts of the tongue responsible for different aspects of taste is the result of a mistranslation from a German paper and is not true
gvbA TIL that Sept 11th has a different meaning in Chile. That was the date in 1973 that the CIA backed the overthrow of a democratic government by Augusto Pinocet who would go on to kill over 3000 and torture up to 30,000 Chileans.
kOG6m TIL Before Chesley Sullenberger and The Miracle on the Hudson Capt. Carlos Dardano landed a 737 on a narrow levee in New Orleans after the engines flamed out in a rainstorm in 1988. Capt. Dardano also only had one eye from when his plane was shot at during the civil war in El Salvador.
YpmjG TIL about Ehrlich, a Polish ping-pong player who played the longest point ever (2h 12m) in 1936 World Championships, and in WW2 was spared the gas chamber by the Nazis because they recognized him
p8egO TIL: The only state governor to be assassinated was Kentucky’s William Goebel. He was shot soon after the election ended, and was sworn into office while on his death bed. His only official business as governor was to call off the militia looking for the person who shot him.