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TIL that in 1269, the election of the Pope took so long (3 years) that the city where the conclave was held, Viterbo, refused to send in anything except bread and water. When even this failed to elect a Pope, villagers removed the roof of the palace hosting the cardinals to speed up the election.

mWxY TIL the movie, The Constant Gardner, is inspired by a real life event involving Pfizer testing Trovafloxacin, an untested and unproven antibiotic, on 200 children in Africa without their informed consent which led to 6 deaths and multiple cases of blindness, brain damage, and deafness.
Z8Ygv TIL Pope John XII was the only Pope who was ever beaten to death by a jealous husband for sleeping with his wife. He was also accused of turning the papal palace into a brothel, sleeping with his niece, toasting the devil, ordaining a 10yr old boy, and misusing papal funds to pay gambling debts.
KO4oE TIL The Godfather's famous cat-in-lap scene was entirely unscripted. A stray cat randomly wandered onto the set, so Coppola grabbed it and put it in Marlin Brando's lap without a word.
6PRX TIL That When the withdrawal method is correctly and consistently used, it successfully prevents pregnancy 96 percent of the time. This compares to the 98 percent success rate achieved by condom usage.
kkwB TIL traces of nicotine and cocaine were found in Egyptian mummies. This finding is almost unbelievable considering nicotine and cocaine are indigenous to the Americas.