› added 5 years ago

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TIL If we went back a thousand years, each of us would have over a trillion direct ancestors, which is more than all the humans who have ever lived. So yeah, we're all descended from royalty, somewhere.

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69pO8 TIL that when Catholic forces fought the Cathar heresy in 1209, a town was captured which was populated by both Cathars and Catholics. Unable to tell the two groups apart, the Catholic military commander allegedly said "God will know His own" and had them all slaughtered indiscriminately.
PYRlJ TIL Church's Fried Chicken was a major supporter of chess in the 1970s, with the San Antonio Church's Fried Chicken Inc. 1st International Chess Tournament in 1972 being considered one of the most important chess tournaments on American soil.
7rVGP TIL Cleopatra is a Greek name. Cleopatra's native language was Greek, and while the genetics of her grandmother is uncertain, she had genetically Greek lineage.
4kKJo TIL about "Terminal Lucidity." The unexpected return of mental clarity and memory shortly before the death of patients suffering from severe psychiatric and neurologic disorders
kOjZ1 TIL that some guys in the Czech Republic figured out how to broadcast data in beams of light capable of streaming DVD-quality video over neighbourhoods.( 10 Mbit/s full duplex Ethernet point-to-point link.)