› added 1 year ago

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TIL one of the unifiers of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, once built an entire castle in secret near a castle he had put under siege. After 80 days, he had the trees covering it cut down, making it seem like a castle had sprung up overnight. His enemies surrendered shortly thereafter.

ADQGx TIL people used to believe toothaches and other dental problems were caused by "tooth worms" that lived in our teeth and consumed them from the inside out.
J18e4 TIL at least 25,000 workers died during construction of the Panama Canal between 1881-1914. Construction was started by France and finished by the USA . The deaths are attributed to a combination of disease and injuries resulting from construction and environmental disruption.
M1Am TIL that states signed a 20-year contract and promised a 90 percent occupancy rate over that period to CCA to commit to maintaining prisons filled to capacity.
0d1YR TIL that Chang and Eng Bunker, not only were the original "Siamese twins," but after traveling the world and making a pretty penny from exhibiting themselves, settled in North Carolina, became U.S. citizens, bought/owned slaves, and married two sisters whom they produced 21 children with.
p8JaN TIL that in the movie The Godfather, the reason the word 'mafia' is not mentioned a single time is because mafia boss Joe Colombo, along with Frank Sinatra, threatened the films production and would only back the filming if they could change the script to their liking.