› added 10 years ago

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TIL of Albert Battel, a German officer serving in the Wehrmacht during WWII, who commanded his whole unit to protect Jews and threatened the SS to kill them if they crossed a bridge into a Jewish ghetto to round them up.

Brx1x TIL that repeated attempts to capitalize on the popularity of McDonald's Quarter Pounder by releasing competing 1/3 pound burgers have failed because Americans are bad at fractions.
KO50R TIL From 1896 to 1964 Canada jailed thousands of women without trial if they were suspected of "undesirable social behavior." Such as having premarital sex or being in interracial relationships. The women were sent to reform prisons, where they were beaten and drugged to learn subservience.
VKOZ TIL that the Norse Sagas which describe the historical pre-Columbus Viking discovery of North America also say that they met Native Americans who could speak a language that sounded similar to Irish, and who said that they’d already encountered white men before them.
YpExd TIL about The Human Library, an international organization/movement started in 2000 and active in more than 80 countries where, instead of books you 'borrow' people. People with interesting and unique life stories volunteer to be the 'books' and share their experience and answer questions.
oBgDA TIL Mandrakes are real. In one superstition, people who pull up the root will be condemned to hell. The mandrake root would scream as it was pulled from the ground, killing anyone who heard it. In the past, people tied the roots to animals and then used the animals to pull the roots from the soil.