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TIL a Polish soldier in WWII allowed himself to be captured by German soldiers so he could secretly report on conditions in Auschwitz

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Brjlx TIL of the "cargo cult" belief, in which pre-industrial societies mimic western activities, such as the building of mock airstrips, and performing daily rituals such as dressing as parading soldiers, which they believe will cause spiritual agents to deliver highly desired cargo such as in WW2 arenas
VMQkp TIL during Richard Ramirez’s murder spree, after it was revealed that shoe prints from Los Angeles crime scenes matched one in San Francisco, San Francisco’s then mayor revealed the information on TV. This enraged police as they knew Ramirez would see it and thus destroy evidence. Which he did.
78Dbp TIL in 1999, Martin Lawrence almost died from heat exhaustion while jogging in the Big Momma costume. He went into a 3 day coma while having a body temperature of 107 °F
9Y5vD TIL: An affair between two Brazilian politicians was revealed when they danced together to "Bésame Mucho". Later, one of them was to be introduced with a military march, but the director of the presidential band had them play "Bésame Mucho" instead. He got 3 days of house arrest for insubordination.
mxY4y TIL that 17th century Italian biologist Francesco Redi found that tortoise's brains are so small and irrelevant that when he surgically removed them, they could continue to live for up to six months. When he entirely decapitated one, it still lived for 23 days.