› added 1 week ago

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TIL of the Muhlenberg urban legend: German was prevented from becoming an official language of the USA after a 42 to 41 defeat in the House of Representatives in 1794, with the first speaker of the house Frederick Muhlenberg casting the deciding vote. But he likely did not cast a vote in reality.

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R7o4l TIL in 2015, an American teen chose to commit suicide by snake bite. Sitting in his car, he allowed his pet Cobra to bite him multiple times. He was found in his car having suffered cardiac arrest, the snake had escaped and was later found on a nearby road.
4NJa TIL there was man sentenced to death by a firing squad, he was shot 9 times and a 10th point blank in the face to ensure death. He somehow didnt die, laid still for hours pretending to be dead and when the squad left, he escaped.
j6EaQ TIL Attalus III of Pergamon had little interest in ruling his kingdom and instead he was devoted to his hobbies, like gardening and botany. In his will he left his entire kingdom to the romans, thinking they'd conquer it anyway, he wanted to avoid all the bloodshed
vP6lK TIL in 1980, Fox considered "Alien" to have lost more money than it made. Partly this was due to the time it took for cash streams to be counted and becaues the production had gone overbudget during the film's production in England, due to the US dollar fluctuation against the British pound.
wmE1 TIL: Germans in WWI built their trenches with perfect 90 degree angles to prevent pressure waves from mortars from killing soldiers