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TIL Pythagoras had a weird cult that lasted for centuries after his death. They worshiped numbers, invented the first robot (a steam-powered pigeon) and were afraid of beans because they cause excessive flatulence. He was murdered when he was chased to a bean field and refused to cross it.

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wExo TIL That the minting of the U.S. half-penny was discontinued in 1857 because it was viewed as having too insignificant purchasing power and wasteful to continue minting. Adjusted for inflation it would be worth more than the penny, nickel, and dime today.
ZpPVQ TIL that contrary to popular belief, the Mesopotamian god Dagon has nothing to do with fish or the sea, and the portrayal of him as a fish god based entirely on the medieval belief that his name was derived from the Hebrew word for fish, "dāg", which was debunked in the 1920s
pZoO TIL in 2007 a man was named “greatest traveller on Earth”, after visiting every country and territory in the world between 1955 and 2005
Wv94 TIL that mercury use in hat-making, which causes “Mad Hatters Disease”, was banned in France in 1898, However the practice continued in the US until 1941, despite 80% of hatmakers being diagnosed with “mercurial tremors”, until it was abandoned due to the wartime need for mercury.
QN9OE TIL in 2020, five Lithuanian soldiers went missing during a graduation exam. Thinking the exercise was still ongoing, they successfully evaded all attempts to find them. A military spokesman said their performance was "exemplary."