› added 8 months ago

26

TIL that the English names Ian, Shaun, and John all originate from the same ancient Hebrew name, Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious."

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w10Y TIL Lurleen Wallace, who would become governor of Alabama, was diagnosed with cancer in 1961 but neither her doctor nor her husband Governor George Wallace bothered to let her know so she went without treatment for FOUR YEARS. The cancer killed her only 15 months into her term.
WL44 TIL that there is a school in Moscow whose mission is to enable Russian women to snag rich husbands. Part of the curriculum includes “strengthening and toning the muscles using special equipment — a kind of gym for the vagina.”
ZgdY TIL Coca Cola supported the apartheid
OGJZa TIL in the US in 1996, Georgia State Representative Doug Teper unsuccessfully sponsored a bill to replace that state's electric chair with the guillotine.
ZpYDD TIL the Inca Empire had a messenger system so fast it could deliver a message over 300 km (190 miles) in a single day, thanks to a network of elite runners known as "chasquis". It was so efficient that even in Cuzco, hundreds of km away from the sea, the Inca ruler could enjoy fresh fish