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TIL: Once a year, ancient Athenian citizens would nominate people they felt threatened democracy—because of political differences, dishonesty, or just general dislike.

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via reddit.com

baKp TIL that on his deathbed, Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, asked his wife to inject him with LSD and for her to stay by him, he died 6 hours later and she notes it as ‘the most beautiful death she has ever experienced’
jNElE TIL before she became a world famous chef, Julia Child worked as a spy for the Allies during WWII. She also invented shark repellent.
Z86PG TIL: Beethoven loved his coffee so much that he had his own recipe. It consisted of 60 beans. Not 59, not 61, but precisely 60. He would drop them into a cup separately and sometimes do a second recount. He also had a special apparatus for preparing it.
KgxJ TIL Columbus reported the natives “are so naive and so free with their possessions…they offer to share with anyone…” so he could take “as many slaves as [his Majesties] ask.”
W7eGA TIL that until the 17th century, the Golconda mines (in India) were the ONLY source of diamonds on Earth.