› added 12 years ago

107

TIL that the U.S. Marshals still have the common law-based power to enlist any willing civilians as deputies. Also known in the Old West as forming a posse.

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l79X1 TIL the Abenaki word for "white man" awanoch is a combination of the words awani meaning "who" and uji meaning "from". Thus, the word for "white man" literally translates to "Who is this man and where does he come from?"
W51B TIL of Peter Skyllberg who was trapped for two months in his car after it became bogged down in snow drifts near the town of Umea in Sweden. He survived on just snow and snacks and went into a state of hibernation. This slowed his metabolism and left him emaciated, barely able to speak or move.
b6kMj TIL the Easter Whip tradition in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and parts of Hungary involves splashing girls with water and spanking them with decorated willow branches on Easter Monday. This is believed to ensure their health, beauty, and fertility for the next year.
7nxM TIL During the filming of 1964 film Cheyenne Autumn, the Navajo actors hired to portray the Cheyenne would use crude language instead of the planned dialogue because no one on set spoke Navajo, even making jokes about the U.S. colonels penis in what was meant to be a solemn speech.
WZGB TIL the Book of Mathew is the only gospel to mention the Magi (aka the “Wise Men”) and it never specifies how many there were. The three gifts has led to the widespread assumption that there were three men. In Eastern Christianity, especially the Syriac churches, the Magi often number twelve.