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100

TIL Empress Catherine the Great had an intimate relationship with philosopher Dennis Diderot. They had daily meetings talking politics and philosophy during which Diderot would make his points by slapping the monarch's thighs. She emerged from their meeting with her thighs "bruised and quite black"

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o0GE TIL that the Hyatt Regency Hotel in KC, MO had multiple crosswalks that collapsed on top of each other. 114 died and another 216 were injured. Up until 9-11 it was the largest structural collapse in the USA.
KOnvw TIL That L. Ron Hubbard had a book nominated for the 1987 Hugo award. He finished sixth out of five books getting less votes than "No award"
5YbE8 TIL that Richard Donner received hate mail and death threats for making Superman (1978), which draws parallels between Superman and Jesus, with one letter telling him his "blood would run in the streets".
E10rx TIL about Radium Girls who mixed radium paint for watches and used camel hair brushes to apply the glowing paint onto the dials. The brushes would lose shape after a few strokes so the U.S. Radium supervisors encouraged their workers to point the brushes with their lips (lip, dip, paint). 1917-1926
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