› added 4 days ago

4

TIL that in 16th to 18th century Scotland, horses got to help with the execution of horse thieves. The pin holding the guillotine blade in place above the condemned horse thief was tied to a horse with a cord, so the blade would fall when the horse took off running.

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EgKRX Today I learned it’s supposed to be “champing at the bit” rather than “chomping”
awWvA TIL Wilhelm Canaris, head of the German Abwehr military intelligence during WW2, hated the nazi regime so much he revealed massive amounts of military intelligence to the Allies, talked Spanish dictator Franco out of joining the Axis, and talked Hitler out of invading Switzerland.
RlQ8 TIL the Coen Brothers edited almost all their own films using the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes. In spite of his non-existence, Roderick Jaynes has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Fargo and No Country for Old Men.
jNa4R TIL a horse stands on the tip of one toe. The remaining “fingers” have long since faded away with the evolution of the horse, but the split bones along the cannon bone are vestigial remnants of the second and fourth fingers
6E9kw TIL in 2000 16-year-old Henry Cavill was an aspiring actor who had a chance encounter with Russell Crowe. Crowe sent him a gift box with a note saying "Dear Henry, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Russell." 13 years later, they starred together in “Man of Steel.”