› added 9 years ago

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TIL Eduardo Chibas, pre-revolution Cuban politician, shot himself dead on-air during his weekly radio show as a protest against the corrupt government. He didn’t realise his allotted time was only 25 minutes, and the gesture ended up happening during an advert break instead.

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QNvgL TIL about Operation Meetinghouse, the deadliest bombing raid in history. On March 10, 1945, U.S. bombers dropped incendiary bombs on Tokyo, resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 people and the destruction of 267,171 buildings. This raid was even more destructive than the atomic bombing
GY4Z1 Today I learned that when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, many Greek-Romans came to Egypt as tourist. Many of them ended up carving their names stating “so and so was here, and the work of these Egyptians are great” in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings.
OoPk6 TIL the Salem witch trials were started by a group of girls age 9-20 who were told tales by a slave. The main perpetrator Elizabeth Hubbard was known for being manipulative, throwing temper tantrums, and having a wild imagination. Hubbard accused 40 people and 15 died as a result.
neY5Y TIL about Poncke Princen, a Dutch anti-Nazi fighter who was later sent to Indonesia to suppress an anticolonial rebellion. Princen, after witnessing Dutch war crimes, defected to fight with the guerrillas in 1948. He later helped expose the anticommunist massacres of Indonesian dictator Suharto.
WkPVA TIL the Tarahuma of the Sierra Madre Occidental have a reputation as incredible long distance runners. From 1992 to 1998, 35 Tarahumas ran in 8 ultra-marathons in the US. Most finished in the top 10 with 4 outright wins and 2 course records.