› added 10 years ago

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TIL that British Navy ships during the 18th Century would often have a fictitious “widow’s man” listed as part of their crew. The pay received by this “man” would be sent to the families of dead crew members.

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via reddit.com

9wYOB TIL that The Beatles song 'Sexy Sadie' was originally called 'Maharishi' after John Lennon realised he was a fraud while in India
RYdl TIL in 2011, Firefighters in Tennessee let a house burn down because the homeowners didn’t pay a “$75 fire subscription fee”.
E0mx TIL When 14-year-old George Stinney was executed in the electric chair he was too short for the chair so he used his Bible as a booster seat.
VMGmm TIL that Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz was behind the largest rescue operation during the Second World War. According to estimates, Swiss activities, of which Carl Lutz was in charge, are thought to have helped to save 62,000 Jews from death
d8WJ8 TIL struggling black model Amylia Dorsey kept getting rejected because she didn't fit the prototypical body type for models. This enraged her rapper boyfriend Sir Mix-A-Lot to write "Baby Got Back" and asked Amylia to be the "OMG Becky" voice we hear in the song.