› added 7 months ago

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TIL that when privateer Klaus Störtebeker and his 73-man crew were executed by the city of Hamburg, the executioner was asked if he was tired. He replied he could 'easily execute the whole senate as well,' and was then executed himself.

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Oopv1 TIL that in 1921, spiritualists Thomas Lynn Bradford and Ruth Doran decided to test whether it was possible to communicate with the dead. Bradford killed himself by sealing his apartment and turning on his gas stove, and planned to appear as a ghost to Doran after his death. He didn't.
nmAP TIL in India a serial rapist was lynched to death by 200 women in front of judge inside court premises.
64A8 TIL that the formula used to calculate the US’ poverty level is outdated. It is based off of the cost of living during the 1960’s when food was a family’s largest expenditure. If adjustments are made to the formula to reflect life today, then around 45.7 million Americans would be living in poverty.
k915 TIL. The first sales pitch for the Nerf ball was “Nerf: you can hurt babies or old people!”
16OR4 TIL the residents of Kalachi, Kazakhstan suffered from an affliction that caused them to fall asleep during daily activities for days or weeks on end. Officially, the explanation was carbon monoxide from a nearby abandoned uranium mine.