› added 5 years ago

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TIL that Vladimir The Great, Prince of Kiev, considered converting from Paganism to Islam. He sent envoys to study Islam, but upon Learning that Islam forbade alcohol and pork, he got baptized himself and baptized Kiev Rus

epAyn TIL that people dug(bored) a 40,000 ft. deep hole that is also not deep at all. Despite a fairly narrow diameter of only 9” and penetrating less than 0.2% to the center of the Earth, it took 20 years.
xr77 TIL the Cult Awareness Network listed Scientology as the #1 most dangerous cult. Over 50 Scientologists later filed civil suits against them, many using the same carbon copy claim via 1 law firm. After suing them into bankruptcy, the Church bought the name and started the New Cult Awareness Network.
Wkjvo TIL the Swiss Federal Railways’ centralised lost and found service is still seeking the owner of a packet of gold bars worth CHF182k (since Oct '19). The most valuable misplaced object on their trains, however, remains a 1727 Stradivarius violin in 2012, estimated to be worth CHF2.6 million.
gM6AD TIL of Steve Hodel, an LA homicide detective who believes his deceased father killed the Black Dahlia, after finding a picture of him with Elizabeth Short. He later discovered his father had been one of the prime suspects at the time of the murder.
7pxx TIL that at the age of 62, Wisdom the Albatross is the oldest known wild bird. Wisdom still circumnavigates the Pacific annually and just hatched her 30th child (at least) on Midway Atoll. Wisdom has flown 2 to 3 million miles since 1956. That’s equivalent to 4 to 6 trips to the Moon and back.