› added 3 years ago

108

TIL that in 1921, a dog was put on trial for "catslaughter." He was represented by an actual lawyer, tried in an actual courtroom, in front of an actual judge, with an actual jury, who acquitted him for the crime.

Read more chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

via reddit.com

yQAy8 TIL about the mythical isle of Thule. The Ancient Greek explorer, Pytheas, was the first to write about Thule during his travels between 330-20 BC. Thule is described like a land of fire and ice in which the sun never sets, about six days sailing north from Britain.
rNAow TIL About a third of the elk in Yellowstone Park died as a result of the 1988 forest fires. The elk population had almost recovered by January 1995 when wolves were reintroduced. Since wolves are back in Yellowstone, the elk population has dropped about 80 percent.
awlv9 TIL that in 1967 legendary animator Bill Plympton met, and was influenced by, the work of cartoonist Homer Groening, father of 'Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, a whole 20 years before the first 'Simpsons' cartoons aired
0mAR TIL that Winston Churchill, after being told that he could not drink in front of Saudi King due to the King’s religious beliefs, said “my religion prescribed an absolute sacred rite smoking cigars and drinking alcohol before, after, and if need be during all meals and the intervals between them.”
5V9YR TIL Former Major League Baseball All Star and Red Sox Hall of Fame member Kevin Youkilis was once described as looking like “a refrigerator repairman, a butcher, the man selling hammers behind the counter at the True Value hardware store."