› added 8 years ago

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TIL serial killer Rodney Alcala acted as his own attorney in his trial. For five hours he interrogated himself on the witness stand, asking questions addressed to “Mr. Alcala” in a deep voice and answering them in his normal voice.

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b6DxN TIL that a young John F Kennedy sat in the public gallery of the House of Commons and watched then UK PM (Neville Chamberlain) declare war on Germany in 1939. Churchill also gave a speech which left an impression on JFK.
xVW7o TIL “Con Man” is short for “Confidence Man” based on Samuel Thompson, a man who would ask people to give him money or their watch to show their confidence in him.
R7Lx9 TIL about Alejo Garza Tamez a 77 yo mexican hunter whom on 2010 was given 24 hours, by cartel members, to leave his ranch. Instead he armed himself, waited for them and managed to kill 4 sicarios, injure 2 more and make the rest run away.
Zwna TIL 11,000 work-years were dedicated to the NASA inter-planetary Voyager Program through to the Neptune Encounter. This is equivalent to a third of the work estimated to complete the Great Pyramid at Giza.
j6Bea TIL where the phrase "Tail-end Charlie" comes from. During WW2, US bombers flew in tight formation to guard against German fighters. Rookies flew in the "Tail-end Charlie" position in the back of the formation, so dangerous that crews called it the "coffin corner" or "Purple Heart corner".